Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands the Kingdom of the Netherlands' did not come into being until 1818. The city of Amsterdam was, and still is, the centre of Dutch Lutheranism. Most Lutherans in the Netherlands are descendants of German or Scandinavian merchants, and the Lutheran church has always been quite small. Because of the urban and internationally oriented membership of the Lutheran Church, liberal influences have always been relatively strong. The church was always counted among the most liberal denominations in the Netherlands. They were among the first churches to ordain women. On May 1, 2004, the Lutheran Church's membership was down to a mere
Constitution of the Netherlands numbering; however, all except articles IX and XIX are now abrogated. Each of the four countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands (The Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten) has its own constitution or "basic law". These constitutions are legally subjected to the Statute of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is the constitution of the entire Kingdom. The constitution of the Netherlands is only applicable to the territory in Europe and its public bodies of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, since 2010 municipalities, in the Caribbean, except when the Statute does not cover a certain legal subject. The Statute