The (General) Synod of Ulster was the forerunner of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. It comprised all the clergy of the church elected by their respective local presbyteries (or church elders) and a section of the laity. Official records of its proceedings exist from 1691. [1]
In 1726, the Synod expelled ministers, grouped together as the Presbytery of Antrim, who refused to subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith. Later there was a further secession by those who, insisting on the sole kingship of Christ, rejected the Confession. In 1763 they organised a distinct Reformed Presbyterian Church, and in 1811 established their own provincial synod. [2] In 1746, some of the more doctrinaire Calvinists withdrew, forming the Secession Synod. [3]
Within the mainline Synod there was a continuing distinction between 'Old Light' supporters of theological orthodoxy and 'New Light' elements more inclined to defer to conscience rather than doctrine. In the first decades of the 19th century, positions hardened with New Light ministers adopting a Unitarian or Arian scepticism regarding the doctrine of the Trinity. In 1829, when the leading conservative evangelical, Henry Cooke, succeeded in pressing the General Synod for a firm declaration of Trinitarian belief they withdrew to form their own Remonstrant Synod. [4]
The departure of the latitudinarian party made possible a reconciliation with the earlier Seceders. Purged of its heterodox elements, in 1840 the Synod of Ulster joined with the Secession Synod to form the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. [4]
Presbyterianism is a Reformed (Calvinist) Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders. Though there are other Reformed churches that are structurally similar, the word Presbyterian is applied to churches that trace their roots to the Church of Scotland or to English Dissenter groups that formed during the English Civil War.
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the country, known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and members of the LGBT community as elders and ministers. The Presbyterian Church (USA) was established with the 1983 merger of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, whose churches were located in the Southern and border states, with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, whose congregations could be found in every state.
The Presbyterian Church in the United States was a Protestant denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983. That year, it merged with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA) to form the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland is a non-creedal Christian denomination, which maintains a great emphasis on individual conscience in matters of Christian faith.
The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was a Presbyterian denomination existing from 1789 to 1958. In that year, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North America. The new church was named the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. It was a predecessor to the contemporary Presbyterian Church (USA).
The Marrow Controversy was a Scottish ecclesiastical dispute occasioned by the republication in 1718 of The Marrow of Modern Divinity. The work consists of religious dialogues which discuss the doctrine of the atonement and aim to guide the reader safely between Antinomianism and Neonomianism. The dispute involved two parties, being the Marrow Brethren and the General Assembly.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly (RPCGA) is a Presbyterian church body and conservative denomination in the United States established in 1991. The RPCGA was founded by members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States.
The Anti-Burghers were opponents of the Burgher Oath on theological grounds.
Henry Cooke (1788–1868) was an Irish Presbyterian minister, an opponent of secularisation, and, in response to Catholic mobilisation under Daniel O'Connell, an advocate of "Protestant unity".
The Old Side–New Side controversy occurred within the Presbyterian Church in Colonial America and was part of the wider theological controversy surrounding the First Great Awakening. The Old and New Side Presbyterians existed as separate churches from 1741 until 1758. The name of Old Side–New Side is usually meant as specifically referring to the Presbyterian Church. When one is referring to the debate as a whole, Old and New Light is usually used.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) is a Presbyterian church with congregations and missions throughout the United States, Japan, and Chile. Its beliefs—held in common with other members of the Reformed Presbyterian Global Alliance—place it in the conservative wing of the Reformed family of Protestant churches. Below the Bible—which is held as divinely inspired and without error—the church is committed to several "subordinate standards," together considered with its constitution: the Westminster Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms, along with its Testimony, Directory for Church Government, the Book of Discipline, and Directory for Worship.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland is a Presbyterian church in Ireland. The church currently has forty-three congregations, of which thirty-five are located in Northern Ireland; the remaining eight are located in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2011, its total communicant membership is 1,952. The distribution of Reformed Presbyterians accords with the distribution of the Ulster Scots, with most congregations based in counties Antrim, Londonderry and Down. Several new congregations have, however, been formed recently in the Belfast area, along with fellowships in Galway and Dublin.
The Covenant Presbyterian Church (CPC) is a Protestant, Reformed denomination, founded in the United States in 2006 by a group of churches that split from the Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland is a small, Scottish, Presbyterian church denomination. Theologically they are similar to many other Presbyterian denominations in that their office-bearers subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith. In practice, they are more theologically conservative than most Scottish Presbyterians and maintain a very traditional form of worship. In 1690, after the Revolution, Alexander Shields joined the Church of Scotland, and was received along with two other ministers. These had previously ministered to a group of dissenters of the United Societies at a time when unlicensed meetings were outlawed. Unlike these ministers, some Presbyterians did not join the reconstituted Church of Scotland. From these roots the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland was formed. It grew until there were congregations in several countries. In 1876 the majority of Reformed Presbyterians, or RPs, joined the Free Church of Scotland, and thus the present-day church, which remained outside this union, is a continuing church. There are currently Scottish RP congregations in Airdrie, Stranraer, Stornoway, Glasgow, and North Edinburgh. Internationally they form part of the Reformed Presbyterian Communion.
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the Republic of Ireland, and the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland. Like most Christian churches in Ireland, it is organised on an all-island basis, in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The church has approximately 210,000 members.
The Relief Church was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination founded in 1761. In 1847 it united with the United Secession Church to form the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
The Reformed Presbyterian Global Alliance is a communion of Presbyterians originating in Scotland in 1690 when its members refused to conform to the establishment of the Church of Scotland. The Reformed Presbyterian churches collectively have approximately 9,500 members worldwide in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, France, the United States of America, Canada, Japan, South Sudan, and Australia.
The Secession Synod was the Presbyterian Synod of Ireland from 1743 to 1840.
Presbyterianism has had a presence in the United States since colonial times and has exerted an important influence over broader American religion and culture.
The Adopting Act of 1729 was an act of the Synod of Philadelphia that made the Westminster Standards, particularly the Westminster Confession of Faith, the official confessional statements for Presbyterian churches in colonial America. Presbyterian ministers were required to believe or "subscribe" to the "essential and necessary" parts of the standards, but defining what was essential and necessary was left to individual presbyteries to determine.