REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH 1002 REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH
the classes, and can be adopted only by the votes of a majority of these bodies. The General Synod was in- corporated in 1818 by an act of the Legislature of the State of New York.
The fiscal conci rns of the whole Church are managed under this charter by the Board of Directum of < 'orpo- raHon, which is elected annually by the General Synod, and consists of a president, three directors, and a treas- urer. The personal and real estate and all the synods' property are confided to the custody of this board, which is thus made the chief fiscal agenl of the Church. Its affairs arc reported annually to the synod. For more than sixty years it has managed its large trust with the mosl exemplary diligence, fidelity, and success, and « ith scarcely the loss of a dollar from all its investments. The board reported in 1878 that the assets in the hands of the treasurer. June 1. amounted to $451,411.69; this was in addition to the large real estate owned by the synod al New Brunswick, N. .1.. in the buildings and grounds of the theological seminary, and in those of Hope College, al Holland, Mich.
VII. Usages. I. Mode of Worship.— All the Re- formed churches of the Continent adopted liturgies for the observance of public worship, including the offices for the administration of sacraments, the ordination of ministers, elder-, and deacons, and for the infliction of discipline in excommunication, etc. The Scottish He- former John Knox prepared a liturgy for the Church of Scotland which was used for some time, hut which was ultimately swepl away by the same anti -ritualistic storm in which Puritans and Presbyterians were driven to the opposite extreme of bold simplicity in public worship. The liturgy of tin' Reformed Church of Hol- land— with the omission only of a prayer in the mar- riage service and an article on the consolation of the sick is accurately given in the English translation. which is now in use in the Reformed Church of America. It is "precisely what it was in 1619, and substantially as when tirst adopted in 1568 by the Synod ofWesel." Like all the Reformed liturgies, it is based on that of John Calvin. Bui its shape was given chiefly by John Alasco, the popular pastor of the Reformed Church in London, w hich numbered, under his ministry, over three thousand members, who were refugees from persecution in their native land. This Church still exists. Alasco also prepared a new liturgy, using bis old one and that of Strashurg, a translation of which, from the French, was published by Pollanus, Calvin's successor, who founded a Church at Glastonbury, England. It was written in Latin, and then, in 1551, translated into Dutch by John
Uytenhove, an elder of the Church in London. The lit- urgy of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands was prepared by Peter Dathenus, an eminent minister, who, when driven from Holland by persecution, settled with some of his fellow-exiles in the Palatinate at Franken- thal, near Heidelberg. He first translated the Heidel- berg < latechism into the Holland language, and also the psalms of Beza and Marol from their French originals. He dedicated the volume containing these symbols (psalms, catechism, and liturgy) "to all the churches and ministers of Jesus Christ sitting and mourning under the tyranny of antichrist." Subsequently, the •• Form for Adult Baptism," and the ••Consolation of the Sick and Dying," and the ■•Compendium of the Chris- tian Religion," a condensation of the Heidelberg Cate- chism which was in place of another brief catechism— ■■■■■ ho intended to unite with the Church, were
iss l. in L57d the Synod of Dordrecht directed the
liturgy to be used in all the churches. For a full ac- count see Eutaxia, orttn Presbyterian Liturgies, ch. \i: and Prof. Demai History and Ecclesiastical Char-
acti ristics of th Ref. Ch. ch. viii.
The liturgy is officially declared to be a pari of the
Constitution of the Reformed Church {Minutes of Gen.
Synod, iv, \-~>. 126). The offices for the administration
of baptism and the Lord's supper, lor ordination of min-
I deacons, and those for excommunica-
tion and for readmitting the excommunicated are also declared by the Constitution to be essential, and must be used. The tonus of prayer. marriage-si n ice, etc, are nol essential, but simply remain as formulas and speci- mens, which may or may not he used, at the option of the minister. The prayers were used for a time, but always in connection with extempore prayer, .'since the latter part of the 17th century they have been dropped in public worship in Holland. When English preaching had been established in the Church of New- York, three Mar- after Dr. Laidlie's advent, a transla- tion of this liturgy into English— which is more accu- rate and faithful than elegant in style was procured and introduced by the collegiate consistory. The same year also (1767) singing in the English language was commenced in that Church. I he volume used was an amended edition of Brady and Tate's version, in which the old music was retained and the rhyme adapted to it. See Psalmody,
Several attempts have been made to revise thelit- urgy, all of which have failed of tinal adoption by the classes, to whom, under the constitution, tiny were re- ferred for final decision.