Excerpt from Bi-Centennial Celebration, 1699-1899: Reformed Church of the Navasink and Its Two Branches, the First Reformed Church of Freehold, Now Known as the Brick Church of Marlboro, N. J., And the Reformed Church of Holmdel, Formerly Known as the White Meeting House The historical address of the Reformed Church of Nava sink, with its continuance in the First Reformed Church of Freehold down to 1887, was delivered by the Rev. Theodore W. Welles, D.D., of Paterson, N. J. This privilege and duty had been accorded to and laid upon the reverend gentleman because Of his knowledge of that history, which was due to his patient work in searching records for the facts during the years of his pastorate in this field. The morning session closed with the benediction pronounced by Dr. Welles, and was followed by a bountiful collation, provided and graciously served by the ladies of the two churches. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The word "pietism" usually conjures up a host of ambivalent im pressions. It has seemed to me increasingly clear that many of the strengths of pietism have been swept aside by reactions against the excesses of the movement. To properly assess the structures of pietism, it is important to comprehend its matrix and to understand its ex ponents. In preparing this study, therefore, I have sought to recapture something of the person of Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen as well as the gist of his thought; something of his environment as well as the institutions of his day. To achieve this I have traveled many by-paths and knocked on many doors. But the past has not always yielded its secrets; much is lost forever. Hagen in Westphalia, Frelinghuysen's birthplace, is now a modern city and only in a few isolated particulars is it reminiscent of Hagen in 1693. In the nearby village of Schwerte, however, the ancestral church of his forebears remains as it was nearly three hundred years ago. The gymnasium he attended in Hamm was destroyed in the bombings ofW orld War II, though the library he used during his study at Lingen is still largely intact. In the tiny East-Frisian village of Loegumer Voorwerk, Frelinghuysen's first parish, one can still stand in the pulpit where he first preached his awakening gospel. Yet oddly enough, in America, where his name is most remembered, most physical traces of his life have disappeared.

Includes section "Book reviews."