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In the main, the Dutch Church in New York was well treated by the English. The articles of surrender, in 1664, had provided that "The Dutch here shall enjoy the liberty of their consciences in Divine Worship and Church discipline." The same document alsc protected the Dutch Churches by providing that no public buildings were to be molested.26 When the Dutch were told to swear allegiance to tho English Government, they refused until an appendix was added to the oath stating that "it was conformable to the articles concluded on the surron- der of this plan."27 Freedom of religion was further guaranteed under the Duke's Laws.28
To solve the problem of supporting the Dutch Church, the members of which constituted the larger part of New York's population, Governor Nicholls, in 1665, directed the city authorities to levy a tax to pay unpaid salaries of the Dutch clergyman . 29" In 1670, Governor Lovelace guaranteed a salary to any Dutch minister who would come to New York and assist the aged Domine Drisius. This offer brought Domine William Van Nieuwenhuysen, the first minister se- lected by the Classis of Amsterdam after the surrender of the province. 30 Dutch reciprocated English friendship by allowing the Anglicans to use the church in the fort after the Dutch services had been completed. 31
The
The friendly attitude of the English government toward the Dutch Church was disturbed somewhat when the Dutch element in the colony repeatedly de- feated all attempts to establish the Church of England in New York. After reoccupying New York in 1674, the English governors redoubled their efforts to establish the Anglican faith, but, in the main, were unsuccessful. In 1601, William of Orange granted the colonists the right to elect an assembly to enact legislation.32 This assembly, preponderently Dutch, became the bul- wark of the Dutch Reformed Church in New York. Requests by governors of the colony that an act be passed establishing the Church of England were continu- ally denied by the assembly . 33
In the midst of these attempts to establish the Anglican Church, the Reformed Church continued in its work. It completed a new church in 1694, and left the church-in-the-fort to the English chaplain who conducted ser- vices there. Under Domine Selvns the Church conducted a fight for a charter from 1688 to 1696, and, on May 11, 1696, that charter, drawn up by the best legal talent in the colony, was signed by Governor Fletcher. 3.4
26. Ecclesiastical Records, I, 563-564.
27. Ibid., p. 564.
28. New York Colony, The Colonial Laws of New York, Albany, 1894, (hereafter cited as Colonial Laws ), nn. 24-26.
29. Edward T. Corwin, History of the Reformed Church Dutch, Roformed Church German, and the Moravian Church in the United States, New York, 1895, rn. 67-68.
30. Ecclesiastical Records, I, 611, 616.
31. Ibid., III, 1659.
32. Colonial Laws, I, pp. 244-248.
33. E.T. Corwin, op. cit., pp. 42-43.
34. E.T. Corwin, p. 44, Ecclesiastical Records, II, 1136.
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Historical Sketch
The Charter of 1696 was the first granted to any religious body by the English government in New York. 35 By this charter the Reformed Dutch Church in New York, now known as the Collegiate Church was incorporated under the name of "The Ministers, Elders, and Deacons of The Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the City of New York. 36 The members of the Church were given free- dom of religion; perpetual succession of ministers in the church was assured and the Church's property was confirmed to it. The charter, in great detail, gave the Church a right to elect officers, call ministers, assess members for the maintenance of the Church, sell or rent property, have a private income, and to sue and be sued. 37
The possession of a charter did not completely protect the Dutch Church from English Governors, particularly Governor Cornbury. Attempts on the part of the latter, to control the appointment of a minister to the Dutch churches in Long Island led in 1706 to the migration of many members of the Dutch Church in New York to New Jersey. They settled in the Raritan and Millstone valleys of New Jersey, and founded many churches in a section later known as "The Garden of the Dutch Church. "38 In spite of these temporary setbacks, at the opening of the eighteenth century, the Dutch Church in New York was the largest as well as the oldest religious group in the colony. 59
As the Church developed and required new ministers, the problem of eccle- siastical control grew larger. The Classis of Amsterdam still examined and licensed all ministers in the Reformed Church in America, and arbitrated all ecclesiastical disputes. The demand for new ministers to supply the American churches could not be met by the Classis of Amsterdam, as the salaries were small, and prospects of preaching in the wilderness were not alluring. The churches of America sent some of their promising men to the Netherlands, but this was not a solution to the problem of supplying a ministry for America. Accordingly a movement developed in the American Reformed Dutch Church for freedom from Dutch control. 40
One step in that direction was the formation, in 1747, of & coetus, per- mission for the institution of which was obtained from the classis in Amster- dam. 41 This Coetus was a national church body composed of a minister and elder from each church. Its function was to consider ecclesiastical matters, which lay beyond the sphere of individual churches, and which formerly had been dealt with by the Classis of Amsterdam. For consideration of local questions, the Coetus was divided into local bodies, called "circles," the churches of New York City, Long Island, and Poughkeepsie comprising the Circle of New York. 42
