Reformed Churches in The Netherlands (Liberated) - Name

Name

After the Liberation the church maintained that they were the legitimate continuation of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and thus adopted that name (Dutch Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland). However, because the denomination from which they had separated continued using that name, the addition "liberated" was used colloquially, although never officially, to distinguish the new denomination. Members of the Liberated church referred to the denomination from which they separated as the synodical church, which signified the remaining members' adherence to the rulings by the National Synod against which the Liberated churches protested. An older name for the Reformed Churches (Liberated) was Article 31 Churches in reference to one of the articles in the Church Order at the centre of the dispute between the two groups.