The origins of the Protestants from Orlová date back to the Reformation time when Martin Luther’s teaching started to spread in Silesia. At first, they gathered in a confiscated Benedictine church. Situation changed during the -counter-Reformation when they had their church confiscated and were made to hold their secret meetings in the woods of Holotovec in Lazy. The pressure was released in 1707 and one of the “mercy churches“ could be built in Cieszynia. Finally, the freedom came in 1781 when the Toleration Patent was issued, followed by the Protestant Patent in 1861.
The Orlová Protestants decided to build their own church. Its foundation stone was laid on the 24th of June, 1861 and a year later, on the 15th of October, 1862 the building was finished and consecrated.
Between 1861–1886, the growing congregation was unified, Protestant cemetery set up, bells were bought and Protestant school founded. The number of believers was increasing steadily.
The following period was badly affected by World War I. The congregation lost some of its members and in 1916, the bells were confiscated which made the local Protestants very sad. The confiscated bells were not substituted by new ones until the end of the war. In 1921, a new organ was bought, the church was electrified and a new altar placed in it in 1929. The Protestant cemetery, though, had to be closed due to increased mining activities in 1930. A new congregation house was put up and opened on the 25 of October, 1932.
During World War II, lots of ministers were persecuted and arrested. After the war, the congregation’s life quieted down again. In 1950, the church had to be repaired when damaged by mining. The bad effect the mining had on Orlová got worse and the village started to change. A part of the congregation’s member had to move away. The congregation was going through very difficult times.
Revival of congregation life came in the 1960s. An increasing number of children was attending religion and confirmation lessons, and more repairs were done on the church in 1970. Due to lack of money, the congregation got into debt. Also, the bad effect that the mining had on the church building was more and more visible. The church needed a complete overhaul. It started in May 1980 and on the 26th of June, 1983, the building was consecrated.
In the early 1980s, the decision to build a new rectory was taken. The building was finished and started to be used in 1987. The old congregation house was demolished and a farm building put up.
Since 1989, the congregation has been placing emphasis on working with children and young people. The Christian Association Benjamin was founded in the 1990s, and holiday and weekend camps, as well as other activities are organized regularly.
In 2004, the church had already been destroyed by mining that much that from safety reasons, the congregation was forced to stop using it. The problem was discussed thoroughly, even demolishion of the building was considered, a year later, however, the church was decided to be overhauled again.
Nowadays, the local congregation is a living part of the Church, worship is held regularly and various meetings and activities organized to attract children and youth. The church has become a cultural centre of Orlová.
The Protestant church in Orlová is one nave, late Classicist building from 1862, constructed by builder Josef Gros from Těšín. It is an interesting example of a religious architecture of the second part of the 19th century which had a significant influence on urbanism of Orlová and on the architecture of the whole North Moravian region. It is a brick, plastered, one nave building with a front tower and a polygonal closed presbytery with an altar made in the late Neo-Renaissance style by the woodcarver Nitra from Horní Bludovice. In its centre, there is a picture of Christ the Victor. On both sides of the altar, two wooden statues are placed – Apostle Peter on the left and Apostle Paul on the right. The altar is decorated with several figural reliefs of angels. Below the top crucifix, there is a circular coloured stained-window with a symbolic motif of a dove. The space in front of the altar is occuppied by a baptistery from the late 19th century. The pulpit is set in the left wall of the presbytery with a baldaquin. The organ is placed on the choir. In the tower, there are three bells made by Wenle company from Bockeren near Leipzig in 1918.
The church was restored in 2005 and worship is held here regularly.