35. Trinity Church, of the Anglican faith, received its charter May 6, 1697; soe Ecclesiastical Records, II, 1136-65.
36. Ibid., 1145.
37. For & copy of the charter of 1696 see Ibid., II, 1136-65.
38. Corwin, Manual, p. 52.
39. E. T. Corwin "The Ecclesiastical Condition of New York at the Opening of the Eighteenth Century", American Church History Papers, 2nd Series, III, (1912) 101.
40. For & discussion of this problem see Corwin, Manual, pp. 56-57.
41. Ibid., p. 59.
42. Ecclesiastical Records, IV, 2978.
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Historical Sketch
Although the organization of the Coctus was an important step toward in- dependence for American churches, it did not solve their problem of supplying ministers. In that matter, the Church was entirely subordinate to the Classis of Amsterdam, which retained the power to license candidates for the ministry. Opposition to this limitation led to a struggle between two groups in the Ro- formed Dutch Church in America; the Coetus group which sought the power to license and ordain its own ministers; and the Conferentie group, which favored subordination to the classis of Amsterdam. The lack of unity in the Dutch Re- formed Church resulted in the dissolution of the Coctus in 1754.
The conflict in the Church continued unabated until the question of in- stalling an English speaking minister in the Reformed Dutch Church arose. The importance of this problem overshadowed the dispute betwoon the Coetus and the Conferentie groups . 43
A strong movement for an English speaking ministry in the Dutch Church of New York had arisen by the middle of the eighteenth contury . 44 English was the language of the courts in New York and was spoken by the young people at their places of work. 45 After having previously denied several requests by communicants for an English speaking ministry, the New York Church, with the concurrence of the Classis of Amsterdam, selected Domino Archibald Laidlie, in 1763, to preach in English.46 This innovation was opposed by a group of conservative Dutch, who appealed to the Classis of Amsterdam to forbid English sermons in the Church on Manhattan Island, but that body refused to do so. 47
While studying for the ministry in the Netherlands, John H. Livingston presented to the Classis of Amsterdam a plan of union for the American Re- formed Dutch Church. According to this plan, each Roformed Dutch church in American was to form a part of a local group called a coventus, similar to the old circle. Delegates from each coventus wore to compose a general coetus, a national body which was to meet each year. The General Coetus was to have power to examine and ordain prospective ministers, provided that the Classis of Amsterdam was notified of these proceedings. The bond between Holland and America was not to be broken, nor were the American churches to be allowed the use of the names Classis and Synod. 48
Upon completion of his studies in the Netherlands, Dr. Livingston, a graduate of Yale College, and the last minister to study and receive his license in Holland, accepted & call of the Manhattan Consistory to fill the pulpit of a new church.' 49 Under his direction, a conference was held in New York at which the plan of union was adopted. Slight modifications were made in the proposed plan, such, as the substitution of the term "general body" for coetus and "particular body" for coventus. 50 Upon approval of these
43. Corwin, Manual, pp. 55-65.
44. Ecclesiastical Records, IV, 2971.
45. Ibid., p. 2563.
46. Ibid., pp. 3878-79.
47. Ibid., pp. 3898-99. For a recent account of the introduction of English into the Dutch Church, see Thomas J. Wirtenbaker, The Founding of American Civilization in the Middle Colonics, New York, 1938, ch. 3-4.
48. For the "Plan of Union" see Ecclesiastical Records, VI, 4120-25.
49. Ibid., p. 4136; Corwin, Manual, pp. 69, 71. This was the first Reformed Dutch Church in New York built to be used exclusively for English services.
