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Description
At a meeting of the Consistory of the First Reformed Church, Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte, presided. Members present were elders H. Broek and J. Labots and deacons, A. de Weerd, Wilterdink, A. Plugger, P. van den Berg, and T[eunis] Keppel. The M. Mulder family wished to join the congregation but questioned the liturgy on the matter of infant baptism. Mulder understood "sanctified in Christ" to mean baptismal regeneration. Van Raalte explained that neither circumcision in the Old Testament nor baptism in the New Testament seals regeneration. Mulder accepted this understanding of the sacrament. In a dispute between Mulder and Schrader, Consistory asked the gentlemen to reflect on the matter for eight days and hopefully come to a peaceful settlement. Consistory approved Van Raalte being present next Sunday, the 12th, at the installation service of Rev. Smit in Drenthe.
Date
10-9-1851
City
Holland, Michigan
Source
The original documents are held in The Joint Archives of Holland.
Rights
This digitized material is intended for personal research/study only. The original documents may not be reproduced for commercial use in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from The Joint Archives of Holland.
Recommended Citation
Buursma, William, "Meeting Notes of the Consistory of the First Reformed Church" (1851). Van Raalte Papers: 1850-1859. 213.
https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/vrp_1850s/213
Notes
In Dutch; translation by Rev. William Buursma.
Description of the document and reference to The Joint Archives of Holland by Dr. Elton J. Bruins.
About the collection:
Elton J. Bruins, long-time professor in the Department of Religion at Hope College, spent years collecting documents by and about Albertus C. Van Raalte, founder of Holland, Michigan and early patron of Hope College. Documents were gathered from dozens of public and private collections, making a nearly exhaustive collection of Van Raalte's writings and reflections. It is these documents that make up the "Van Raalte Papers."
Digitizing the Van Raalte papers was supported by the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York. The project was done in partnership with Heritage Hall at Calvin University, which also digitized its Van Raalte collections.