Protestant Church in the Netherlands

Protestant Church in the Netherlands
Logo of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Reformed and Lutheran
Polity	Mixture of Presbyterian and Congregationalist
Associations	Conference of European Churches World Communion of Reformed Churches Lutheran World Federation World Council of Churches
Origin	1 May 2004 Netherlands
Merger of	Dutch Reformed Church Reformed Churches in the Netherlands Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Separations	Restored Reformed Church Continued Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (newly organized denominations; refused to participate in the merger)
Congregations	ca. 2,000
Members	2 million, 11.8 % of the population (2016)
Official website	www.pkn.nl

The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (Dutch: Protestantse Kerk in Nederland, abbreviated PKN) is the largest Protestant denomination in the Netherlands, being both Reformed (Calvinist) and Lutheran.

It was founded 1 May 2004 as the merger of the Dutch Reformed Church, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The merger was the culmination of an organizational process started in 1961. Several orthodox Reformed and liberal churches did not merge into the new church.

A bulk of its membership, along with that of other Protestant denominations, is distributed in the Reformed north, which contrasts with the Roman Catholic south.

The Protestant Church of the Netherlands (PKN) forms the second largest Christian denomination after the Roman Catholic Church, with approximately 2 million members or some 11.8% of the population in 2015. From the onset of the Protestant Reformation, the Dutch population became divided into about two-thirds Protestant (mostly Reformed) and one-third Roman Catholic believers. This began to change gradually in the 20th century as there has been a steep decline in religious adherence. It is the traditional faith of the Dutch Royal Family – a remnant of historical dominance of the Dutch Reformed Church, the main predecessor of the Protestant Church.