not rank as a state church but was independent, since at the time of its foundation in 1540, the ruling princely House of Orléans-Longueville (Valois-Dunois) was Catholic. Furthermore, no Lutheran congregation existed in Neuchâtel. Thus the was not an object of Frederick William's Union policy. In January 1817, the cult and public instruction section was separated off as the , usually called Cult Ministry (Kultusministerium). Karl vom Stein zum Altenstein was appointed as minister. The Reformed churches and the Lutheran church were thus administered by one department within the same ministry. The ministry introduced the preaching gown () as the usual clerical clothing. On 27 September 1817, Frederick William announced, through a text written by Eylert, that Potsdam's Reformed court and garrison congregation, led by Court Preacher , and the Lutheran garrison congregation, both of whom used the Calvinist Garrison Church, would unite into one Evangelical Christian congregation on Reformation Day, 31 October, the 300th anniversary of the Reformation. Already the day before Lutherans and Reformed Christians celebrated the Lord's Supper together in Berlin's Lutheran St. Nicholas' Church. On 7 November, Frederick William expressed his desire to see the Protestant congregations around Prussia follow this example, and become Union congregations. Lutherans of the Lutheran state church of Nassau-Saarbrücken, and Calvinists in the southerly Saar area had already formed a church united in administration on 24 October (). However, because of the unique constitutive role of congregations in Protestantism, no congregation was forced by the King's decree into merger. Thus, in the years that followed, many Lutheran and Reformed congregations did follow the example of Potsdam, and became merged congregations, while others maintained their former Lutheran or Reformed denomination. Especially in many Rhenish places, Lutherans and Calvinists merged their parishes to form United Protestant congregations. When Prussia finally received a parliament in 1847, some church leadership offices included a seat in the first chamber of non-elected, but appointed members (succeeded by the House of Lords of Prussia as of 1854). A number of steps were taken to effect the number of pastors that would become Union pastors. Candidates for ministry, from 1820 onwards were required to state whether they would be willing to join the Union. All of the theological faculty at the Rhenish Frederick William's University in Bonn belonged to the Union. An ecumenical ordination vow in which the pastor avowed allegiance to the Evangelical Church was also formulated. Quarrels