Christian Reformed Churches

For other church bodies of this name, see Christian Reformed Churches of Australia and Christian Reformed Church in North America.

Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands

Classification	Protestant
Theology	Evangelical, Reformed
Polity	Presbyterian
Associations	International Conference of Reformed Churches
Region	Netherlands
Origin	1869
Separated from	Dutch Reformed Church
Separations	Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (1892) Reformed Congregations (1907)
Congregations	180 (2014)
Members	73,692 (2014)^[1]

The Christian Reformed Churches in The Netherlands (Dutch: Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland) is a Protestant church in the Netherlands.

Christian Reformed Church in Lutjegast

History

The original name of the church was Christian Reformed Church in the Netherlands (Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk in Nederland, CGKN). The church was formed in 1869 by the merger of two churches, the Reformed Churches under the Cross and the Separated Christian Congregations, both separated from the Dutch Reformed Church in 1834. Most of the CGKN merged into the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands in 1892; a small part remained independent, and carried this name until it was renamed in 1947 to Christian Reformed Churches.

At the first Synod eight congregations were represented. A Theological Seminary was opened in The Hague and later was moved to Apeldoorn in 1919. Since then the churches grew steadily till 1985, when membership was 75,000, and today membership fluctuates around this number. It has 11 classes. The church withdrew from the Reformed Ecumenical Council in 1989, and joined the International Conference of Reformed Churches in 1995.^[2]^[3]

Developments

CGK members in the Netherlands per capita in 2008

Several congregations for example in Rotterdam and in Zwartsluis dissolved or merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) like in Doesburg. In 2012 many Christian Reformed missions were constituted as full-fledged congregations. On 1. January 2013 the denomination had 33 more members than in the previous years.

Theology

Statistics

In January 2012 the church has 74,286 members in 181 churches. In recent years membership was steady. In the next year in early 2013 membership grew by more than 30.

Interchurch relations

The Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands seek cooperation with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) and with other Dutch Reformed Churches. It supports missions in Thailand, and Sulawesi, Indonesia, the Toraja Mamasa Church was founded by missionaries of the Christian Reformed denomination.^[5] Complete correspondence:

Limited Correspondence:

Dutch Reformed Church in Botswana
Reformed Churches of Botswana
Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Reformed Church in Japan
Presbyterian Church in Korea (Koshin)
Christian Reformed Churches of Australia^[6]

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Calvinism portal

Free Reformed Churches of North America, the North American affiliate of the Christian Reformed Churches
Christian Reformed Church in North America, a denomination not affiliated with the Christian Reformed Churches but having a coincidentally similar name in North America.

References

External links

Official website (Dutch)
Brief description of CGKN in English

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