The Protestant Church in the Netherlands is the result of the unification of three churches. The history of this unification process goes back to the early 19-sixties. About every three years the WCC Quarterly Ecumenical Review gives a 'Survey of Church Union Negotiations'. The next issue is due to be published in 2005. Detailed information about the final years of our unifcation process will be available in English then. For information about decisive developments in 1999-2000, see Survey Ecumenical Review 2002. Here we can only present the main lines of development. 

The Netherlands has been notorious for its ecclesial divisions or – to put it more mildly – its ecclesial diversity. Especially within Protestantism ever new divisions have taken place. Already in the early 17th century a first schism within the established Reformed Church resulted in a small separate community: the Remonstrant Brotherhood (Arminians). In the second decade of the 19th century King William I imposed a new church order on the national church, from then on known as the Netherlands Reformed Church (NRC). This was one of the causes for further schisms. In 1834 and 1886 two major groups left the NRC. They came together in 1892 and formed the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (RCN). However, some of the 1834 ‘Secessionists’ remained outside of this union; the are known now as the Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (CRCN). In later years new schisms led to the present situation: there are more than ten Reformed denominations in the Netherlands, all with roots in the same family. Besides this, there is a growing number of migrant churches with Reformed roots in our country.

In 1961, a group of 18 pastors of the Netherlands Reformed Church (NCR) and the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (RCN) issued an urgent appeal to end the long-lasting separation between the two churches and strive toward reunification. In 1986 decisive steps were taken (more details). What had begun as a process of re-unification, viz of the NRC and the RCN which had abandoned each other in the 19th century, gained a new dimension when the Evangelical Lutheran Church joined the process in 1986. The ELC had been an independent Church from the very beginning of the Reformation. In political and societal life the Lutheran church had been discriminated against for centuries. Like other dissenters (Mennonites, Arminians) they did not enjoy equal rights with the established Reformed church until the end of the 18th century.

The fundamental decisions as taken in 1986 by the three synods finally prepared the way for a legal process towards full organic unification. In 1990 the three synods decided to venture in this direction.
In 1993 we saw the preliminary approval of a new Constitution, a basic Church Order which had to be followed by by-laws (ordinances, general regulations and transitional regulations) in all kinds of areas. The joint assembly of synods approved of the ordinances for the future united church at the end of January 1997. Next, the texts were sent to the classical assemblies and church councils, so that they could give their opinions before the end of 1998.
In November 1997 the second reading of the basic church order took place. It was passed by nearly 175 to 24 votes, at that moment including the name: United Protestant Church in the Netherlands (UPCN). However, the name of the future united church proved to be a most difficult issue, especially in the NRC. Dealing with the ratification of the text the NRC synod confirmed all (other) articles of the draft accepted by the trio synod, but it did not approve of the name chosen. An extra assembly of the joint synods, in November 1998, did not manage to overcome the deadlock. Only five years afterwards, the synods would agree on the name 'Protestant Church in the Nethlernads' after all.
In the meantime the church order working group evaluated nearly all the reactions to the draft by-laws for the new church. In a periode from November 2001 until June 2003 all 14 by-laws have been adopted. By June 2003 also the additional legislation had been completed and accepted according to the legal procedures as required in the three churches separately.
So, in June 2003 the formal decision to unite could be taken in first reading, and again the minor assemblies were given a final opportunity to react. The final decision on church unification was taken in separate synod meetings in three different churches in Utrecht, on 12th December 2003. An impressive joint service of thanksgiving and prayer was held in the historical Dom church of Utrecht the same evening.
The united church became a fact as from 1st May 2004.