When I first began to think through the implications of the topic which has been assigned to me for this conference, my first conclusion was that the paper would be a short one. The Synod of Dort had not been adjourned for seven years when the first services of the Dutch Reformed Church were held in North America. To be sure, these services were held by licensed lay persons called krankenbezoekers, but by 1628 it had been decided that the same subscription to the doctrine and discipline of Dort be required of them as of the ministers of the Word. From the organization of the first congregation in 1628 and continuing down to the final surrender of the colony to the British in 1674, it is not surprising to find loyalty to Dort a constant requirement. This was especially true during the 1650's when the Lutherans were seeking to establish a foothold in New Amsterdam. Not once but several times during that decade the Lutherans were reminded that no other gospel but that declared by Dort was to be permitted in the colony. Dutch domines like Johannes Megapolensis were convinced that Dort represented true doctrine and that no expression of any other was to be allowed. In this he was pretty well supported by Director General Stuyvesant.