Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - July/92

Contributor - Daniel Meeter

Title - When The Reformed Church Grew Up

Topic -Church History

Next year, 1993, is the bicentennial (200th anniversary) of the Constitution of the Reformed Church, and this year is the bicentennial of the "Explanatory Articles". The what? Read on for a little lesson in church history.

As you know, the Reformed Church is the direct descendant of the established church of the Netherlands, the Dutch Reformed Church. Two centuries ago, the church was still under state control. The government decided which doctrines were legal and who would get to use the church buildings (they were considered public property). In those days, the government paid the pastor's salary and the church paid for welfare, just the opposite of today.

It was very nice for the church, they never needed to run fundraisers! Consistories didn't have building committees. But the church was the servant of the state, even though the chains that held them were golden. At the Synod of DoM in 1619, the Dutch Reformed Church tried to break free of some of this government control, but it was unsuccessful.

There was another problem. Did you know that for the most of its history, there was no such thing as the Dutch Reformed Church, at least not in the sense of a single legal entity. The Netherlands was a loose confederation of provinces (always quarrelling with each other, just like Canada) and the national denomination was actually a federation of independent Provincial Synods. Each provincial government had its own Church Order. The National Synod of Dort had come up with a new Church Order, which all provinces were supposed to adopt but only three did.

One rule in the new Church Order said that there should be a General Synod every three years, sponsored by the national legislature (the States General). But the government had the church securely on its golden chain, and it didn't want it to start barking, so it refused to call any more General Synods. We take annual General Synods as a matter of course, but did you know that the General Synod of the Church in the Netherlands did not meet again for another two centuries? There were complaints, but most people got used to it, everybody was well paid and secure and the sepulchres slowly whitened.

Back in 1622, the Classis of Amsterdam had established the Reformed Church in the Dutch colony in North America. When the English took over this colony, they established the Anglican Church, but for reasons of international diplomacy, they allowed the Dutch church to keep its legal privileges and even a share of the tax money. However, this was allowed only for as long as they stayed under the control of the Classis of Amsterdam and the Provincial Synod of North Holland. The Amsterdam Classis kept the reins tight. Even when they had grown to a hundred congregations, they were not allowed to have a classis of their own.

The American Revolution (1776-1783) changed everything. The Anglican Church lost all its privileges. All the denominations were equal. The Anglicans declared themselves legally independent of the Church of England. The Dutch Church wondered if it should do the same. Wouldn't that be schismatic? But their children were all speaking English and would want to have an English-speaking church. And how could they respond to the wide open possibilities of America if they were not free to take initiatives?

In 1785 they took a first step, and organized themselves as a new Provincial Synod, with several classes. In 1788 they decided to translate the Church Order of Dort into English, in order to explain their organization to the government. In 1792 the Synod decided that the American situation required them to move beyond Dort and come up with a whole new Church Order. By the next year, 1793, they published the seventy-three Articles in a book called the Constitution, and this also included the Doctrinal Standards, the Liturgy and the Church Order. They published it in English even though they were still worshipping mostly in Dutch! They had girded up their loins, and were ready to move.

The Explanatory Articles introduced many distinctives which we now take for granted. Twenty-three Articles deal with theological students and professors, which, in the Netherlands, had been left to the universities. Article, 18, aimed at the Anglicans, states that all Ministers and all Bishops are equal. Article 27 admits Deacons to the Consistory as full members. Article 29 creates the great Consistory. Article 36 establishes the 'Form of the Call. Article 56 advocates Christian schools. Article 59 states that black people have full and equal rights in the church. Article 63 emphasizes annual house-visitation by the Ministers and Elders. Other Articles deal with record-keeping, judicial procedures and the personal lifestyle of pastors. In 1833, both the Church Order and the Articles were revised and combined in a single document.

Do you remember when Pierre Trudeau "repatriated the Constitution" in 1982? Till that time, even though Canada had been more or less independent its Constitution was the "British North America Act" of 1867, and this was the property, so to speak, of the British Parliament. By "bringing home the Constitution", Canada finally claimed an equal status with the U.K. and became responsible for itself. And haven't we done a good job with our Constitution ever since?

Fortunately, the Reformed Church did much better. After 1793 it entered several generations of evangelical prosperity. It had shaken off its golden chains and found that it did much better without the sponsorship of the state. It had changed from being an "established church" to being a "confessing church" (150 years ahead of the mother church in Holland). That means that it had no privileges, but would have to compete among all the other churches simply on the basis of what it "believed with the heart and confessed with the mouth". True, if you look back at the Articles, you might wish some were different. But, on the whole, they were wonderfully successful. Not only was the Reformed Church free, it had grown up, it was mature.

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