When Independence Led to Chaos: Authority in the Early Eighteenth Century Dutch Reformed Church

When Independence Led to Chaos: Authority in the Early Eighteenth Century Dutch Reformed Church, by Dr. Kenneth P. Shefsiek

Dr. Kenneth P. Shefsiek, associate professor of Early American and Public History at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, tells how authority in the North American Dutch Reformed church in the eighteenth century was determined.

In the mid-18th century, the church was wracked by conflict about whether the Dutch church in America would remain subordinate to the Classis of Amsterdam or whether the American Dutch would become independent. Regardless of which side they stood, all believed that the American church had been subordinate to Amsterdam since the early days of New Netherland. They had, however, misremembered their past. The Dutch church in America became subordinate to Amsterdam in the early years of the 18th century, and only at the request of a group of American ministers who sought to tie themselves closer to Amsterdam in response to the chaos created in New York by one troublesome minister, Rev. Bernardus Freeman, who had destabilized the church from Schenectady to Long Island.

This presentation, at the Hudson Area Library, is the fourth in a series of Leisler Lectures for 2024 done in collaboration with the library and as a part of their local history talks.

The Jacob Leisler Library Lectures are made partially possible through the generous support of the Van Dyke Family Foundation, HRBT Foundation, and Bank of Greene County Charitable Foundation.