50. Ecclesiastical Records, VI, 4218-26.
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Historical Sketch
modifications by the Classis of Amsterdam, the American Reformed Church now became free of Dutch control. 51
The Church, in the main, supported the American Revolutionary movement and two of the Church's prominent ministers wore outspoken champions of the colonists' causo.52 When the British troops occupied New York City, after the Battle of Long Island, the pastors of the Reformed Church in New York City fled for safety, leaving their congregations without services from 1776 to 1783.53 The British commandeered for their use the Reformed Dutch Churches on Manhattan Island. The Now (later Middle) Church was first used as a prison, and later as & riding academy. The North Church was stripped of its furniture and used as a hospital. 54 A group of Loyalist Church-members west allowed to use the old Garden Street Church, where they listened to Domino Lydekkor, & Lovalist minister from Now Jersey. In 1779, the Garden Street Church was also used as a hospital and Domine Lydokker accepted the offer of Trinity Corporation to use the St. George's Chapel.55
Under American Rulo
Dr. Livingston was the only one of the four ministers of the Collogiato Church, who had been in service at the outbreak of hostilities, to return to his charge in New York City.56 Immediately after his return to the Gardon Street Church on December 7, 1783, ho set to work to clarify the legal status of his church, gather his scattered congregation and rebuild the churches.
Despite the fact that all charters which had been granted by the English government to ecclesiastical bodies wore quarantood in the Constitution of 1777, the Reformod Dutch Church petitioned the legislature for @ ruling on its 1696 charter. 57 In 1784 the legislature rooffirmed the charter of 1096 granted to the Reformed Church in New York City, thus putting at rest any doubts concerning the charter's validity. By this reaffirmation, tho Collog-
iate Church retained its original powers, except that of assessing members to pay for Church srlaries and repairs. 58 In 1784, the state legislature also passed a general oct for the incorporation of religious societies of all denominations .59 This act onabled the religious bodies of the state
51. Ibid., pp. 4240-41, 4242-48; Corwin, Manual, pp. 71-72.
52. C. E. Corwin, "Incidents of Reformed Church Life in New York City During the Revolutionary War", (hereafter cited os Corwin, "Incidents') in Pres- byturian Historical Society Jourral, JY, (1916-18) pp. 359-363. For a recent work on this period see Oscar T. Barch, New York City During the Wor for Independence, New York, 1331, ch. viii.
53. Corwin, "Incidents" p. 353, Domine Ritzona, senior gestor of the Colleg- iato Church, carried the records of the church with him, including the charter.
54. Ibid., p. 364. 55. Thid., pp. 365-66. Soo also Ecclesiasticoal Records, VI, 4304-05. 56. Ibid., xp. 361-63. Domine Laidlic had died in 1779; Dommires Ritzema and De Ronde had been ponsioned by the New York Consistory. 57. Constitution, 1777, art. XXXVI.
58. Murray Hoffman, Ecclesiastical Low in the State of New York, New York, 1863, pp. 110-11. 59. Laws, 1784, ch. 18.
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Historical Sketch
to appoint trustees to act as a body corporate and to assume charge of any church's finances. Prior to this time, the finances of the Dutch Reformed Church kad been managed by the minister, elder and deacon of cach church. Since the Dutch Reformed Church desired the continuance of this method of financial organization, it potitioned the state legislature to limit tho application of the law of 1784.60 Accordingly, in the second section of an act of 1813, which was concerned with religious libertios, a clause was in- sertod "Provided always that nothing therein contained shall be construed in any manner to impair or alter the rights of any charterod churches within this stato."61 This gave legal sanction to the traditional manner in which the Church hed administered its finances.
The second problem that confronted Dr. Livingston was that of reviving the Church and rebuilding its edifices. The Garden Street and the Old North Churches wore quickly repaired, and the Middle Church was completely robuilt. 02 Yet, although the churches were ready for services, the congregations did not ottoin their pro-war size. In fact, from 1785 to 1800, the membership of the Reformed Church in New York City continually declined and no now members woro addod during the 1790's. 63 Charles William Jonson, an Englishman traveling in the United States during this period, recorded in his diary that many of the Dutch in New York City were attending the Episcopal Church.64 The poorlo had been without services for so long, that it was a difficult task to drew them into the Church again. But the Reformed Dutch Church in New York City, under the guidance of Dr. Livingston, perservered in its task of rebuilding the Church. In 1787, the Collegiate Consistery chillod Rev. William Linn, formerly a Presbyterian, to cid Dr. Livingston ond, in 1789, Rov. Gerardus A. Kuypers was called to preach in Dutch. 65 The churches in Queens County not only endeavored to repair the damages donc to the Church during the war, but also called Domino Van Nest in 1785. Under his leadership, the Reformed Churchos in Queens prospered. In the early part of the nineteenth century the four Queens churches discarded the collegiate system, cach church calling its own pastor.66
The Collegiate Churches of Kings County, likewise disrupted by the war, united in calling the Rov. Martinus Schoonnrker. Under his cuidance the congregations soon attained their pre-war size. The churchos of Brooklyn, Now Utrecht, Flatbush and Bushwick prospored to the extent that, by 1824, they too discarded the collegiate system. 67
Soon after the establishment of an independent Americr, the Dutch Ro- formed Church reorganized its government. The names Synod And Classis were substituted for the names General Body and Particular Body respectively. 68
