The Synod of Dort (also known as the Synod of Dordt or the Synod of Dordrecht) was a National Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618-1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, in order to settle a serious controversy in the Dutch churches initiated by the rise of Arminianism. The first meeting was on November 13, 1618, and the final meeting, the 154th, was on May 9, 1619. Voting representatives from the Reformed churches in eight foreign countries were also invited. Dort was a contemporary colloquial English term for the town of Dordrecht and it still is the local colloquial pronunciation of the name.