The Restored Reformed Church (, abbreviated HHK) is a

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

denomination in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It was founded in 2004, from congregations which made up the orthodox-reformed wing of the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

; they had previously been part of groups named ''Het Gekrookte Riet'' ("The Bruised Reed") and the still existing ''Gereformeerde Bond'' ("Reformed Association") within the Dutch Reformed Church. The Church has grown steadily since its founding.

History

The Restored Reformed Church was founded on 1 May 2004, by a minority of the Calvinist Bond inside the

(''Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk'') who opposed that church's merger with two other

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 ...

churches into 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 ...

(''Protestantse Kerk in Nederland''). The first president of the denomination was Dirk Heemskerk. Later several free churches joined this new federation in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Alblasserdam Alblasserdam () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It covers an area of , of which is water, and has a population of as of . Alblasserdam is officially a part of the Drechtsteden region. A p ...

Schiedam Schiedam () is a large town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of the city Rotterdam, east of the town Vlaardingen and south of the city Delft. In the south, Schi ...

Waddinxveen Waddinxveen () is a town and municipality along the Gouwe river in the western Netherlands in the province of South Holland near Gouda. The municipality had a population of in and covers an area of of which is water. A small piece of artwork ...

and an Old Reformed Church voted to affiliate with Restored Reformed Church. Many congregations have their own church buildings, but several churches meet in storehouses and schools. In the towns of

Elspeet Elspeet is a tourist village in the Netherlands, in the Veluwe region, in the municipality of Nunspeet, Gelderland, Netherlands. The village is situated about 10 kilometers south of Nunspeet and about 4 kilometers north of Uddel, on the Northern V ...

Sommelsdijk Sommelsdijk is a village on the island of Goeree-Overflakkee, South Holland, the Netherlands, and part of the municipality of the same name. Sommelsdijk has (1 January 2022) 7,195 inhabitants which makes it the second largest settlement after Midd ...

, Sint-Annaland,

Putten Putten () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and Dorp (town), town in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It had a population of in . It is located in the coastal area of the old Zui ...

Terschuur Terschuur is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Barneveld. History It was first mentioned around 1400 as "den teende ther schuren", and means "at the barn". Terschuur used to part of Zwartebroe ...

, Barneveld Restored Reformed congregations have new buildings and others are preparing for this. In 2014, the Church had a membership of 58,821 in 118 congregations.According to the church office of the Hersteld Hervormde Kerk, April 17, 2008 The church established the Reformed Seminary which in 2011 had seventy students; the rector is Wim van Vlastuin.

Character, statistics

The Restored Reformed Church is a

church of

presbyterian polity Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance (" ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session ...

. It cooperates with the Christian Reformed Church in the Netherlands in youth programmes. There is also a possibility to exchange ministers. Officially the denomination use only the Statenvertaling translation of the Bible. Almost all the congregations are in the Dutch Bible Belt.

Staphorst Staphorst () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. History The villages of Staphorst and its southern neighbour Rouveen came into existence as in the 13th century monks started to bring the bogs and swamps into culture. All ...

Ouddorp Ouddorp is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is part of the municipality of Goeree-Overflakkee. It is often referred to as ''Ouddorp aan Zee'' (Outdorp on the Sea) to promote itself as a seaside resort, because the village has ...

Lunteren Lunteren is a town in Gelderland, the Netherlands. It has a railway station on the line between Amersfoort and Ede. It is well known for three conference centres in the vicinity, including ''Het Bosgoed'', which mostly hosts academic conferences ...

Katwijk Katwijk () is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands. The Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland), Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and i ...

, Urk,

, Doornspijk and Opheusden are towns where large Restored Reformed churches can be found. The church has seven presbyteries (Dutch: Classis): Classis North, Classis North Veluwe, Classis Center, Classis East, Classis South East, Classis West, and Classis Southwest. These classes form the General Synod.

Theology

Creeds

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Confessions

Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Reformed catechism taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Reformed Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg, Germany. Its ...

Belgic Confession The ''Confession of Faith'', popularly known as the Belgic Confession, is a confession to which many Reformed churches subscribe as a doctrinal standard. The Confession forms part of the Three Forms of Unity, which are the official subordinate st ...

Canons of Dort The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht, formally titled ''The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands'', is an exposition of orthodox Reformed soteriology against Arminianism, by the Nat ...

Missions

It conducts

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

work in

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

, where the Dutch minister Rev. R.J. Oomen works in the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Malawi (RPC). The church consists of 170 congregations in Malawi, mainly in the central and southern part of Malawi. The church there has about 15,000 members. The work is to advise the governing bodies of the church and to teach the leaders and students. There is a mission point in

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

and in the village of Klein Powakka among the Arowak Indians. On 14 August 2012 a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

congregation was added to the Restored Church, the Springford Reformed Church. The largest congregations are those of

and

Membership

In 2004/2005 the Restored Reformed Church had 53,900 members. In 2014, there were 58,821 members in the Netherlands and in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. In 2021, the church had 60,159 members.

Notable members

* Roelof Bisschop, politician (member of the lower house of the Dutch Parliament) *

Bart Jan Spruyt Dr. Bastian Jan "Bart Jan" Spruyt (born 29 January 1964, in Ridderkerk) is a Dutch historian, journalist and conservatism, conservative writer. He is opinion editor for CNE.news. Early life and education Spruyt grew up in Rotterdam, Netherlands, ...

, historian, journalist and conservative writer * Bas van der Vlies, former politician (member of the lower house of the Dutch Parliament) * Wim van Vlastuin, theologian, minister and professor at the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public university, public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in ...

References

External links

Restored Reformed Church (Dutch)

Restored Reformed Youth Organisation (Dutch)
{{Christianity in the Netherlands Reformed denominations in the Netherlands Christian organizations established in 2004 Protestant denominations established in the 21st century