Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/725

Rh UNITED STATES.] PRESBYTERIAN ISM 701 The several branches of the Scottish separating churches continued to grow independently until the year 1858, when the United Presbyterian Church was formed by a union of three synods, one of the Associate and two of the Associate Reformed Churches. Presby teries. Ministers. Churches. Communi cants. Theological Seminaries. Associate 21 197 293 23,505 1 Associate Reform ed (4 synods) 28 225 383 32,118 3 5 Synods 49 422 676 55,623 4 The Dutch Reformed increased, though not without slight internal struggles; in 1822 there was a secession of thirteen ministers. The name &quot; Dutch &quot; was dropped in 1867 because it was found hurtful to the progress of the denomination. At the outbreak of the Civil War they numbered 1 general synod, 3 particular synods, 31 classes, 387 ministers, 370 churches, 50,427 communicants. The German Reformed in 1816 improved their organi zation. In 1819 the constitution was revised and the church divided into synods and classes. In 1824 they were divided into two independent synods. In the next year they established a theological seminary at Carlisle, which was removed to Mercersburg, and finally to Lan caster (all in Pennsylvania). This institution became the centre of the liturgical party in the church. The Ohio synod established Heidelberg College in 1850. At the outbreak of the Civil War this denomination numbered 2 synods, 24 classes, 391 ministers, 1045 churches, 92,684 communicants. In 1826 the first Calvinistic Methodist Church in America was organized in Oneida county, New York, and a presbytery was constituted a few years afterwards. This little denomination, which is in entire sympathy with other Presbyterian bodies, is composed almost ex clusively of Welshmen, who have settled in communities by themselves. mod 3. From the Civil War to 1885. The Civil War in ice the separating the people of the North from the people of the South also brought about a separation of churches. Some of the breaches have been healed, others remain until now. In 1861 the Southern section of the Presbyterian Church withdrew from the Northern and organized the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America, with 11 synods, 47 presbyteries, about 700 ministers, 1000 churches, and 75,000 communicants. In 1865 this body united with the United Synod of the South, and increased its strength by 120 ministers, 190 churches, and 12,000 communicants. After the close of the war the name of the denomination was changed to &quot; the Presbyterian Church in the United States.&quot; In 1867 this church was joined by the presbytery of Patapsco, in 1869 by the synod of Kentucky, and in 1874 by the synod of Missouri, all of which had separated from the Northern church. The war also united the Northern churches more closely together, and there was an increasing desire for organic union. An effort was made to combine all the Presby terian bodies of the North in 1867, but in vain. In 1869, however, the Old and New School churches of the North combined on the basis of the common standards. A memorial fund of $7,883,983 was raised, and the church entered with renewed strength upon a fresh career of use fulness. An effort to unite the Dutch and German Re formed Churches failed, as also the effort to combine the Presbyterian Churches of the North and the South. The German Reformed synods in 1863 united in a general synod with 26 classes, 447 ministers, and 98,775 com municants. Ursinus College was founded by it in 1869. All branches of Presbyterians have increased with the growth of the United States. The present strength of the churches is as follows : Presbyterian Church in U.S.A. Presbyterian Church in U.S. .. Cumberland Presbyterian Ch. United Presbyterian Church. . Reformed Presbyterian Church. N.A I Reformed Presbyterian Church. U.S.A Associated Reformed Church of the South Reformed Church in America Reformed Church in U.S.A. .. Calvinistic Methodist Totals 92 552 a 2 r p.. -p 23 182 13 67 27 116 9 00 1 ! 6 342 522 16 5,218 1,070 1,439 730 37 112 79 569 783 84 10,121 5,858 2,040 2,591 839 48 124 72 516 1,465 175 600,695 ! 12 127,017 ! 2 130,000 1 85,443 3 6,700 ! 1 10,625 1 6,648 80,156 169,530 9,563 1,226,377 j 26 The American Presbyterian churches have always been marked by a zeal for missions. John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians in New England, was a Puritan Presby terian. The synod of New York carried on mission work among the Indians through David Brainerd and others, with the help of the Society in Scotland for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. The Presbyterian churches generally co-operated with the Congregationalists in the work of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, established in 1710, until 1832, when the Re formed Church in America set the example of organizing a denominational board. Each denomination now has its board of missions. The summary of missionary operations, as reported to the council of the Reformed churches hold ing the Presbyterian system which met at Belfast in June 1884, was 230 ordained missionaries, 25 male lay agents, and 359 female, all sent out by the societies. These were aided by 138 ordained converts and 1115 other agents from among the converts, and there was a total of 25,235 communicants and 29,060 day-school pupils. The work of home missions is equally extensive, and is especi ally important in the United States, where the church has to attend to the wants of an immense population constantly flowing from Europe, and the natural increase of population in the country itself also enlarges the older towns and States and creates new ones with astonishing rapidity. The tendency of Presbyterianism in the United States is to adapt itself to the circumstances of the country. The divisions are chiefly the result of differences of nationality, and traditional doctrines and modes of worship brought by the immigrants from the countries of Europe. These are gradually wearing off, and the churches are assimilat ing themselves to the country and its institutions, and thus are growing closer together. We may expect at no very distant date a combination of them all into one organism. The chief authorities for the study of American Presbyterianism are Charles Hodge, Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 1706-1788(1 vols., Phil- Gillett, History of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (2d ed., Philadelphia, 1873) ; Presbyterian Reunion (New York, 1870) ; E. B. Crisman, Origin and Doctrines of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (St Louis, 1877) ; E. T. Corwin, Manual of tJie Reformed Church in America (New York, 3d ed., 1879) ; Reformation Prin ciples (Philadelphia, revised ed., 1863); C. A. Briggs, American Presbyterianism, New York, 18S5. (C. A. BR. ) &quot; General Synods Classes.&quot;