Mid-America Reformed Seminary recently published a four-part series on the history of the United Reformed Churches in North America. As a denomination born out of controversy in the Christian Reformed Church, the URCNA has a story worth knowing, and this series tells it well. The lectures walk through the doctrinal disputes that led congregations out of the CRC, the formation of the URCNA in 1996, and the theological commitments and institutional questions that have shaped the federation since.

The four episodes are:

1. The Long Road to Leaving the CRC
2. The Birth of the United Reformed Churches in North America
3. What the URCNA Won’t Compromise: Doctrine, Polity, and the Form of Subscription
4. Is There Room for Growth in the URCNA?

Timeline of the URCNA

• 1952: Almost the entire Calvin Seminary faculty is dismissed over differing approaches to confessional integrity.
• 1961: The CRC issues a study committee report on biblical inspiration after a complaint regarding the Calvin Seminary president’s views on scripture.
• 1967: The CRC convenes a special Synod to adjudicate a controversy over the doctrine of definite atonement.
• Early 1970s: The CRC’s “Report 44” sparks widespread dispute over biblical authority and the historical reality of scripture.
• 1979: A congregation in Listowel, Ontario, becomes one of the first to secede from the CRC.
• 1986: Lynwood CRC sends a letter of concern to all CRC consistories, sparking the formation of the consistorial conferences.
• 1988: The Orthodox Christian Reformed Churches (OCRC) officially federate after leaving the CRC.
• 1990: A CRC Synod initially permits women in office, and a study committee suggests rereading scripture in light of evolutionary science.
• 1993: The CRC reverses its 1990 decision regarding women in office.
• 1995: The CRC makes its final decision to permit women in office, while the Alliance of Reformed Churches resolves to form a provisional federation.
• 1996: The United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA) is officially born at its first Synod in Lynwood, Illinois.
• 1999: The URCNA Synod affirms a six-day creation in response to an overture to unite with the OCRC.
• 2001: The URCNA initiates a “joint venture model” for cooperative missions and church planting.
• 2008: Most congregations of the Orthodox Christian Reformed Churches (OCRC) merge into the URCNA.
• 2010: The URCNA Synod approves a study committee report addressing the Federal Vision and justification.
• 2024: The URCNA Synod meets in Escondido, California, to “perfect” its church order.