liberated

Kampen Theological University of the Reformed Churches (Liberated)

Kampen Theological University of the Reformed Church (Liberated) (Dutch: Theologische Universiteit Kampen voor de Gereformeerde Kerken (Vrijgemaakt)) is one of two theological universities in the Dutch city of Kampen. It was founded in 1944.

History

In 1854, a Theological School ("Theologische School") was founded by the Christian Reformed Church in the Netherlands, a church resulting from a schism in 1834, to provide for education for its ministers. The name was changed to Theological College ("Theologische Hogeschool") in 1939.

In 1892, the Christian Reformed Church in the Netherlands merged with another group split from the mainstream Dutch Reformed Church to form the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, which founded a new Calvinist university in Amsterdam: the Free University. This university also has a theological faculty, but the College at Kampen remained a separate institution.

In 1944, another schism within the Reformed Church in the Netherlands occurred, called the Liberation ("Vrijmaking"), which resulted in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated). This new church also had a need for its own minsterial education institute, and so a new Theological College of the Reformed Church (Liberated) was founded from parts of the Theological College. In 1986, both Colleges became Universities when a change in the Dutch university/polytechnic system was carried out.

Present-day situation

After the Reformed Church in the Netherlands merged with the Dutch Reformed Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church to form the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN), the original Kampen Theological University became part of the PKN. The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) was completely uninvolved in this merger, so its separate Theological University remains.

The Theological University of the Reformed Churches (Liberated) primarily caters for ministerial education. Additionally, scientific research is carried out. Furthermore, once a year, the Theological University of the Reformed Churches (Liberated) sets up a special day, showing anyone who is interested and visits, not only what, but also how they teach theological education. This day is called the 'Theologische Universiteit Kampen dag', oftenly abbreviated as ThUK-dag. Some schools related to the Reformed Churches (Liberated) are willing to give their pupils a day off, to visit this event.