Records Relating to Synods | Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

Official Name of the Church:

Holland Reformed Church, 1859-1861.

Ware Hollandsche Gereformeerde Kerk (True Dutch Reformed Church), 1861-1880

Hollandsche Christelijke Gerformeerde Kerk (Dutch Christian Reformed Church), 1880.

Official Name of the Highest Assembly:

Classicale Vergadering(Classis), 1857-1865.

Algemeene Vergadering (General Assembly), 1865-1879.

Synodale Vergadering (Synod), 1880.

The minutes of the first classical meeting, held in April 1857, were lost when that session’s presiding officer, Rev. Hendrik G. Klyn, returned to the Reformed Church in America. In 1865, with the creation of a second classis, the General Assembly (“Algemeene Vergadering”) became the highest ecclesiastical assembly of the denomination. Some matters during the first years following the creation of the General Assembly were also dealt with at the classical level.

1857 February in Holland, MI, Hendrik Klijn presiding

1857 October in Vriesland, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1858 February in Grand Rapids, MI, Gijsbert Haan presiding

1858 October in Noordeloos, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1859 February in Grand Rapids, MI, Gijsbert Haan presiding

1859 June in Vriesland, MI, H. W. Dam presiding

1859 October in Graafschap, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1860 February  in Grand Rapids, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1860 June in Vriesland, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1860 February in Graafschap, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1861 February in Grand Rapids, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1861 April in Grand Rapids, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding (special session)

1861 June in Vriesland, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1862 February in Graafschap, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1862 June in Graafschap, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1862 October in Grand Rapids, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1863 February in Graafschap, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1863 July in Zeeland, MI, Wilhelmus H. Van Leeuwen presiding

1863 October in Grand Rapids, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1864 February in Graafschap, MI, Wilhelmus H. Van Leeuwen presiding

1864 June in Vriesland, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1864 August in Noordeloos, MI, Wilhelmus H. Van Leeuwen presiding

1864 October in Graafschap, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

1865 January in Zeeland, MI, Douwe J. Vander Werp presiding

1865 April in Grand Rapids, MI, Wilhelmus H. Van Leeuwen presiding

1865 June in Vriesland, MI, Koenraad Van den Bosch presiding

Bound volumes of minutes are available in the Reading Room (BX 6820 .A3 1857-1880)