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.

Since the denomination completed the change from Dutch to English in 1932, the 1936 Synod of the Christian Reformed Church in North America authorized the translation of its minutes into English. In 1865, with the creation of a second classis, the General Assembly (“Algemeene Vergadering”) became the highest ecclesiastical assembly of the denomination. Since some matters during the first years following the creation of the General Assembly were also dealt with at the classical level, this translation contains minutes from both for those years. 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.

The first translation was overseen by a committee headed by professor Clarence Bouma, of Calvin Theological Seminary, in 1937. The actual translation seems to have been done by a number of individuals. The originals were not transcribed nor was the original pagination maintained. In 1999 because the accuracy of the translation varied, probably reflecting individual translators, the Historical Committee of the Christian Reformed Church deemed it advisable to make the translation more consistent. Initial efforts indicated that starting from the original manuscripts would be more effective than editing the 1937 translation. Further advantages of doing so allowed a transcription of the original Dutch to be set in the left column and the English translation on the right, and the original pagination maintained.

Hendrick K. Harms transcribed the original handwritten Dutch into a digital, word processing format. Richard H. Harms translated this set, and that translation was proofread by Boukje Leegwater. All three are native-speakers of Dutch who now live in West Michigan. Additions in the text are indicated in square brackets and all footnotes were added.

Historical Committee of the Christian Reformed Church
© 2000