Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/433

* PBESBYTERIANISM. 371 PBESBYTERIANISM. Texas and the Southwesteiii Presbyterian Univer- sity at Clarksville, Teun. The Cumberland Pkesbyterian Church was organized in Tennessee on February 14, 1810, by three Presbyterian ministers, Finis Ewing, .Sam- uel King, and Samuel McAdow. They called the organization the Cumberland Presbytery. This act was the crisis of a movement begun a dozen years earlier, the great spiritual revival which had stirred that part of the- Soutliwest, under the leadership of .James ilcGready and others. This revival was widespread, and its converts were so many that the demand for ministers was far in excess of the number the Church could furnish. Under the advice of some of the most honored ministers of the time, men of approved intellicence and religious character were chosen as exhorters, even though they had not had the education usual to candidates for the ministry. The urgenc.v of the need seemed to the Revival Party a sufficient reason for the custom. The men so ordained were permitted to adopt the Westminster Confession of Faith with the excep- tion of 'the idea of fatality.' The controversy along these two lines increased till it resulted in the formation of the new Church. In 1813 the Cumberland Presbytery had so increased as to make necessary its division into three presbyte- ries and the formation of a synod. One of its tirst acts was to appoint a committee to prepare a Confession of Faith. This committee simpl.v modified the Westminster Confession, the chief changes being in cha])ters iii. and x. The Pres- byterian polity was retained. Before the Civil A'ar there were about 20.000 colored Cumberland Presbyterians worshiping with the white congre- gations. In 1860. however, the colored people asked and received consent of the General As- sembly to the organization of the African Cum- berland Presbyterian Church. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church has a theological seminary at Lebanon. Tenn. The United Presbyteria:^j Church of North America was organized in Pittsburg, Pa., on May 2G, 1858, by a union of the Associate and the Associate Reformed churches. By one line the United Presbyterian Church is descended from the Covenanters of Scotland, by the other line it is descended from a bod.v of men who were im- bued with the ideas which later brought forth the Free Church of Scotland. The basis of the union was the Westminster Standards together with a 'Testimony.' The Testimony consists of 18 articles designed to set forth the views of the Church on "certain points not distinctly intro- duced into the Confession of Faith." The Church hohis to a restricted connnunion : it has been and still is distinguished by its attitude on the subject of Church psalmody, using only the Psalms for its worship of song. In 1881 the General Assem- bly by a very small majority repealed the rule forbidding the use of instrumental music in the worship of God. The United Presbyterian Church has always maintained a higli standard for the ministry. As early as 1794 the Associate Church established a theological seminary in Pennsyl- vania, the first on the Continent. Other semi- naries and colleges have been founded. Home and foreign mission work has prospere<l as well as freedmen's work, publication, and ministerial relief. At the union, in 1858, there were 408 ministers, and the contributions were $253,150 for all purposes. The United Presbyterian Church has two theological seminaries — one at Allegheny, Pa., founded in 1825, and one at Xenia, Ohio, founded by the Associate Synod in 1794 at Ser- vice, Pa., removed to Canonsburg in 1821, and to Xenia, Ohio, in 1825. The Reformed Presbyterian Synod was founded in 1743 by members of the Covenanting or Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland. In 1798 a presbytery was organized in Philadel- phia. In 1800 it enacted a law that no slave- liolder should be a communicant, a position al- ways maintained. Members of this Church neither vote at political elections, enlist in the army, nor serve on juries. In 1833 the questions relating to the extent of severance between Church and State led to the disruption of the Church, the General S;/)iod of the Reformed Pres- bi/teriiin Chureh being formed of those who, while adhering to the Standards, permitted their mem- bers to discharge the duties of citizens. This body has a theological seminary at Philadelphia, founded in 1807. The Reformed Presbyterian Church (Covenanter) has a theological seminary at Allegheny City, Pa. The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Synod OF the South was organized in 1803 at Brick Cliurch, Fairfield County, South Carolina. Until 1822 it was connected with the General Synod, composed of the SjTiods of New York and the West. But the General Synod always met in New York, and as the Southern men could so seldom attend, it was decided in 1822 to become an independent synod. The .separation was not on account of slavery or sectionalism. It has churches in every Southern State and flourish- ing mission work in Mexico. Its educational institutions are Erskine College, Erskine Theo- logical Seminarv, and Due West Female College, all located at Due West, S. C. The Associate Synod of North America is a small body which declined to enter the' union which in 1858 constituted the United Presbyte- rian Church. It has twelve ministers and about a thousand members, and cooperates with the original Seceders of Scotland in mission work in India. Statistics. The following tables give the lat- est available figures for the different Presbyte- rian churches: Presby- teries Ministers Churches Church members S. S. pupils Home worli Foreign worli Pres. Ch. in United States America.... Pres. Ch. in United States 233 79 69 118 12 9 7.617 1,501 1,030 1,719 126 184 104 38 1,368 7,748 3,017 998 2,944 112 93 151 45 1,492 1,045.338 229,642 119,358 184,493 9,722 1,300 11,903 5.394 219,670 1,063.683 149.482 121,030 111,772 10,644 1,400 $1,203,453 162,614 87.531 83,459 5.141 2,000 $898,079 131.756 146.772 40.046 22.317 2,000 United Pres. Ch Cumberland Pres Reformed Pres. S.vnod Welsh Pres. orCalvinistic Methodist Associate Reformed Svnod of the South Reformed Pres. Ch., Gen. Synod 2..567 196,000 3 189 182,335 168,561