The Christian Reformed Churches of Australia trace their origin back to the Swiss or Reformed reformation, which began independently of, but at the same time as the Lutheran Reformation in Germany. While Zwingli is regarded as the founder of the Reformed Reformation, it was Calvin who completed it.

Calvin produced the Institutes of the Christian Religion, which is generally regarded as the greatest dogmatic work of the Reformation. He was also a brilliant church organiser, having formulated and implemented the Presbyterian type of church government, which we still use in the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia and other Reformed Churches. Calvin liked the name Reformed Church, because he saw it very much as a re-forming of the Christian Church.

2.OUR ROOTS IN THE NETHERLANDS

The Dutch had long been critical of the Roman Church's excesses. Consequently many Dutchmen studied under Calvin and his successor, Beza, in Geneva. On returning to their homeland, they preached their new- found faith and translated some of the Calvinistic writings into Dutch.

3.FORMATION OF THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH

The Protestant Church , although still persecuted at the time, held its first synod at Emden (Germany) in 1571.This synod adopted the Belgic Confession and the Genevan system of Church government for all the Dutch churches, thereby, in effect, forming the Dutch Reformed Church. The system of church government was a local session, meeting weekly, classes (made up of groups of sessions) meeting 3 monthly synods meeting each year in 3 areas and to complete the structure, every 2 years a national synod.

After the peace of Westphalia, this church was recognised as being "the" church of the Republic of United Netherlands.

The national Dutch church was effectively split late in the 16th century by what is now known as Arminianism. On the one hand were the Remonstrants (as they were called), who had been influenced by Arminius .The Remonstrants rejected what are now known as the 5 points of Calvinism. To resolve the issue, an “international” Synod was held at Dort in 1618-19.This synod, which became known as the Synod of Dort, set forth the 5 points of Calvinism in a document which became known as the Canons of Dort, and are one of the 3 doctrinal standards of the CRCA.

4.THE SECESSION OF1834

With the advent of the French Revolution and its aftermath, the Dutch Reformed Church fell to a very low level due to a liberalism that regarded Reformed doctrines as being out of date. But some ministers and thousands of middle and lower class members remained faithful to Reformed teaching, and tried to get the Church to live up to its creeds and church order.A revival began to occur among the upper classes, largely through men, who had been affected by a Genevan Revival, which in turn resulted from men being influenced by Whitefield and the Wesleys .

One of the faithful ministers, De Cock , led a secession in1834 (known as the Afscheiding) when it became impossible to work for reform within the church. The secession group stated that they would not fellowship with the Dutch Reformed Church until that church returned to the true service of the Lord. The secession group, which became known as the Christian Reformed Church, went back to the standards of the Dutch Reformed Church (ie Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dort, Belgic Confession) and adopted the Church Order of 1618-19.Other local congregations joined the secession, and they held their first Synod in 1836, and founded their own theological college in Kampen in 1854.

Due to persecution, two of the leaders of the secession led their congregations to Iowa and Michigan , and it was from this initial migration that the Christian Reformed Church grew in USA (much of the Sunday School and Catechism instruction material we use is produced by this church).

5.THE SECESSION OF 1886

Some years after the 1834 secession, Abraham Kuyper, a young minister of modern persuasion within the Dutch Reformed Church, was 'converted' to Calvinism by the witness of his staunchly Calvinistic congregation. Thereafter, Kuyper sought to make the Dutch Reformed Church to once more be a vibrant bastion of Calvinist faith. He tried to work within Church, but he and his followers were forced to leave their church in 1886, resulting in a second large secession from the Dutch Reformed Church. This secession became know as the Doleantie.

6.THE FORMATION OF THE REFORMED CHURCHES IN NETHERLANDS(GKN)

As the motivation for both secessions had been much the same, members and leaders of both groups worked for unity. Finally, in 1892, the bulk of the Christian Reformed Church was united with the Doleantie Churches to form one church known by the name of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (GKN).

This new church consisted of over 700 churches and some 300,000 members. However, some of CRC members and ministers did not enter the union, apparently due to concerns about aspects of Abraham Kuyper 's teachings, in particular a teaching known as presumptive regeneration. The GKN sought to apply the Scriptural teachings in their fullness to every area of human activity, and took a very strong stand on the three forms of unity and adopted the 1618-19 Church order. The GKN did not want the age old church state power struggle to re emerge, and so she worked towards the idea held by Anabaptists since the reformation, that there should be separation of church and state, and this is still the view of the CRCA today. Kuyper was the main force behind this development, and he wanted Christians to be active in politics etc, but he wanted them to work as groups of Christians not as representatives of the church.

