Established since 1520, the church affirmed itself in 1559 around the Confession of La Rochelle, adopted a discipline and a very sober form of worship (with sung psalms and centred on the sermon), following the model of the Church of Geneva led by Jean Calvin who inspired the Reformation in France. The Reformed churches met with strong opposition from the royal power faithful to Roman Catholicism. In 1598 the Edict of Nantes gave the Protestant minority political rights but deprived it of any possibility of religious expansion. During the 17th century the Protestants were under strong pressure to become Catholics. The Edict was revoked by the king in 1685. To remain faithful to their beliefs, almost a quarter of the 900,000 Protestants left the country. The 18th century was a time of severe persecution; a handful of faithful kept the flame of Protestantism burning. French Protestantism recovered its freedom in 1787. At the beginning of the 19th century Napoleon reorganized the Reformed and Lutheran churches. Reawakened by the preaching of the gospel, inspired, in part, by the Methodist revival, the Reformed churches developed many institutions, in particular for foreign mission and social work. But opposition between those who remained strictly faithful to the Reformers (the “orthodox”) and those who were more open to modernity (the “liberals”) divided the churches. The separation of church and state in 1905 led French Protestantism, divided into several unions, to organize itself into the French Protestant Federation. The ecumenical movement was one of the factors that inspired the majority of the reformed families to unite in 1938, on the basis of a common confession of faith, constituting the Reformed Church of France on the presbyterian-synodal model.

The ERF finds itself in a situation of contrast: in the south and east, and in the big cities, there are congregations which are geographically close to each other. In other regions the Protestants are very thinly spread. About 400,000 people claim to be or to have been at one time or another in their life, Reformed Protestants – about 0.5 percent of a population of 60 million. Although a minority, the Reformed Church seeks dialogue with the various religious and other groups that make up French society. The local churches are organized around two main concerns: the life of the community, e.g. worship, biblical and theological formation, and witness through diaconal activities, and various cultural manifestations. Responsibilities are assumed by laity and clergy, including worship services. About 15 percent of the pastors of the ERF are from countries other than France. The church has no financial resources other than the contributions of its members. The ERF has on-going relationships with the Roman Catholic Church at the national level. The two churches cooperate in their pastoral work with mixed families. Locally the Reformed and Catholic parishes often work actively together, and there are also many local inter-religious initiatives.

The ERF is in close communion with other Protestant churches and groups through the Protestant Federation and takes part in common ministries: social, biblical, youth, chaplaincies in the armed forces and in prisons, radio and TV programmes, etc. Together with churches in Europe, Africa, Madagascar and the Pacific the ERF has formed a Community of Churches in Mission (Cevaa). Through the sharing of personnel, finances and theological reflection the churches assist each other, with the aim of putting in place appropriate missionary activities in their local situations.

At a joint meeting in May 2007 the ERF and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of France agreed to start a three-year process of discussions at the local level about the idea of creating a united denomination.