1834 Dutch Reformed Church split

The 1834 Dutch Reformed Church split, or the Secession of 1834 (Dutch: Afscheiding van 1834), known simply as Afscheiding ("separation, secession, split"), refers to a split that occurred within the Dutch Reformed Church in 1834. The federation of churches resulting from this split, the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken (CGK), still exists in the Netherlands today. The Free Reformed Churches are the North American counterpart.

The Secession of 1834 began in Ulrum, a town in the north of the Dutch province of Groningen. Leading up to the secession, their pastor, reverend Hendrik de Cock was forbidden by the government to preach and ordered not to warn people against what he believed to be the erroneous teachings of some of his colleagues.[1] He was also forbidden to baptize the children of believers who refused to have their children baptized by their own ministers who they believed not sound in the faith.

Therefore, on 14 October 1834, a large majority of the congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in Ulrum, signed "The Act of Secession and Return", breaking away from the State Church. The Secession would play a role in the 1857 Dutch Reformed Church split between the Reformed Church in America and the Christian Reformed Church in North America in 1857.