From Crisis to Federation: The Birth of the URCNA

This article is based on a MARSCAST interview with Dr. Cornelis Venema, President Emeritus and Professor of Doctrinal Studies at Mid-America Reformed Seminary, who lived through these events and continues to serve the United Reformed Churches in North America.

Understanding how the United Reformed Churches in North America came into being requires more than knowing its founding date. The story begins years before 1996, in the consistories of churches wrestling with conscience, in conferences where office bearers sought counsel together, and in the gradual recognition that the path forward required something new.

The Letter from Lynwood: 1986

In 1986, the consistory of Lynwood Christian Reformed Church in Lynwood, Illinois, took a decisive step. They sent a formal letter to all the consistories of all the Christian Reformed Churches in North America. The letter explained their deep troubles with developments in the denomination—the conviction that the CRC was losing its moorings and identity as a confessionally faithful denomination.

The Lynwood consistory raised specific objections: the requirement to support denominational agencies through quotas with little freedom granted to those who, by reason of conscience, were unwilling to support what they felt was unbiblical; disagreement with the direction on women's ordination; deep troubles over compromising the historicity of the biblical record of redemptive history, beginning with creation. They had a whole sort of laundry list of concerns.

The letter asked a direct question of all the consistories: What can we do? What should we do?

The question wasn't simply about preserving tradition. This was about confessional faithfulness—a keen interest in being confessionally reformed, with the denomination's life and work conforming to Scripture and confession.

The Consistorial Conferences Begin

One consistory that responded was Hospers Christian Reformed Church in Iowa, then pastored by Dr. J. Mark Beach. Their suggestion was practical and providential: convene a meeting of consistories of like mind and concern to take counsel together. How could they, by legitimate means and in a church-orderly way, address the situation?

The first meeting took place in the South Chicago area near Lynwood CRC, initially meeting at the church itself and later at a conference center called Village Woods. These became annual gatherings—consistorial conferences spanning 1986 to the mid-1990s.

What made these conferences significant was their composition: entire consistories attended, not just pastors. This was deliberate. The issues at stake affected the governance and conscience of whole churches, and the responses needed the wisdom and authority of full consistories—pastors and elders together.

A Growing Fellowship Across Denominations

The issues the CRC faced were not isolated. Throughout this period, many denominations—broadly among evangelical churches but particularly among Reformed and Presbyterian churches—were wrestling with similar controversies over biblical authority, interpretation, and confessional subscription.

The Consistorial Conference attracted interest from other Reformed and Presbyterian churches. Representatives from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church in America, the Orthodox Christian Reformed Churches (a small denomination officially formed in 1988), the Protestant Reformed Church, and the Canadian Reformed Churches served as observers. They came expressing solidarity and similar concerns.

This raised an important question: Was this strictly a Christian Reformed movement?

The Alliance of Reformed Churches

The name of the gathering evolved to reflect its changing composition. First called the Consistorial Conference, it became the Alliance of Christian Reformed Churches, then the Alliance of Reformed Churches.

Delegates came from formerly CRC churches that had already separated from the denomination but still wanted to cultivate fellowship and assist one another. This created an anomaly—an alliance of both federated churches (still in the CRC) and non-federated churches (those that had left), together with representatives from other Reformed and Presbyterian bodies.

Within the Alliance of Reformed Churches, a growing tension emerged over purpose. Was this simply a perpetual gathering to bemoan what was happening? Increasingly, a segment of the alliance recognized that something more was needed.

The Need for Realignment

The conviction grew: We need to realign. We need to be joined together. We're Reformed. We're not Congregationalists. The situation in the CRC is not improving—in some respects, it's going from bad to worse.

The alliance meetings eventually led to a constitutional change that acknowledged two broad purposes: first, to facilitate fellowship among like-minded, confessionally reformed and Presbyterian churches in North America, consulting and working together where possible; second, to assist churches leaving or contemplating leaving the CRC in forming a new federation.

1995: The Resolution to Federate

The decisive moment came in 1995. At that year's meeting, delegates representing churches and ministers and elders discussed how to form a new denomination. They didn't technically federate in 1995—they resolved to federate. They used the language of "provisional federation."

The resolutions passed in 1995 laid careful groundwork:

First, the decision to form a provisional federation was placed at the local church level. Each consistory, with the congregation's approbation, would vote by majority whether to join the new federation being formed.

Second, the federation would be based on God's holy Word as confessed in the Three Forms of Unity. Until a new church order was written, they would use the CRCNA's 1934 Church Order, which stemmed from the Church Order of Dort.

Third, independent Reformed congregations not represented at the meeting were invited to join and become part of the permanent new federation.

Fourth, three consistories—Lethbridge, Alberta; Wyoming, Michigan; and Wellandport, Ontario—would convene the meeting the following year to effect a permanent ecclesiastical organization and structure.

They adopted a provisional name: the Fellowship of Uniting Reformed Churches in North America.

1996: The First Synod

The official birth of the URCNA took place at the first synod in Lynwood, Illinois, in 1996. Delegations from approximately 40 churches gathered for this historic meeting.

The synod considered the name of the denomination. There was a spirited debate. Some Canadian churches expressed concern about the word "united"—in Canada, it suggested the United Church in Canada, a very progressive denomination. Nevertheless, the name adopted was United Reformed Churches in North America.

A proposed church order came from the special committee that had been working during this period. The synod adopted it while recognizing that it needed perfecting and asked the consistories to bring proposals for improvement to subsequent synods.

