[4][5][6] In 2002, the Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) decided that Sunday keeping was not a doctrine taken directly from the Bible, but came from a church tradition.
Furthermore, the synod began to permit the use of a new hymnal, established ecclesiastical relations with other denominations that allow textual criticism of the Bible, changed its marriage formula.
[4][7][5][8][6][9] Consequently, in 2003, a group of dissatisfied churches broke away and formed the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Restored) (known by its Dutch acronym, De Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland or DGK), in an event that became known as the "new liberation" (in reference to the event known as the "liberation" that gave rise to the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated)).
[16][17] On that date, a unified synod was formed and the new denomination was formally constituted.
The name chosen was Reformed Churches (in Dutch Gereformeerde Kerken).