Dutch Reformed Church

The Dutch Reformed Church (in Dutch: Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk or NHK) is the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation until 1930

It is the foremost Protestant denomination, and—since 1892—one of the two major Reformed denominations along with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands.

It spreads to the United States, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, and various other world regions through the Dutch colonization.

It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family until being merged into the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, a United church of both Reformed and Lutheran theological orientations.

The allegiance to the Dutch Reformed Church is a common feature among Dutch immigrant communities around the world, and becomes a crucial part of Afrikaner nationalism.

It develops during the Protestant Reformation, being shaped theologically by John Calvin, but also other major Reformed theologians.

It is founded in 1571 and functions until 2004, the year it merges with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.