Lecture:
When Independence Led to Chaos: Authority in the Early Eighteenth Century Dutch Reformed Church, by Dr. Kenneth P. Shefsiek
Date/Time:
Thursday, October 10th, 6PM
Location:
Hudson Area Library
Join us on October 10th at 6 PM at the Hudson Area Library for the next lecture in the series by 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 is the fourth in a series of Leisler Lectures for 2024 in collaboration with the Hudson Area Library.