The GKN, to which most of the original members of the CRCA belonged before migrating to Australia, was troubled in 1944 when some 100,000members and ministers left with Dr Schilderover the matter of the power of Synod to depose ministers and elders and over the doctrine of presumptive regeneration. This split-off became known as the Free Reformed Church (earlier Reformed Church maintaining Article 31).A small number of their membership joined the RCA upon migrating to Australia, while most did not and formed Free Reformed Churches in Launceston, Tas and in WA.

7.THE FORMATION OF THE REFORMED CHURCHES OF AUSTRALIA.

After World War 2, many people of the various Reformed Churches of the Netherlands sought to leave behind the problems of post war Europe .A relatively small proportion of these people settled in Australia. The Reformed migrants were mainly members of the GKN, although there were also a significant number of members from the Dutch Reformed Church, (but these generally joined the Presbyterian Church in Australia). The GKN migrants were advised to seek the pastoral care of the Scottish Free Presbyterians upon their arrival in Australia.

In 1949-50 the GKN sent Rev J Kremer to Australia to investigate the spiritual and church life of the various Reformed groups that had settled in Australia. As a consequence of this visit, the Free Presbyterian Church of St Kilda extended a "call" to a GKN minister in the Netherlands to work within the Free Church, to assist the work among the Dutch migrants.

The differences between the culture of the Australian-Scottish Presbyterians and the Reformed Netherlanders was itself a hindrance, but the real problem was that the Dutch were not at home with the liturgical restrictions of the Free Church (no organs, no hymns). Having again experienced the familiarity of worship services in their own mother tongue upon the arrival of the GKN ministers, and in the format they had learnt to love since childhood, it was almost impossible for the Dutch migrants to genuinely desire to be part of the Free Church.

As other denominations were too liberal, many of the Dutch migrants decided in December 1951 to organise a separate denomination. The format of the new denomination was yet to be decided. A problem was beginning to emerge: Many of the Dutch migrants had brought with them the differences they had grown up with (or been part of ) in the Netherlands.

Nevertheless, since the bulk of the migrants were from the GKN, they instituted Reformed Churches in Sydney, Penguin and Melbourne still that year. These Churches and others that had been instituted in the mean time, assembled in June 1952 to hold their first "Synod". At this Synod the name "Reformed Churches of Australia" was adopted, and it was agreed that the RCA should not be a part of the Dutch GKN, but an independent church in Australia for all those who confessed the Reformed faith. In keeping with this aim, it was agreed that only the three forms of unity (that is: Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism and Canons of Dort) would serve as doctrinal standards.

Various attempts were made to entice the two Free Reformed Churches, which had been formed at about the same time, to become part of the RCA, but these attempts failed to bear fruit. Limiting the confessional statements of the RCA to the three forms of unity was a deliberate attempt to leave behind the divisions between the various reformed churches in the Netherlands, particularly the division of 1944 (which had resulted in the formation of the Free Reformed Church). The common desire for the future was that the RCA should be warmly evangelical and reformed.

In 1953, our church adopted the 1618-19 Church Order as modified by the Christian Reformed Church of the USA in 1912. (Since then our church order has undergone a number of revisions, including a major rewrite in 2000.)

Thus were born the Reformed Churches of Australia.

8.NAME CHANGE

The name Reformed was not so easily understood by the public in Australia, and so over the years, various Synods considered changing the name of the denomination. The Synod in May 2000 made the decision to change the name of our denomination to Christian Reformed Churches of Australia, and so all the local churches needed to change their name to reflect this change.

9.SOUTH AFRICAN MIGRATION

With the advent of large scale migration from South Africa , many Afrikaans people have found a spiritual home in CRCA congregations around Australia. The major Reformed churches in South Africa encourage their members on migration, to seek out our churches, as doctrinally we share the same confessions, and have a common history in the reformation and in the Netherlands. Some 6 Afrikaans ministers from the Dutch Reformed Church in SA, who have migrated to Australia, are currently serving as pastors in our churches.

