ABSTRACT
Several hundred Huguenots arrived in the British colony of New York in the years immediately surrounding the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Along with Huguenots who had come to New York before the 1680s, these new arrivals founded L'Eglise Française du St Esprit in 1688. This church was one of only a few independent French Reformed congregations in North America that remained in existence beyond the colonial period. 2 Louis Rou was the pastor of St Esprit from 1710 until his death in 1750. During his long ministry he composed a rich collection of documents that illuminate eighteenth-century Huguenot beliefs and practices. They also shed light on contemporary controversies that plagued the French Church of New York. This paper explores Rou's background and theology as well as his occasionally contentious tenure at St Esprit.