The synod allowed for a period of charter membership. Any church wishing to join within the coming year could do so without their office bearers, particularly ministers, undergoing a classical examination—a kind of grandfathering for the ministers.

Fraternal greetings were extended to the Canadian Reformed Churches and the Reformed Church in the U.S. A letter of encouragement was sent, welcoming as members other churches still in the CRC, as well as independent churches. There was, for example, a fellowship of churches in the Western Michigan area, not all of whom were quite ready to join a new denomination. Dutton, for instance, was slow to join the URC out of concern about what form of government the new denomination would adopt—there was great fear of a hierarchical structure, which many viewed the CRC as having developed over time.

And so at those two decisive meetings—first a resolution to federate in 1995, then a decision to proceed to effect that federation in 1996—the United Reformed Churches were born. There were only three classes at the time, roughly 40 churches. But it was a beginning.

What the Founders Got Right

Nearly three decades later, reflecting on the founding of the URCNA reveals both wisdom and complexity.

The fundamental things were gotten right. This is not to say there weren't aspects where things weren't done in the best possible way. There was messiness, sorrow, sadness, splits, and separations that didn't always go smoothly. It was a difficult time. There was a cost people paid—ministers deposed at the classical level, even after they had left the CRC.

There were differences of opinion among those who seceded. Some had a more radical view, prepared to declare the CRC in its totality a false church. The predominant opinion, however, was more measured: the CRC was no longer a confessionally reformed church that was serious about its confessions and unembarrassed about the distinctive features of its government, worship, and liturgical practice.

The desire was to preserve and propagate—not in a sense of embarrassment but with enthusiasm—the riches of the Reformed inheritance. Reformed was simply a synonym for biblical. The goal was to govern the church and carry out the church's work and task in a way conformed to the ultimate standard given in Scripture and the subordinate standard of the Three Forms of Unity.

The Church Order Question

One of the more controversial issues, in retrospect, was the creation of a church order that modified the CRC's Church Order, stemming from the Church Order of Dort. Features were removed largely out of concern to resist overreaching by broader assemblies—whether classis or synod—in the government of the local church.

The denomination has spent almost 30 years "tinkering with the church order." There's been a gradual recognition that some features of the older church order that were removed should perhaps have been retained. The denomination has been slowly restoring features of the older church order that were lost in the earliest version.

At the most recent synod in Escondido in 2024, days were spent "perfecting the church order." Some of the language had been inconsistent. It had the character of something put together in the context of controversy—they hadn't really dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's. The church order is now in a better place and is more well-received throughout the URCs than it once was.

Wisdom for Younger Generations

One concern about the United Reformed Churches in North America, given its relatively brief history, is its historical awareness. The federation is only about 30 years old—approximately one generation. There's now a whole new generation of members in URC churches who didn't live through the formation.

It's characteristic of the culture—and individuals are inevitably influenced by it—that there is often a lack of much historical awareness, particularly among younger generations. But the history is not just 30 years. Some people have the notion that the church simply appeared without awareness of its origins.

More knowledge of the history of the CRC and its roots, and of the Reformed churches of which this federation is a part, is necessary to understand the federation's identity and purpose.

The Ethos of Independence

Part of the worry about too much uniformity and overreaching by broader assemblies has produced something of an ethos in the URC—a tendency to be very independent and locally church-minded. While appropriate relative autonomy of the local church is biblical, there's also the recognition that we're part of a larger body of churches federated together.

There are opportunities to cultivate better relations and cooperate more fully. Significant progress is still needed in this area. The URC is now quite different from the CRC as remembered by some in the past, when there was a strong interest in and commitment to the denomination’s work beyond the local congregation.

The work of the CRC in foreign missions, home missions, and education was rather extraordinary for the size of the denomination. Billy Graham reportedly called it a "sleeping giant" because of its extensive institutional development—Calvin College, Calvin Seminary, colleges elsewhere, Christian schools, and tremendous programs in classical home missions, church planting, and world missions. At one time, the cohort of CRC worldwide missionaries was impressive for a small denomination. And the Lord blessed that work.

Looking Forward

One of the encouraging developments in the URC is the recognition that it's not here simply to perpetuate and preserve an inheritance. It has been richly blessed and offers immense opportunities—in the local churches within their communities, in the classical context of church planting, and beyond, in both domestic and international missions.

The enthusiasm and vitality of the federation's coming generation will depend in part on this vision. Knowing the history, respecting the past, and acknowledging what has been received are essential while maintaining a forward-looking perspective. Where does the church go from here? Why does it exist as a federation of churches?

The goal is not merely to preserve what has been received, but to communicate it. It's the gospel. It's the Reformed biblical understanding of the gospel that the churches must live by and that must underlie everything they do.

Conclusion

The birth of the URCNA wasn't a hasty or impulsive decision. It was a carefully considered response to serious theological concerns, rooted in love for the Reformed faith and a desire for biblical faithfulness.

From a single letter in 1986 to the first synod in 1996, the journey involved entire consistories taking counsel together, representatives from multiple Reformed and Presbyterian bodies seeking fellowship, and a growing recognition that confessional faithfulness required not just protest but positive action—the formation of a new federation committed to the Three Forms of Unity and biblical church government.

The story continues. The church order has been refined. The federation has grown. And the challenge remains: to know our history, to be confessionally faithful, and to proclaim the Reformed understanding of the gospel to the world.