The South African influx has revitalised some of our inner city churches, and in our local church, our South African members are making a very welcome contribution to the life of our congregation.

10. THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH OF WILLETTON.

With the continued growth of the Reformed Church of Gosnells and the Reformed Church of Perth (in Victoria Park), a meeting was held in May 1982 to discuss the establishment of a 3rd worship centre in the metropolitan area. The outcome was that on the 3rd of July 1983 the first worship service was held in the Rostrata Primary School , Willetton, under the supervision of the Perth church. The people from the Canning and Perthchurches who committed themselves to this project were made up of 58 communicant members and 55 baptised members.

The Willetton group quickly began to flourish and on 23rd Sept 1984 it became an independent congregation within our denomination. (We call this "instituted"). By this time the total membership had grown to 155.

The Willetton Church called Mr. W Bosker to serve as its first minister, and he was ordained to the ministry of the church on 1st Dec 1985, and continued to serve until accepting a call to serve the Reformed Church in Canberrain Nov 1989.

While the Willetton Church was very thankful to be able to use the facilities of the Rostrata Primary School, it did not take long to outgrow these facilities, and in May 1987 the present church site was purchased, and in Nov 1988 the congregation gave the "go ahead" for the construction of the church.

Even with the $18,000 made available to the Willetton church from the sale of the Kwinana manse (where there had been a church till the late 1970s), and the many generous donations to the church building fund, the construction of the church required borrowings of $180,000. Just a little less than a year later, on the 2nd Sept 1989 the present church building was formally opened and a dedication service was held.

With Rev Bosker accepting the call to Canberrain late 1989, the church was without a pastor for 1990. During this time, the congregation built a manse next to the church (11 GloucesterCrt), as well as adding an extra meeting room to the church building. The congregation called Rev Peter Abetz from the Reformed Church of Dandenong in Victoria in May 1990and he took up duties in Jan 1991.

The move to our own facilities has enabled the church to widen the range of activities it can provide for both the members and the surrounding community.

Since being instituted in September 1984, the Willetton church has continued to grow steadily. Most of the growth has come from transfers from other churches, births, and a small number who have come to faith in Jesus Christ through the ministry of the members of the church.

Due to the difficulty of fitting everyone in on a Sunday morning, in 1994 the congregation agreed to plant another church in Yangebup. This church has now grown to about 130 members, and is under the pastoral leadership of Pastor Peter Smit.

In Feb 2001 the congregation agreed to call an additional pastor, which resulted in Pastor Clinton Berends coming to serve with Pastor Abetz. Pastor Berends is responsible for the Youth work and the pastoral care of the under 25s, and shares in the preaching. Pastor Abetz is responsible for the pastoral care of the over 25s, church administration and outreach, and shares in the preaching.

In Feb 2002PastorAbetzpurchased his own home, and this made the manse available for development as offices, and meeting facilities. This allowed the church to sell the small unit it owned at 100 Portcullis Dr, which had been used for meeting rooms. The sale of this unit allowed the church to be free of all debt.

11. THE FORMATION OF GRACE CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH

Through personal contacts the Willetton CRC had a long association with the Afrikaans Christian Church in Perth, operated by Grace Outreach .This church was commenced by Rev Andre van Oudtshoorn , as a ministry to newly arrived South African migrants, and fulfilled a valuable role in the lives of many new arrivals, by giving them the opportunity to worship in their mother tongue.After a time it became apparent that to function long term as a congregation, it would need to transition to English.

In mid 2004 it was decided by the members of the Afrikaans Christian Church in Perth, to disband, and to ask the Willetton CRC to plant a new church in the northern suburbs, and that the Afrikaans church members would become part of this new church planting group.

The first service of the newly formed Grace Christian Reformed Church was held on Nov 21, 2004 under the leadership of Rev Peter Abetz, one of the two pastors of the Willetton CRC, who has provided leadership for this group since that time.

OnMay 21, 2005 Classis WA (the state body of the CRCA) formally endorsed Grace CRC as being a formal church planting project of the CRCA under the formal supervision of the Willetton CRC church council.

The formation of Grace CRC is a historic move by the CRCA as it is the first time that a congregation has been formed in the northern suburbs of Perth.

The formation of Grace CRC is a historic move by the CRCA as it is the first time that a congregation has been formed in the northern suburbs of Perth.

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