| Summary: | The origins and meaning of the phrase ecclesia semper reformanda are explored in this article. Although it is possible to trace the ideas expressed to the Dutch Second Reformation, and perhaps to Martin Luther, it is first found in its present form in the writings of Karl Barth. In the understanding of the Reformed Churches, the edited phrase ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda implies that the reformation of doctrine is complete, and the only continuing reformation is in the minds and souls of the faithful. The Preamble to the Constitution of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church, dating to 2016, implies the same position. Coupled with the expression of St. Cyprian (extra ecclesiam nulla salus), used to mean that the church in which salvation is to be found is defined by the boundaries of the Book of Concord, any doctrinal difference becomes a soteriological question, not amenable to dialogic solution.
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