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The Dutch Reformed Church (in Dutch: Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk or NHK) was one of the many new churches established across Europe during the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. While the Dutch Reformed Church was based in the Netherlands, other churches holding similar theological views were founded in France, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, England, and Scotland. The theology and practice of the Dutch Reformed Church, and its sister churches in the countries named, were based on the teachings of John Calvin and the many other Reformers of his time. In 2004 the Dutch reformed Church merged into the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (Protestantse Kerk in Nederland, or PKN). Currently it has nearly two million members in the Netherlands.
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History
The Dutch Reformed Church was the oldest Reformed church in the Netherlands. Before the demise of the Dutch Republic in 1795, it enjoyed the status of 'public' or 'privileged' church. Though it was never formally adopted as a state church, the law demanded that every public official should be a communicant member. Consequently, the church had close relations to the Dutch government.
The Reformation was a time of religious violence and persecution. Many leaders of the newly established reformed congregations fled abroad. The first synod of 23 Dutch Reformed leaders was held in October 1571 in the German city of Emden. The Synod of Emden is generally considered to be the founding of the Dutch Reformed Church.
The first Synod in the Dutch Republic itself was held in Dordrecht in 1578. This synodical meeting is not to be confused with the better known 'Second Synod of Dort', during which Arminians were expelled from the church and the Canons of Dort were added to the Confessions. The Canons of Dordt, together with the previously adopted Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism) were called the Drie formulieren van Enigheid (Three Forms of Unity). In fact, most conflicts and splits in the church were brought about by disagreement over the substance and interpretation of these doctrinal documents.
The government of the Dutch Republic, which had instigated the Arminians' expulsion, subsequently prohibited the Reformed Church from assembling synodically. No Synod was held in the Netherlands until after the end of the Republic in 1795.
Further Reformation
The seventeenth and early eighteenth century is the age of the Dutch Nadere Reformatie (best translated in English as the Further Reformation). This was a movement of piety and a desire to apply the teachings of the Reformation to Dutch homes, churches, and society of that day. The main protagonists of the Nadere Reformatie were Wilhelmus à Brakel and Gisbertus Voetius. Lesser-known figures of the Further Reformation include Bernardus Smytegelt and Jodocus van Lodensteyn. Publications by these authors are still read, whether in Dutch or in translation, among various Reformed Christians throughout the world.
Regulation church
When the Kingdom of the Netherlands was established in 1815, the organisation of the Dutch Reformed Church became more centralized than ever. The existing church organisation was swept aside by the 'Regulations' imposed by the new government and the church was put under royal control, with its Synod members being personally nominated by the King until 1852. It was not until 1853 that Church and State became fully separated.
Twentieth century
The Dutch Reformed Church remained the largest church body in the Netherlands until the middle of the twentieth century, when it was overtaken by the Roman Catholic Church. The rapid secularization of the Netherlands in the 1960s dramatically reduced participation in the mainstream Protestant church. From the '60s onward, a number of attempts were made to effect a reunion with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (the "Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland"), which led to the establishment of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (Protestantse Kerk in Nederland, or PKN) in 2004.
Protestant Church in the Netherlands
The Dutch Reformed Church had 2 million members organised in 1,350 congregations when it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Evangelisch-Lutherse Kerk in het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) in 2004 to form the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (Protestantse Kerk in Nederland, PKN).
Controversies
The Dutch Reformed Church has undergone numerous schisms throughout its history. The first schism in 1618 led to the Remonstrant church. Other significant schisms include the Afscheiding (The Separation) in 1834, and the Doleantie (the Sorrow) led by Abraham Kuyper in 1886.
The 2004 merger (see above) has led to a new schism in which a number of congregations and members of the original Dutch Reformed Church separated to form the Hersteld Hervormde Kerk ('Restored Reformed Church'). Estimations of their membership vary from 35,000 up to 70,000 in about 120 local congregations served by 88 ministers. The Restored Reformed Church disapproves of the pluralistic nature of the merged church, which they allege contains partly contradicting Reformed and Lutheran confessions. This group also opposes the blessing of same-sex unions in Christian churches and the ordination of women.
Dutch Reformed churches abroad
Southern Africa
The Dutch Reformed Church gave rise to several Reformed denominations in South Africa, including the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk, the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk, the Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika, the Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa.
Dirk Van der Hoff was an important founding member of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa.
North America
The Dutch Reformed Church expanded to the Americas, beginning in 1628 with Marble Collegiate Church in New York City (then called New Amsterdam). The St. Thomas Reformed Church was formed in 1660 in St. Thomas, Danish West Indies and was the first Dutch Reformed Church in the Caribbean.
Wherever the Netherlands started colonies, the Dutch Reformed became the first official denomination. Today, the Reformed Church in America (RCA) is the largest among the several churches in the United States of Dutch Reformed heritage. The next largest (with about the same membership as the RCA) is the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA). Smaller related denominations are the the Canadian and American Reformed Churches, the Free Reformed Churches of North America (FRC), the Heritage Reformed Congregations (HRC), the Netherlands Reformed Congregations (NRC), and the Protestant Reformed Churches in America (PRC), and the United Reformed Churches in North America (URC).
In Canada, the largest such denomination is the CRCNA.
Former presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Martin Van Buren, both of Dutch descent, were affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church.
Sri Lanka
The Dutch Reformed Church expanded to what was then known as Ceylon, in the beginning of the 17th century. Through the Dutch East India Company (VOC), the denomination was taken to and installed in Ceylon in 1642.
The DRC of Ceylon officially changed its name in 2007 to the Christian Reformed Church of Sri Lanka to focus its identity more clearly on being Christian rather than on its Dutch heritage. As of 2007 its membership stands around 5,000, comprising both communicant and baptized members, in 29 congregations, preaching stations and mission outposts.[1]
See also
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