60. Laws, 1704, ch. 9. Cl. Laws, 1813, ch. 60, sec. 2.
62. Sidney I. Fomarantz, New York, An American City 1783-1803, New York, 1938, r. 378. 63. Ibid., pp. 387, 393.
64. Charles W. Jonson, The Stranger in America 1793-1806, New York, 1935, p. 101.
€5. Pomerantz, op. cit., p. 377.
66. Oscar Maddaus, The Collegiate Churches of Quons County, Torcentenary Studies, pp. 62-63.
67. For discussions of the post-war devolopment of these churches, sco Ter- centenary Studios, in which will be found essays covering thesc divisions of the church.
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Historical Skotch
A committee was appointed to tronslato and publish the doctrines of the Church, and the articles of Church government. In addition, seventy-three explanatory articles wore added to the articles of Church Government, the added articles applying particularly to the American Roformed Church. 69 The work of this comittec was approved by the Reformed Dutch Churches in Amorica ard, in 1702, it became the first constitution of the Church. 70
Undor this constitution, the Church subscribed to the doctrines of the Apostles, the Nicono, and the Athanasian Creeds, the Belcic Confession, the doctrinos of the Synod of Dort, and the Heidelberg Catechism. /1 The govern- ment of the Church was organized into consistories, classes, particular synods and a General Synod. " The Consistory, the basic local government in the Church, was composed of the elder, the deacon, and the minister of each church. The Classis was composed of all ministers in a district, plus an elder from each consistory. The Classis functioned as the body of "general superinten- donce" over churches within its boundaries, and had the power, in conjunction with the Particular Synod, to examine and license students for the ministry. 73 The Classis was the first branch of tho appellate division in the Roformed Dutch Church to which the individual churchos might go to sock advice and ordlors . 74 The Particular Synod, composed of four ministers and four elders from onch classis was to superintend the affairs of the various classes within its boundaries. Abovo these bodies was the General Synod, whose members, nominated by the Particular Synod, and olected by the various classes, con- stituted the final court of appeal in the Church. . To the General Synod was also delegated the important power of formulating Church policies. 0
Since 1792, the organization of the Church as outlined above has remained substantially unchanged. Some modifications in the geographical boundaries of classes have been made, but the articles concerning the individual churches have romained unaltered. 77 In 1793, the Reformed Dutch Churches of Queens, Richmond, Kings Counties, Manhattan and Harlom were organised into the Classis of New York. 78 In 1800, when the Particular Sinods of the Church were organ- ized; the Classis of New York was grouped with four classes into the Particular Synod of New York. 73 Thus by 1800, the independent government of the Reformed Dutch Church in the United States was formed. 80 The official correspondence between the Classis of Amsterdam and the American Church hod come to an end. SI
69. Ibid., pp. 75-76. 70. Ecclesiastical Records, VI, 4367; Rev. Alexander Gunn, Memoirs of the Rev. John Henry Livingston, D.D., New York, 1867, pp. 194-200.
71. Sco The Constitution of the Reformed Dutch Church in the United States, Now York, 1793, pr. 1-298.
72. Ibid.
73. Corwin, Manual, p. 77. The Particular Synod retained this right until the revision of the constitution in 1832.
74. William H.S. Domarest, Notes on the Constitution of the Reformed Church in America, Princeton, Now Jersey, 1929, pp. 123-25.
