December 19, 2003

UTRECHT, The Netherlands/GENEVA - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) described the recent agreement on a merger between the Lutheran church and two Reformed churches in the Netherlands as "a far-reaching and important decision, not only for the churches in the Netherlands, but also for the relationship of the Lutheran and Reformed families worldwide."

The nearly 15,000-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands will merge with the country's two largest Reformed churches - the 1.9 million-member Netherlands Reformed Church (NRC) and the 660,000-member Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (RCN). The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PCN), with over 2.5 million members, officially comes into being on 1 May 2004.

The synods of the three churches each approved the merger at separate meetings in the city of Utrecht on December 12. The synod presidents then signed the formal union agreement during a worship service that was attended by among others Queen Beatrix and the head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands, Cardinal Adrianus Simonis.

The merger go-ahead ends the "Together on the Way" - "Samen op Weg" union process that began with an appeal for the reunion of the two Reformed churches in 1961. The Lutheran church joined in 1990, at which point the reunion effort became a union effort. The Dutch Lutheran church and the NRC both date from the 16th-century Reformation movement, while the RCN was formed from 19th-century schisms in the NRC.

Rev. Dr Bas Plaisier, general secretary of the current federation of the three churches spoke of the historic significance of the union. "For the first time in the history of the Netherlands, the two most important traditions in Protestantism are joining together."

In total, 147 synod members voted for the merger and 36 against. The Lutheran and RCN synods each voted with clear majorities of over 80 percent in favor. In the 75-member NRC synod, the vote was 51 in favor out of the 75 votes that were cast. At its synod, the Lutheran church approved the merger with 30 votes in favor and six against. A minimum of 27 votes, representing a three quarters' majority was required.

Hailing the Lutheran vote a "historic decision," synod president Ilona Fritz assured the synod members that "we are not closing down the [Dutch] Lutheran church. Merging means continuing, with the other churches. We hope, pray and expect that we will find a home in the new church and that we support each other on the way."

During the days discussions, synod members asked for assurances that the Dutch Lutheran churchs current membership in the LWF will be continued through the PCN. Synod president Fritz and LWF Europe Area Secretary Rev. Dr Andreas Woehle, gave the assurances that the world body will welcome an application for membership in the LWF, which the new Dutch church has agreed to apply for.

"The LWF congratulates the three churches in the Netherlands and is also aware of the intention of the new church body to seek membership in the LWF as well as in the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC)," said the statement signed by Rev. Sven Oppegaard, LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Affairs.

There are currently four Lutheran-reformed union churches with membership in both the LWF and WARC, namely the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus; Evangelical Church of the River Plate, in Argentina; the Church of Lippe, in Germany; and the Malagasy Protestant Church in France.

The PCN is set to be the second largest church in the Netherlands, after the 5-million-member Roman Catholic Church. Many of the countrys smaller Protestant churches, including several Reformed churches, will remain separate from the new church. Some 40 percent of the Dutch population do not belong to any organized religious group.

Lutheran World Information
By LWI correspondent Andreas Havinga, Netherlands