The Dutch Reformed Church was founded in 1571 during the
Protestant Reformation in the Calvinist tradition. It was established in New
Amsterdam (now New York) by the first Dutch settlers. The first branch of
Christianity to reach what is now New York City.
The first known worship in New Amsterdam took place in 1626,
in a large room on the second floor of a horse-mill, outside the fort walls. In
April 1628, Jonas Michaëlius was the the first ordained minister to arrive in
New Amsterdam, beginning the Reformed Dutch Church in North America. The first
service took place on a Sunday, when about fifty people gathered around a crude
table, celebrating the Lord’s Supper in the mill's loft. The congregation they
founded still continues today as the Collegiate Reformed Church in New York
City, the oldest evangelical church in North America with a continuous ministry.
In 1633, the first temple was erected in wood on what is now
the north side of Pearl Street, between Whitehall and Broad streets. In 1638,
Adam Roelanstsen arrived from Holland to become the first schoolmaster of the
Collegiate School in New Amsterdam. It is the oldest educational institution in
existence in the United States.
In 1642, a larger stone temple, the St. Nicholas Church, was
built inside the fort (illustration on the above), on the southern tip of
Manhattan. In the same year, the Dutch Reformed Church was organized in Fort
Orange (near Albany).
In 1654, Governor Pieter Stuyvesant established three Dutch
Reformed churches in the towns of Breukelen, Flatbush and Flatlands, now in Brooklyn.
In 1664, English troops took control of New Amsterdam and
renamed it New York. The Dutch were allowed their religious freedom, but the St.
Nicholas Church was appropriated by the English.
In 1693, the Dutch Reformed Church in New York moved to a new temple built on Garden Street (now Exchange
Place). The society was then known as the
Garden Street Church.
On May 11, 1696, the Reformed Dutch Church of New York was
incorporated under a charter granted by King William III of England as
Collegiate Church.
The Dutch Reformed Church, in Fordham, Bronx, was organized in
May of 1696 and the first temple of this society was erected in 1706. This
temple was destroyed by British troops during the Independence War. Construction
of the second
temple began in 1801. At that time, this church was independent of the New York
Dutch Church. This second temple was completed in 1823. The third temple was built in 1849 and enlarged in
1878. Construction of the present temple began in 1940.
As the community grew and spread across the city, two more
temples were built in Manhattan: the New Dutch Church
at Nassau and Crown streets, finished in 1731, and the
North Dutch Church, at
Fulton and William streets, dedicated in 1769. The ministers continued to be
ordained in Holland and did not hold services in the English
language until 1764, when the first sermon in English was preached in the
Middle Church on Nassau Street. The last sermon in Dutch was preached in 1803.
After the New Dutch Church was dedicated, the Garden Street
Church became known as the Old Dutch Church. After the North Dutch Church was
dedicated in 1769, the Old Dutch Church was renamed South Dutch Church and the
New Dutch Church, renamed Middle Dutch Church.
In 1772, independence was established from the church in
Holland. In 1776, British troops occupied the City of New York, during the
Independence War and many churches were taken over for military use. The Middle
Church and North Church were used as prisons. After the war, the temples needed
to be rededicated and the congregations were reorganized.
In 1807, a new temple of the South Dutch Church was erected on
Garden Street on the same site and in
1812, the South Church was separated from the Collegiate Church. The second
temple burned in the Great Fire of 1835 and the congregation built a new temple on Murray Street,
where they remained until 1847 (today at 50 East 7th Street). In 1914, the South Reformed Dutch Church was
dissolved.
The Middle and the North Dutch Church continued to be part of
the Collegiate Church. The last service in the Middle Church at Nassau Street
was held on August 11, 1844. After that the building was transformed to be used
as post office. The North
Church was demolished in 1875.
H.N.
Burroughs listed 12 Dutch Reformed churches in Lower Manhattan in 1846.
The Marble Collegiate Church
was built from 1851 to 1854 on Fifth Avenue at West 29th Street.
In 1867, the name of the church is changed from "Reformed
Protestant Dutch Church in America" to "The Reformed Church in America". In
1871, collegiate ministers stopped preaching in rotation and began to have their
own congregation, but the name "Collegiate" remained as part of the heritage
these churches in New York City.
In May 1869, the cornerstone of the 48th Street Church was
laid.
Today, there are four Collegiate Churches of New York: the
Marble Church on Fifth Avenue and West 29th Street, the Middle Church at 50 East
7th Street, the Fort Washington Church at 729 West 181st Street, and the West
End Church at 245 West 77th Street.
