Original Secession Church

Not to be confused with United Secession Church.

Timeline showing the evolution of the churches of Scotland from 1560

The Original Secession Church or United Original Secession Church was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1827 by the union of (1) the Anti-Burgher Old Lights, led by Thomas M'Crie the Elder and known as "the Constitutional Associate Presbytery" and (2) the portion of the Anti-Burgher New Lights that refused to merge with the Burgher New Lights, led by George Paxton and known as "the Synod of Protesters". The title 'United Original Secession Church' was adopted in 1842, after the 'Original Secession Church', by then led by Thomas M'Crie the Younger, united with the portion of the Burgher Old Lights that refused to merge with the Church of Scotland. In 1852 some of its members, including Thomas M'Crie the Younger, merged with the Free Church of Scotland formed by the Disruption of 1843. In 1956 the remainder of the Original Secession Church merged with the Church of Scotland. ^[1]

Notable Original Secession churchmen

• Thomas M'Crie, the elder (died 1835)
• Thomas M'Crie, the younger (died 1875)
• George Paxton (died 1837)

Churches that joined the Free Church in 1852

Church	Subsequent history
Colmonell	Became Colmonell Free Church, then Colmonell UFC. Status reduced 1927.
Edinburgh: Davie Street	Named McCrie Free Church from 1858. United with Roxburgh Free Church 1886 to form McCrie-Roxburgh Free Church.
Greenlaw	Merged with Greenlaw Free Church in 1856.
Haddington	Became Knox's Free Church 1852. Absorbed into Haddington St John's Free Church 1871.
Leith: Junction Street (joined OSC 1848)	Named Leith Trinity Free Church from 1863, and Leith Elder Memorial Free Church from 1899. Absorbed into Leith St John's United Free Church 1907.
Longridge	Transported to Crofthead 1870. Became Fauldhouse UFC 1900, then Fauldhouse Crofthead Parish Church 1929. United with Fauldhouse Parish Church 1973 to form Fauldhouse St Andrew's Parish Church.
Whitburn	Became Whitburn UFC 1900, then Whitburn Brucefield Parish Church 1929. United with Blackburn Parish Church 2000? to form Whitburn Burnfield Valley North Parish Church.
Yetholm	Became Yetholm St James' UFC in 1900. United with Yetholm Border View UFC 1914 to form Yetholm UFC.

Churches that remained in the OSC after 1852

Church	Subsequent history
Aberdeen	Dissolved 1908.
Arbroath	A minority remained in the OSC. Refused to join the CoS in 1956; eventually merged with a congregational church.
Auchinleck	Dissolved 1928.
Ayr	Dissolved 1944.
Balmullo	A minority remained in the OSC. Dissolved 1878.
Birsay	Majority remained in the OSC. Joined the CoS in 1956.
Carluke	Joined the CoS in 1956.
Carnoustie	Joined Free Church 1852, then Reformed Presbyterian 1860, then OSC 1876. Dissolved 1919.
Cheltenham	Existed as an OSC church c. 1877-1880. Left OSC, now Whaddon Road Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
Colmonell	A minority remained in the OSC. Dissolved c. 1878.
Coronary and Cartlehill	Received from the Irish Secession Church, 1921. Joined Presbyterian Church of Ireland 1955.
Coupar Angus	Dissolved c. 1893.
Darvel	Split from Darvel RPC joined OSC 1883. Dissolved 1941.
Dromore	Linked with Toberdoney from 1929.
Dundee	A minority remained in the OSC. Joined the CoS in 1956.
Edinburgh Adam Square	Dissolved 1879.
Edinburgh Victoria Terrace	Separated from Adam Square 1857. Dissolved 1956.
Glasgow Bridgeton	Founded 1876. Joined the CoS in 1956.
Glasgow Laurieston	Founded 1872. Dissolved 1920s.

Sources

• Morton, R (1911). "Presbyterians; I. Scotland". In Johann Jakob Herzog, Philip Schaff (ed.). New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Vol. IX: Petri - Reuchlin. p. 215.
• Scott, David (1886). Annals and statistics of the original Secession church: till its disruption and union with the Free church of Scotland in 1852. Edinburgh : A. Elliot. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

References

1. Muirhead, Andrew T.N. (26 February 2015). Reformation, Dissent and Diversity: The Story of Scotland's Churches, 1560 - 1960. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 80. ISBN   9781441168429 . Retrieved 27 March 2015.