1857 Secession
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The 1857 Secession of the Classis Holland from Reformed Church in America occurred in January of that year. The classis was the basis for the Christian Reformed Church[1]. The secession was led by Gijsbert Haan and to a lesser extent Albertus van Raalte[citation needed] and mirroring the Afscheiding[citation needed] developments in the sister church back in the Netherlands. Issues included the perceived liberalization of the church in areas such as the use of hymns instead of only Psalms, offering communion to non-Reformed people, neglecting doctrines such as predestination and the role of Freemasons in the church[1]. Van Raalte, however, remained in the RCA, leading to the equivalent Netherlands church, the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, not favoring the new American denomination.[citation needed]
