Canadian, Christian, United, Free Reformed: a guide to the names
Canadian, Christian, United and Free Reformed churches share one set of confessions. A fair guide to their histories, differences and how to tell them apart.
Deo Gloria, . 5 minute read.
Drive through Wellington County and you will pass signs for Canadian Reformed, Christian Reformed, United Reformed and Free Reformed churches, and it is fair to ask what the difference is. They are not the same church under different names, but they are close relatives. This guide sets out who is who, where they came from, what they share and where they actually differ.
What they all share
Every church in this family holds to the same three confessions, the Belgic Confession (1561), the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) and the Canons of Dort (1618–1619), together called the Three Forms of Unity. All of them also confess the Apostles’, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds. All are governed by elders and deacons in a local consistory or council, joined to other congregations in a classis and a synod. All baptize infants, celebrate the Lord’s Supper under the supervision of the elders, and trace their roots to the Reformed churches of the Netherlands.
Christian Reformed Church (1857)
The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC) is the oldest and largest of the four. It began in Michigan in 1857 when a group of Dutch immigrant congregations left the Reformed Church in America, wanting Psalm-singing rather than hymns, closer supervision of the Lord’s Supper and better teaching of children. It grew enormously after the Second World War, when tens of thousands of Dutch families arrived in Canada; by 1960 half of its new congregations were Canadian. Today it has about a thousand congregations and is the largest Dutch-background Reformed church in Canada.
The CRC has ordained women as ministers, elders and deacons since 1995, with each congregation free to decide for itself. Its worship varies widely, from traditional to contemporary. It belongs to the World Reformed Fellowship and, in Canada, to the Canadian Council of Churches. In recent years its synod has reaffirmed, with confessional weight, the historic teaching that sexual intimacy belongs within the marriage of one man and one woman, and a number of congregations that disagreed have since left.
Canadian Reformed Churches (1950)
The Canadian Reformed Churches (CanRC) were formed by a different group of post-war immigrants. In the Netherlands in 1944, during the German occupation, the Reformed Churches split over decisions of a synod concerning the covenant and baptism. About a tenth of the membership, led by the theologian Klaas Schilder, were put out or left, in what became known as the Liberation. When their members emigrated to Canada, they found that the Christian Reformed Church maintained its ties with the synod that had expelled them, and they did not feel able to join. The first Canadian Reformed church was instituted at Lethbridge, Alberta, on April 16, 1950.
Today the federation has about seventy congregations in Canada and the United States, most of them in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, and it trains its ministers at the Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary in Hamilton. It sings the Psalms to the Genevan melodies from its own songbook, the Book of Praise, holds two services every Sunday and preaches through the Heidelberg Catechism in the afternoon. Only men serve as ministers, elders and deacons. It belongs to the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC) and the International Conference of Reformed Churches.
United Reformed Churches (1996)
The United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA) were formed in 1996 by congregations that had left the Christian Reformed Church during the early 1990s, chiefly over the ordination of women and over concerns about the authority of Scripture. They kept the Three Forms of Unity and the CRC’s form of church government, but not its newer decisions. The federation now has about 125 congregations and 25,000 members, two Sunday services, men only in office, and a songbook, the Trinity Psalter Hymnal, published jointly with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 2018. It also belongs to NAPARC and the International Conference of Reformed Churches, and has long been close to the Canadian Reformed Churches.
Free Reformed Churches
The Free Reformed Churches of North America (FRCNA) descend from a different Dutch stream, the Christian Reformed Churches of the Netherlands, which go back to a secession from the state church in 1834. Their congregations in Canada also date from the 1950s; the name “Free Reformed” was adopted in 1974. It is a small federation of about twenty congregations, most of them in Ontario, known for experiential preaching that stresses the inner work of the Spirit and self-examination; its worship is spare, with a Psalter and two services each Sunday. Only men serve in office. Its students train at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, and it, too, belongs to NAPARC.
Other names you may see
The Reformed Church in America, dating from 1628, has a small presence in Canada. Presbyterian churches hold the same theology through the Scottish line, with the Westminster Confession rather than the Three Forms. Heritage Reformed, Netherlands Reformed and Protestant Reformed congregations are smaller Dutch-background federations, each with its own history.
How to tell which is which
The sign is the first clue. The songbook in the pew is nearly a fingerprint: the Book of Praise means Canadian Reformed; the Trinity Psalter Hymnal means United Reformed; Lift Up Your Hearts or the Psalter Hymnal means Christian Reformed; The Psalter alone usually means Free Reformed. Among these four, a woman serving as pastor or elder means Christian Reformed. Two services and a catechism sermon in the afternoon point to one of the other three. Every one of them has a website that says which federation it belongs to.
Stated fairly
Each of these divisions was painful, and people on every side believed they were being faithful to Scripture. Members of these churches still marry one another, work together and attend one another’s funerals. The publishers of this site belong to the Canadian Reformed Churches, and the local Reformed church listed here is one of them; but every branch of the family describes itself in its own words on its own website.