The history of the Netherlands Reformed Churches (Dutch Nederlands Gereformeerde Kerken) coincides to a great extent with that of the Reformed Churches (Liberated), of which it was a part until the early 1960s. That denomination arose out of a conflict within the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands over the covenant and the power of the general synod. After that schism, referred to as the Liberation (Dutch Vrijmaking), the Liberated churches became a very conservative, orthodox denomination. Wary of the liberal tendencies within various Reformed denominations, they started to develop a number of cultural and political structures and institutes, membership in which was restricted to church members. Some within the church held the view that the Liberated church was the only true church in t