As new churches were built and more ministers were called, to what was then known as New Amsterdam, the Collegium system developed: a ministry of colleagues who rotated among the several Dutch Reformed Churches on Manhattan Island. Though the Collegium practice ceased in 1871, the name continues.
Marble Collegiate is one of four such churches in New York City today, the others being Middle Collegiate, West End Collegiate, and Fort Washington Collegiate. Our government is Presbyterian in origin, directed by elders and deacons. Its creed is Reformed or Calvinistic, emphasizing the centrality of Christ and trustworthiness of the scriptures as the word of God.