The Organization of the Congregation in the Early Lutheran Churches in America

same buildings, it is self-evident that the earlier organizations must have had an important influence on the later. Beside this, in Europe, especially in Holland, but also in Germany, there was a fuller self-government in the Reformed congregations than prevailed in the Lutheran in Germany. Their system was, therefore, better adapted for transplanting to a new country, where there was no connection between Church and State. The earliest German Reformed pastors came by way of Holland, and were aided by the church of that country, so that we may expect to find a close similarity between the Reformed organizations in this country, both German and Dutch, and we will not be disappointed in this. In his "Historic Manual of the Reformed Church," Rev. Dr. J. H. Dubbs shows such familiarity with the condition and history of the Reformed congregations from the beginning, that it was natural that we should turn to him, as a personal friend through many years, for reliable information as to the form of organization in t