"RECORDS OF THE CŒTUS OF THE LOW DUTCH REFORMED PREACHERS AND ELDERS IN THE PROVINCES OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY, SUBORDINATE TO The Rev. Classis of Amsterdam, BEGUN AT NEW YORK, THE 8TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1747;" Followed by the PROCEEDINGS of the CONFERENTIE, 1755-1767. CONTENTS. I. Fundamental Articles of the Coetus, April, 1738. III. Proceedings of the Second Cœtus, April, 1748. V. Proceedings of the Third Coetus, September, 1748. VI. Proceedings of the Fourth Cœtus, September, 1749. VII. Proceedings of the Fifth Coetus, November, 1749. VIII. Proceedings of the Sixth Cœtus, September, 1750. IX. Proceedings of the Seventh Cœtus, September, 1751. X. Proceedings of the Eighth Cœtus, October, 1751. XI. Proceedings of the Ninth Cœtus, April, 1752. XV. Letter of Five Ministers to the Classis of Amsterdam, September, 1755. XX. Joint Meeting of the Cœtus and the Conferentie, June, 1764. XXI. Proceedings of the Conferentie, held October, 1765. XXII. Proceedings of the Conferentie, held May, 1767. Proceedings of the Conferentie, held October, 1767. I. Fundamental Articles APPROVED BY THE ECCLESIASTICAL CETUS OF THE REV. CLASSIS OF AMSTERDAM, APRIL, 1738. 1. The Cœtus shall consist of the minister and one elder from every congregation, with written credentials. Where there are two ministers, both of them, with two elders, shall be members; where there is only one minister, but one elder shall be allowed. 2. An elder appearing in Cœtus from a congregation which has preaching not from Sabbath to Sabbath, but only occasionally during the week, shall have only an advisory voice. But an elder from a congregation which has had a regular pastor, and is ready to provide another, shall have a decisive vote. All combined congregations shall be reckoned as only one. 3. Only ministers regularly qualified, and called according to the Low Dutch Reformed Church, shall be acknowledged as members of the Cœtus. 4. None but ecclesiastical matters, and those in an ecclesiastical way, shall be taken up and decided in the Cœtus; and always in subordination to the Classis of Amsterdam, according to Articles 30 and 31 of the Church Orders. 5. No matters of dispute shall be taken up in the Cœtus, unless they have been regularly presented to it, according to the rules of the Synod of Dort, for the removal of disputes in life and doctrine, for the furthering and maintaining of mutual peace, union, and the general edification of the congregations. 6. Whoever feels himself aggrieved by the proceedings of the Cœtus may appeal to the Rev. Classis of Amsterdam. In cases of importance, we must take the advice of the Classis, according to Articles 76 and 79, and always follow their counsel. And they who appeal to the Rev. Classis, or for whom the Cœtus asks the advice and judgment of the Rev. Classis, shall, in like manner with the Cœtus itself, submit to that advice and judgment, according to the Church Orders. 7. Each congregation shall maintain its own freedom in the management of its affairs, according to the Constitution of our Church as established in the Synod of Dort. But, for the greater advantage of the congregations, those which belong to the Coetus shall, according to the Church Orders, be divided into suitable Circles; so that, where cases occur which cannot be determined by particular congregations, and cannot be delayed, they may, on request, be settled in peace by the neighboring ministers of that Circle. But if not, then they shall be brought to the Cœtus. 8. No minister or Consistory shall allow any one to preach before their congregation, without satisfactory evidence that he has a lawful call to the ministry in the Reformed Church. Nor shall a Low Dutch Consistory which has no pastor allow every one to preach; but the preacher or candidate must previously exhibit his lawful commission to two of the neighboring ministers. 9. As to calls, whether from Holland or from particular congregations in these provinces, they shall be conducted according to the Church Orders; and where there is no minister, two Consulenten shall be employed. Henceforth, it shall be expressly stipulated in all calls that the minister shall belong to the Cœtus, and hold himself subject to it; and those congregations which have calls outstanding, are hereby bound to urge their ministers, when they arrive, to do the same. 10. Every year a general letter, after being read and approved by the Cœtus, shall be sent in the name of the congregations to the Rev. Classis, to make known to it the ecclesiastical condition of the congregations in these provinces. Thus shall a brotherly correspondence be maintained with the Classis, according to the constitution of the Low Dutch Reformed Church Orders. And for the greater unity with the Church of our fatherland, we will request the Rev. Classis to send us from year to year copies of the Acta Synodi, in order to regulate thereby our ecclesiastical matters, and for the profit and edification of the congregations. 11. Thus the congregations have deliberated, and by their delegates (to whom they gave full power to consult with each other, and to consider and decide in their name,) have determined to hold a Cœtus once a year at New York, or at some other place to be fixed by itself, on the first Monday of September. Approved and ratified with our hands, this 27th of April, 1738, in the Consistory Chamber at New York. |