Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1866-12-14
German Reformed Church.

German Reformed Church.
The meeting of the General Synod Of
the German Reformed Church in Dayton
has created new interest in the organ
ization, and seems to call for an outline OF
the history of the Rise and Progress of the
denomination in this country, which in
quiry will necessarily take us to the Old
World for start.
The German Reformed Church in the
United States originated with some scat
tered German and Swiss colonists, who
were members of the Reformed Church, in
the Fatherland. Properly speaking, it is
the American edition of the Reformed
Churches of Germany and Switzerland.
The Reformed Churches of Germany,
Switzerland, France, Hungary and Hol-
land originated in, and derived their pc
culiar religious views, life and power, from
The Great reformation of the 10th century,
though separate and distinct in their doc
trine and practice from the Lutheran side
of the Reformation. .s.,57f .g.e,s..
The first congregations of this denomi-
nation were organized in the eastern por-
ton of Pennsylvania, between the year
I172O and Ills, and the first Synod was
constituted there in 1746. The growth of
the Church has been gradual, as it at first
gathered its membership chiefly from the
Germon portion of our polyglot popula-
ton; but in later years, as the doctrines
and practice Of the Church had become
better and more widely known, its pro-
gress has been greater in English than in
German communities This is clearly in
dicated by the large proportion of purely
English congregations in many parts of
the United States. Thus the word Ger
man, as used in the name of the Church,
has lost its peculiar significance; and in
most cases it is misnonier, as the Ian
guage in which the public worship is con-
Quoted is English instead of German. ' =
The doctrines of the Reformed Church
are contained in the Heidelberg Catechism
thus named from Heidelberg, on the
Rhine, where the catechism was first pub
Eshed, in 1868. The government is Pres
byterian, (which has in some places given
rise to the erroneous title Of Dutch Pres
byterian Church. First in the order of
iudicatories is the Consistory of the con-
gregation. Next the CIass,s, which has
jurisdiction over number of congrega-
tions, or charges, in given territory. For
example the Miami Chassis embraces the
congregations in the Great Miami Valley.
Next comes the District Synod; and lastly
the General Synod, which is co-extensive
with the entire Church in the United
States. The representation of delegates in
these various bodies of the Church is d.
vided Fequally between the ministry and
laity. E.a
Under the jurisdiction of the General
Synod are l149 congregations with church
accommodations or sittings for 465,S45
persons. The value of church proderty is
not less than 81, ,5O0,016.
p In estimating the strength of the Re-
formed Churches of America, the Re-
formed Dutch Churches should be iuclu-
ded with it, because both branches use the
same symbol of faith, and have the same
form Of church government These two
churches together number 1889 congre-
cations, with 677,4lS sittings, and the
joint value of the church property is So
$685. 1872.
The General Synod of the Reformed
Church which commences its session in
the FIRST Lutheran Church, Main street this
evening, meets triennally. This will be
the second meeting of the body, the first
having been held in Pittsburg three years
ago. We learn that an effort has been In
agurated by the Ohio Synod to have the
General Synod held annually instead of
triennally; and as the church is beginning
to feel the advantage of this general meet
ing of the representatives of the entire
Church, it is probable that it will not be
long before the change will be made
Dayton Journal aiaa1 $685. i'=