REFORMED CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES, a German Calvinistic Church in America, commonly called the German Reformed Church. It traces its origin to Switzerland, France and Germany and especially to the great German immigra tion of the 17th century to Pennsylvania where the Reformed element was estimated in 1730 to be more than half the whole number of Germans in the colony. In 1709 more than 2,000 Palatines emigrated to New York with their pastor, Johann Friedrich Hager. Other early pastors (1710-4o) were Rev. Sam uel Guldin, Johann Philip Boehm, George Michael Weiss, Johann Heinrich Goetschius, Johann Conrad Wirtz and Johann Bartholo maeus Rieger. Michael Schlatter (1716-9o), sent to America by the Synod (Dutch Reformed) of Holland, immediately con vened Boehm, Weiss and Rieger in Philadelphia, and with them planned a Coetus, which first met in 1747. Many churches and pastors were independent of the Coetus, within which there were two parties. Of the Pietists of the second class, one of the leaders was Philip William Otterbein whose system of class-meetings was the basis of a secession from which grew the United Brethren in Christ (q.v.), organized in 1800. During the Revolutionary War the Pennsylvania members of the church were mostly at tached to the American cause ; but in New York and in the South there were many German Loyalists.
The Coetus actually assumed the power of ordination in 1772 and formally in 1791. In 1792 a Synodical Constitution was prepared ; and in 1793 the Coetus of Pennsylvania became the Synod of the German Reformed Church in the United States. (The word "German" was dropped from the official name in 1869 by action of the General Synod.) This first Synod met in Lancaster and adopted its own constitution, thus becoming inde pendent of Holland. Its churches numbered 178, and there were about 15,00o communicants. The strongest churches were those of Philadelphia, Lancaster and Germantown in Pennsylvania, and Frederick in Maryland. By 1825, 13 Reformed ministers were
settled west of the Alleghenies. The Synod in 1819 divided itself into eight Classes. The Synod of Ohio was organized in Franklin college was founded with much outside help, notably that of Benjamin Franklin, at Lancaster, Pa. in 1787. In 1825 the church opened a theological seminary at Carlisle, Pa. (now at Lancaster, Pa.) and later an academy which in 1836 became Marshall college at Mercersburg where the Mercersburg theology was founded. The seminary was removed in 1871 from Mercers burg to Lancaster, whither the college had gone in 1853 to form, with Franklin college, Franklin and Marshall college. The Synod of Ohio founded a theological school and Heidelberg university at Tiffin, 0., in 1850. The General Synod of the church was organized in 1863 as the highest judicatory following the ter centenary celebration of the Heidelberg Catechism, the recog nized doctrinal standard of the Reformed Church, published in Germany in 1563.
After a long controversy over a liturgy (connected in part with the Mercersburg movement) a Directory of Worship was adopted in 1887 and revised in 1926. The work of the Reformed Church is directed through five boards created by and responsible to the General Synod. Since 1926 the General Synod has func tioned in the interim between its triennial meetings through an executive committee of 20 representative ministers and elders. In 1928 there were seven District Synods meeting annually in the fall. These include 6o classes which meet annually in the spring of the year.
The statistical reports for 1928 reported 1,744 congregations with a communicant membership of 356,093; 1,336 ministers; 39 licentiates; 312 students for the ministry; 347,256 Sunday school scholars; total contributions for congregational purposes $5,574,547; for benevolence, and church property and parsonages valued at $48,255,581.