An Old Dutch Church on the eastern shore of the Hudson and the character of 18th century Anglicanism

At this time of year, as October days shorten and the leaves begin to fall, my thoughts usually turn to a certain colonial-era Dutch Reformed church, "in the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson":

It stands on a knoll, surrounded by locust-trees and lofty elms, from among which its decent, whitewashed walls shine modestly forth, like Christian purity beaming through the shades of retirement. A gentle slope descends from it to a silver sheet of water, bordered by high trees, between which, peeps may be caught at the blue hills of the Hudson. To look upon its grass-grown yard, where the sunbeams seem to sleep so quietly, one would think that there at least the dead might rest in peace. On one side of the church extends a wide woody dell, along which raves a large brook among broken rocks and trunks of fallen trees. Over a deep black part of the stream, not far from the church, was formerly thrown a wooden bridge; the road that led to it, and the bridge itself, were thickly shaded by overhanging trees, which cast a gloom about it, even in the daytime; but occasioned a fearful darkness at night.

It is, of course, the Old Dutch Church in Irving Washington's 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'.

What, you might very well be asking, does the Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow have to do with the concerns and interests of an Old High blog? In some significant ways, the Old Dutch Church can lead us to reflect on the relationship between the Dutch Reformed tradition and the Church of England in the American colonies, and on the character of 18th century Anglicanism. It can also brings us to consider another beautiful old church in North America with Dutch origins.

As laudable Practice has previously explored, the Church of England in the Province of New York actively supported anti-Pietist opinion in Dutch Reformed churches. Against Pietists and Revivalists, there was an Anglican-Dutch Reformed 'orthodox coalition' which, in the words of a 1974 study of relationships between SPG and other Protestant traditions in the American colonies, "believed that a church should accept all people seeking salvation through the agency of a lawfully ordained ministry, the sacraments, and the liturgy". 

For an example of this, we see in 1743 both the rector of Trinity Church and the minister of the Dutch Church in New York refused permission for George Whitefield to preach in their pulpits. As the Dutch Reformed minister so wisely put it, "he did not belong to us .. on account of his fanaticism ... and lastly because he was condemned by the English Bishop, and rejected by the Episcopal Church here".

A respect and care for the continental Reformed churches was characteristic of the 18th century Church of England. Something of this would continue into the early 19th century. As Bishop Bethell stated in 1828: "we entertain a high respect for those Reformed Churches which have adopted, for various reasons, other forms of Ecclesiastical Polity". John Bowden - an early PECUSA divine and a supporter of the High Church John Henry Hobart - referred to "the Dutch Church, which is respectable for its learning and regularity". 

Those who were Dutch Reformed in the Province of New York but had no local congregation of that tradition could be found worshipping in Church of England congregations. SPG missionaries were provided with Dutch translations of the BCP when ministering amidst Dutch communities and often preached in Dutch. When Revivalism led to divisions in Dutch congregations, traditionalists often began attending Church of England services. SPG missionary clergy routinely emphasised the doctrinal similarities between the two Churches: there were no theological difficulties hindering Dutch Reformed laity worshipping with or becoming members of the Church of England.

All of this aids in understanding how those Dutch Loyalists who, after defeat in the Revolutionary War, found themselves in Clementsport, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, became members of the Church of England congregation of Old St. Edward's. The church was built in 1795 and consecrated by Bishop Inglis in 1797. As Brian McConnell notes in his wonderful history of Old St. Edward's, the gravestones in the churchyard bear touching witness to the "mostly Dutch" founders of the church, who had lived in the Province of New York before the Revolutionary War. 

A late 19th century history of Annapolis County made reference to Dutch influences lingering in Old St. Edwards:

When it was transferred to the Church of England a condition was made that a hymn in the Dutch language should be sung every Sunday morning before the beginning of the ordinary service, which was done until only two to whom that language was the vernacular survived. Doctor Fred. Boehme, who died in 1816, by his will gave the church a bell and a service of communion plate. The old bass viol which, performed on by the venerable "Squire" Ditmars, long supplied the instrumental music, is still preserved. 

The custom of a Dutch hymn being sung before morning service in Old St. Edward's continued until 1859, when the last Dutch speakers died.

The above-quoted late 19th century history does, however, strangely refer to the congregation being "originally Lutheran". As a more recent commentary has highlighted, this was probably due to the first pastor of the congregation in Clementsport being a German Lutheran - John Christopher Wagner - who had served as a chaplain with the 1st Ansbach Battalion during the Revolutionary War. Wagner's ministry during the conflict is referred to in a fascinating diary kept by a soldier serving in this Hessian unit. Arriving in Nova Scotia, Pastor Wagner's ministry to the Clementsport congregation did not indicate that it was a Lutheran congregation. To again quote the 1974 study of the relationships between SPG and the other Protestant traditions in the American colonies:

In the eighteenth century the Reformed Church was stronger among the Germans in North America than was the Lutheran, but most laymen perceived 1ittle difference between them. The doctrinal distinctions  that kept European theologians debating meant little either to the average colonist or to many of the missionaries. Ministers frequently filled vacant pulpits of churches other than their own, convinced that any form of service would benefit a community that would otherwise have none.

Pastor Wagner's ministry, in other words, was another echo of the life of Dutch churches and communities in the Province of New York before the Revolutionary War, in which there was an understanding of a broader magisterial Protestant tradition embracing English and Irish Episcopalians, Dutch Reformed, and German Lutherans.

All of which brings us to those Dutch Loyalists sitting in the pews of Old St. Edward's from 1795, with no evidence of any difficulties or unease in being members of the Church of England, worshipping according the Book of Common Prayer, ministered to by episcopally-ordained clergy. Leaving aside the absence of any evidence of difficulties or unease, there is no reason to assume that this would have been the case in light of the pre-Revolutionary War Dutch Reformed experience in the Province of New York. Worshipping in Church of England congregations, being ministered to by the Church of England's episcopally-ordained clergy, not recognising any significant doctrinal differences between the two Churches: this had been a part of the Dutch Reformed experience in New York.

While sitting in the pews of Old St. Edward's, those who had memories of Dutch Reformed churches in the Province of New York would have seen little difference with their new church in Nova Scotia. As indicated in this illustration - of the interior of Old St. Edward's and of the Old Dutch Church, Sleepy Hollow - the material similarities are obvious, a physical expression of the conviction that there were no significant doctrinal differences between the two traditions.

Despite initial impressions, it is rather appropriate that the Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow can lead us to reflect on Old St. Edward's and the character of 18th century Anglicanism. Washington Irving, after all, was a faithful Episcopalian, whose stories remind us that the roots of the United States are not to be exclusively sought amongst New Englanders such as Ichabod Crane, carrying his copy of Cotton Mather's History of New England Witchcraft, "in which, by the way, he most firmly and potently believed".

Perhaps reading 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' in these days before All Hallows' Eve, the Old Dutch Church might, therefore, make us think of an older Anglicanism, at ease with its Dutch Reformed neighbours, sharing with them a common Protestant orthodoxy (liturgical, sacramental, pastoral) against the Enthusiasm of the Pietists and Revivalists, and in which those of Dutch descent could - when circumstances required - easily and contentedly find a spiritual home.

(The first picture is of the Old Dutch Church, Sleepy Hollow. The second is of Old St. Edward's, Clementsport, Nova Scotia.)