Check.Church

Christian Reformed Church in North America

Reformed and Presbyterian · 1857 · United States; Canada

Dutch Seceder immigrants who had joined the Reformed Church in America separated in 1857, holding the older body too accommodated to American ways (the freemasonry dispute crystallized it in 1882); the CRC carried the Afscheiding's confessional temper, later reinforced by Kuyper's influence.

Christian Reformed Church in North America was formed in 1857. Christian Reformed Church in North America continues today. Christian Reformed Church in North America's institutional line runs back through Dutch Reformed Church, Reformed, Roman Catholicism to the post-apostolic church. No body on this tree is the assembly of Acts 2; where a body claims that, the claim appears in the claimed-lineage layer.

Between the post-apostolic church and Christian Reformed Church in North America stand 3 divisions along the institutional line, counting separations and disputed forks, not mergers, renewals or national organizations.

At a glance

Formed
In 1857
Family
Reformed and Presbyterian
Region
United States; Canada
Key figures
Gijsbert Haan, Albertus Van Raalte (RCA counterpart)
Cause tags
Doctrine, Governance
Also known as
CRC; CRCNA

What it separated from

  • Separated from Dutch Reformed Church. Via the Afscheiding emigration and the 1857 separation from the Reformed Church in America.

On the tree

Christian Reformed Church in North America and its institutional line back to the post-apostolic churchAD 33The church at Pentecost: On divine groundThe church at Pentecost: on divine groundtoday1004244314511054151915781857The post-apostolic church (The spine)The post-apostolicchurchDepartureChurch of the East (Church of the East)Church of the EastChurch of the EastThe conciliar church (The spine)The conciliar churchDepartureThe Chalcedonian church (The spine)The Chalcedonian churchDepartureOriental Orthodoxy (Oriental Orthodox)Oriental OrthodoxyOriental OrthodoxEastern Orthodoxy (Eastern Orthodox)Eastern OrthodoxyEastern OrthodoxRoman Catholicism (Catholic)Roman CatholicismNot gatheredReformed (Reformed and Presbyterian)ReformedReformed and PresbyterianDutch Reformed Church (Reformed and Presbyterian)Dutch Reformed ChurchReformed and PresbyterianChristian Reformed Church in North America (Reformed and Presbyterian)Christian ReformedChurch in North AmericaReformed and Presbyterian

Solid lines are separations and unions; dashed lines are renewals that began inside a body; dotted gray lines are national organizations of one communion; a diamond marks a fork event where neither side is drawn as the one that left. Every line runs back to the post-apostolic church; no body descends from the assembly of Acts 2. Dashed gray boxes mark the institutional line after the apostles, shown as departure; no line of descent is drawn from Pentecost. A verdict appears on a box once its section is published.

Sources

Research compiled July 2026. Page data built 2026-10-31.