The Great Consistory is an advisory body, intermediate between the consistory and the classis, and is composed of all who have previously been elders and deacons in the same Church. This arrangement works admirably in cases upon which the acting consistory may need counsel; as, for instance, in the settlement of a pastor, the erection of Church buildings and parsonages, etc. This is an institution peculiar to the Reformed Church alone in this country, and has stood the test of the whole history of its organization.
In this way also the Presbyterian principle of "once an elder always an elder" is practically preserved, the official character of both elders and deacons being recog- nised in this body, although they may not be in active service in the consistory. Besides this, it often hap- pens that persons who have not been acting as elders in any given Church for many years are appointed and sit as delegates in the Particular and General synods.
2. The Classis is the body next above the consistory, and corresponds to the Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in its general organization and functions. It is composed of not less than three ministers, and one elder from each Church represented, within certain limits which are prescribed by the Particular Synod. Stated meetings are held twice a year. To the classis belongs the right to license, ordain, install, dismiss, sus- pend, and depose ministers, to exercise a general super- vision over the spiritual interests and concerns of the several churches, and to try and decide cases of appeal from judicial decisions of consistories, subject also to ap- peal to the Particular Synod. For promoting the doc- trinal purity, the spiritual interests, and the general wel- fare of the churches each consistory is required annual- ly, at the spring session of classis, to present a full re- port, in writing, with statistical information respecting its religious condition. At the same meeting the fol- lowing constitutional questions are asked of every pas- tor and elder :
1. Are the doctrines of the Gospel preached in your congregation in their purity, agreeably to the Word of God, the Confession of Faith, and the Catechisms of our Church ?
'.'. Is the Heidelberg Catechism regularly explained, agreeably to the Constitution of the Reformed Church ?
:'.. Arc the catechising of the children and the instruc- tion of the youth faithfully attended to?
4. Is family visitation faithfully performed?
5. Is the 5th section, 2d article, 2d chapter of the Con- stitution of our Church (which relates to oversight and discipline of Church members) carefully obeyed ?
G. Is the temporal contract between ministers and peo- ple fulfilled in your congregation?
The replies are required to be noted in detail in the minutes of the classis, and sent up to the Particular Synod for inspection. It is now also required to report whether the contributions enjoined by the General Syn- od for specific benevolent objects have been taken in each church.
3. The Particular Synod dates back to the year 1704. Previous to that time the only ecclesiastical bodies were the consistory, classis, and synod, or, as they were de- nominated, the Particular and General bodies. These met annually. The first synodal assembly was only provisional; it possessed and exercised the right to ex- amine students of theology for licensure until the year 1800. This function was afterwards devolved upon the classes alone. The Particular Synod is a court of ap- peal in judicial cases which are carried up from the classes. It has power to form new classes, to transfer congregations from one classis to another, and has a general supervisory power over its classes. It also con- firms the nominations of the classes for delegates to the General Synod. It meets annually, and is composed of four ministers and four elders from each classis.
The four Particular synods now existing are those of .Y« ir York, organized in 1800, composed of nine classes; Albany, organized in 1800, composed of ten classes; chiciif/n, organized in 185G, composed of five classes; Xew Jirunsirick, organized in 1869, composed of nine classes. At the session of the General Synod held in 1869 the Particular synods were reorganized upon the basis of a plan which is intended to increase their pre- viously limited powers, and to bring them into more systematic and direct contact with the spiritual inter- ests and benevolent agencies of the Church. See Min- utes of Gen. Synod, 1869, p. 626, 633.
4. The General Synod.— The long conflict between the ccetus and conferentie which ended in 1771 resulted in an assembly of representatives of both parties, who styled themselves "A Reverend Meeting of Ministers and Elders." They organized what were called a " Gen- eral" and five "Particular" bodies, which were subse- quently called by the names familiar in Holland, "syn- od" and "classis." The General Body was merely a provincial and provisional assembly — a sort of ecclesi- astical bridge over which the Church passed from her dependence upon the mother Church in Holland to her condition of real independence and separate American organization. At first it was a conventional assembly, consisting of all the ministers in the Church, with an elder from each separate Church. It met triennially. In 1800 it was made a delegated body, consisting of eight ministers and eight elders from each of the two Particular synods of New York and Albany, which were constituted in that year, only two ministers and two elders being admitted from each classis. In 1809 the delegation was increased to three ministers and three elders, who are nominated by each classis and con- firmed by their respective Particular synods. By the present Constitution, each classis having more than fif- teen churches is entitled to one additional delegate for each additional five churches. In 1812 the ses- sions were made annual. This body meets on the first Wednesday in June, and it continues in session about ten days. It exercises a general supervision over the entire Church. It is the court of last resort in ap- peals of judicial cases from the lower bodies. It has power to form and change the Particular synods. It elects professors of theology and has supreme control of the theological seminaries. The benevolent boards of the Church are its creations. It maintains friendly correspondence with various ecclesiastical assemblies of other denominations. It has no power to alter or amend the Constitution of the Church, but can only recommend such changes, which must be submitted, through it, to