75. Ibid., pp. 135-36. The Generel Syned was incorporated under Laws, 1819, ch. 110.
76. Ibid. 77. Ibid. 78, Ecclesiastical Records, VI, 4321.
79. Ibid., p. 4385.
80. The name "Reformed Dutch Church in the United States" was used in the Constitution of 1732.
81. Ecclesiastical Records, VI, 4366-70.
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Historical Skotch
The period of roorganization over, the Reformed Dutch Church in Now York now settled down to an era of continued growth. New congregations wore er- conized, and new church edificos built, the Reformed Dutch Seminary in Now Brunswick supplying the ministers. As the city spread out, other Reformed Dutch Churchos, independent of the Collegiate Churches were organized. The Roformed Protestant Dutch Church at Greenwich was organized in 1803, and in 1.806, the Bloomingdale Reformed Dutch Church received a charter . 82 In 1808, the North West Reformed Dutch Church received a charter, and in 1810, the Ro- formed Church in Harlem also received one. In 1812, the Old Gerden Street Church withdrew from the Collegiate Church, and obtained a chartor as an in- dependent church . 83 This growth was evidenced in other parts of what is now Greater New York, particularly in Brocklyn. In 1824, Brooklyn abandoned the Collegiate system, and by 1836, it had two Church organizations of the Dutch Reformed faith. 84 By 1813, the churches of Long Island wore important enough to warrant the formation of a Classis of Lon- Island . 85 In New York City, a movement further to divide the Classis of New York was successful and, in 1828, the Classis of South Now York was organizca. 86
Throughout the early part of the nineteenth century, the Classis of Long Island and New York continued to report favorably about their churches and the work they were doing. 87 In 1822, the "Missionary Society of the Reformed Dutch Church was organized, with offices in New York City. In the course of its existence, it conducted active missionary activity in the newly settled regions. In 1831, this society was absorbed by the Board of Missions, which also had its offices in Now York City. It was this Board which aided in the establishment of Reformed Dutch Churches in Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. The name of this organization subsequently was changed to the "Board of Domestic Missions of the General Synod. 68
The steady progress of the Reformed Church in New York continued until after the Civil War. Sunday schools for children were opened. The inaugura- tion of the Fulton Street Proyer meeting sided in bringing the Church to the attention of the people of lower New York: . 89 The increase in the number of churches on Long Island wos large enough to warrant their boing divided into two classes: North and South Long Island. An era of prosperity soomed in store for the Roformed Church in New York. 90
82. New York County Register, "Religious Incorporation," I, r. 46, MS.
83. New York County Register, "Religious Incorporation," I, r. 40, MS.
84. Henry R. Stiles, The History of the City of Brooklyn, New York, 1869, ITI, 639-62.
85. Particular Synod of New York Minutes, (1813), pr. 5-6. Brooklyn romainod in the Classis of New York until it was incorporated into the Classis of Long Island in 1826. See Ibid., (1826), p. 12.
86. Ibid., (1828), pp. 6-7. The total membership of the Long Island and New York Classes at this time was approximately 9,977, of which 2,947 woro in the New York Classis and 2,030 in Long Island. Ibid., pp. 3, 11.
87. For evidence of this development sec The Minutes Acts of the Particular Synod of New York, for the period 1813-50.
88. Corwin, Manual, pp. 219-29. 89. Brower and Miller, pp. 75-76.
90. Particular Synod of Now York, Minutos, (1843), pp. 21-22. In 1844, the total membership of the Classes of New York, South New York, North and South Long Island was 15,635 members. Ibid., (1844), pp. 20-21, 26-27.
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Historical Skotch
However, after the close of the Civil War, the Reformed Dutch Churches in Manhattan experienced a slow decrease in membership. The basic reason for this condition was the location of the churches on lower Manhattan Island. As the immigrants poured into New York City, the old members of the Roformed Dutch Church moved to Long Island, Staten Island, and upper Manhattan. By 1875, various churches began to refer to this downtwon location as the causo for the decrease in their membership. 91 In 1887, the Classis of New York, in its roport to the Particular Synod, devoted a good deal of attention to this condition. 92
The decline in Church membership in Manhattan was partly countorbalanced by an increase in the membership of the Roformed Dutch churches in the North and South Classes of Long Island . 33 To meet the problem in Manhattan, in 1892 the Collegiate Church opened two now churches: the Middle Church, and the West End Church, the latter in the ultra fashionable area of seventy-seventh stront. 94 By tho turn of the century most of the Roformed Dutch Churches of Manhattan Island had moved uptown.
The Reformed Dutch Church in Greater Now York is strongest in the two Classes of Long Island. The church on Long Island has surpassed the church in New York in membership, as well as in the number of churches built. Thus, in 1935, Long Island had 52 Reformed Dutch Churches and a combined membership of 13,552, while there were only 28 churches with a membership of 8,838 in the New York Churches within the Classes of New York. 95 Today, the Church which Domino Michaclius founded in 1628 with tho "fully fifty communicants", has spread its influence not only to the territory surrounding Manhattan, but also to such remote areas of the world as Amoy, China, and Arcot, India. 96
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