The Netherlands Reformed Churches (, NGK) was a conservative Reformed

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Christian denomination in the

Kingdom of the Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...

. The denomination was formed in 1967 following a schism within the

Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) () was an orthodox Calvinist federation of churches. This church body arose in 1944 out of the so-called Liberation (') from the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, when many pastors and me ...

. In 2017 the denomination began the process of merging with the

, which together formed, on 1 May 2023, the Dutch Reformed Churches, a new denomination.

History

The Netherlands Reformed Churches has a history that coincides to a great extent with that of the Reformed Churches (Liberated) of which it was a part until the early 1960s. The latter denomination arose out of a conflict within the

Reformed Churches in the Netherlands The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (, abbreviated ''Gereformeerde kerk'') was the second largest Protestant church in the Netherlands and one of the two major Calvinist denominations along with the Dutch Reformed Church since 1892 unti ...

over the covenant and the power of the general synod. After that schism, referred to as the ''Liberation'' (Dutch ''Vrijmaking''), the Liberated churches became a very conservative and orthodox denomination. Wary of the liberal tendencies within various Reformed denominations, they started to develop a number of cultural and political structures and institutes, whose membership was restricted to church members. Some in the church held the view that the Liberated church was the only true church in the Netherlands and implied that all other Christians were in violation of God's command to be joined to God's covenant people. A sizeable group disagreed with that view. In 1964, the disagreement came to a head, when Rev. Van der Ziel was accused of errors in his teaching and was found guilty by the synod of the Reformed Churches (Liberated), which defrocked him. Many members protested that measure and in 1966 drew up an open letter with a petition to voice their protest. However, local church councils responded by excommunicating members who had signed the petition. Those members and many who followed them voluntarily formed a new group. The new federation of Reformed Churches was referred to as ''buitenverbanders'' (literally "those outside the denomination") until 1979, when the current name, Netherlands Reformed Churches, was adopted.

Doctrine and practice

In teaching, the ''Netherlands Reformed Churches'' were in many ways an orthodox Reformed Church. They held to the traditional confessions of the ancient church (the

Nicene Creed The Nicene Creed, also called the Creed of Constantinople, is the defining statement of belief of Nicene Christianity and in those Christian denominations that adhere to it. The original Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Council of N ...

, the

Apostles' Creed The Apostles' Creed (Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith". "Its title is first found c.390 (Ep. 42.5 of Ambro ...

, and the

Athanasian Creed The Athanasian Creed—also called the ''Quicunque Vult'' (or ''Quicumque Vult''), which is both its Latin name and its opening words, meaning "Whosoever wishes"—is a Christian statement of belief focused on Trinitarian doctrine and Christolo ...

), as well as the

Three Forms of Unity The Three Forms of Unity is a collective name for the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dort, and the Heidelberg Catechism, which reflect the doctrinal concerns of continental Calvinism and are accepted as official statements of doctrine by man ...

. As a Calvinist church, they practiced infant baptism. However, the denomination was very loosely organised. As a result of the bad experiences with synodical authority, the local congregations had much more power and the general synod much less than in most other Reformed churches. Thus, there were many variations and differences between local congregations. Some were very traditional; others were more heavily influenced by contemporary

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

practices and had replaced traditional Dutch organ music with praise bands. Also, the synod of the Netherlands Reformed Churches had recently allowed women to serve as deacons, elders, and pastors, but most local churches did not allow that. Such variations had made contacts with other churches somewhat more complicated. There had been close contacts with the

. Even though the widespread desire to be reunited to each other had been hampered by deep-running disagreements over both doctrine and practice, the two denominations officially merged into the Dutch Reformed Churches in 2023. The Netherlands Reformed Churches were also close to the

Christian Reformed Churches The Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands () is a Protestant church in the Netherlands. History The original name of the church was Christian Reformed Church in the Netherlands (''Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk in Nederland'', CG ...

. After the formation of the

Protestant Church in the Netherlands The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (, abbreviated PKN) is the largest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Netherlands, consisting of historical Calvinism, Calvinist and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. It w ...

, two protesting congregations from the former

joined the Netherlands Reformed Church.

Statistics

The Netherlands Reformed Churches had 33,030 members in 2011, about 20,975 are communicants, and 12,045 are non-communicants. This church statistic means a growth of more than 392 in the last year. The church was served by 86 pastors. Since 1985 the office of deacons were open to women, and since 2004 elders could be women too. In 31 congregations all ministries and positions were open for women, in 16 congregations elders and deacons could be women, in 16 churches the office of deacon was open for women, and in 20 congregations no women officers were allowed.

Missions

The Netherlands Reformed Congregations had missions in Nqutu in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and a mission in Sumba in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. It also had a translating Reformed literature agency, this was the Spanish Work in Latin America. The church maintained relations with denominations in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. In France they supported the National Union of Independent Reformed Evangelical Churches of France. These missions were supported by the congregations. The national magazine of the church was ''Opbouw'' (construction).''Opbouw'' website
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References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.ngk.nl/ 1967 establishments in the Netherlands 2023 disestablishments in the Netherlands Christian organizations established in 1967 Christian organizations disestablished in 2023 Reformed denominations in the Netherlands Calvinist denominations established in the 20th century