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Bible Encyclopedias
Presbyterian Churches
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or The different bodies into which the Presbyterians are divided will here be treated as nearly in the historical relation which they sustain towards each other as it is possible to place them. We begin with the Presbyterians of Scotland, because they are, among all English-speaking nations, the only ones directly allied with the state by establishment, and because it is from Scotland that English and American Presbyterianism has obtained nourishment and succor, rather than from the Continent, however true it be that Presbyterianism had there its origin. (See PRESBYTERIANISM); (See PRESBYTERIANS).
1. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. — A history of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland would be, in effect, a history of that country; for since its establishment by the Reformation its political and religious history have flowed on in one and the same channel. Christianity was planted in Scotland about the beginning of the 3rd century; and it is claimed that the early churches, particularly those of the ancient Culldees, were non-prelatical. Under the vigorous missions of Palladius and Augustine they were, however, reduced to conformity with the rule of Rome, and so remained until the period of the Reformation. At that time the corruption of the hierarchy, its encroachments on the civil power, and its greedy appropriation of the right of patronage to benefices, had created a wide-spread dissatisfaction, and prepared the way for the favorable reception of the principles of the Reformation. For twenty years persecution followed, and many were burned at the stake, among whom were Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart. The first general and public movement leading to the organization of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland was the drawing-up of a common bond or covenant, known as "The First Covenant," and subscribed at Edinburgh, Dec. 3,1557, by several of the most powerful of the Scotch nobility and a large number of lesser barons and influential country gentlemen, known subsequently (on account of their frequent use of the word congregation to designate those for whom they professed to act) as lords of the congregation.
The signing of the covenant was followed by a proclamation from the queen regent forbidding any one to preach or administer the sacrament without the authority of the bishop. At length, however, the party of the Reformers triumphed, and in the year 1560 (Aug. 17-24) the Parliament abolished the Roman Catholic worship, adopted a confession of faith agreeing with the confessions of the Reformed churches on the Continent, appointed ministers of the Protestant religion in eight principal towns, and assigned the remaining portions of the country to five other ministers as superintendents who were to take temporary charge of the interests of religion in their several districts. On Dec. 20, 1560, the first General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was constituted in Edinburgh, consisting of six ministers and thirty-four laymen. Up to this period, the Scottish Reformers had followed, as their rule of worship and doctrine, the Book of Common Order used by the English Church at Geneva. In April, 1560, however, the Privy Council appointed a committee of five persons, including Knox, "to commit to writing their judgments touching the reformation of religion." This First Book of Discipline, setting forth a polity adapted to the existing condition of affairs, though adopted by the Church, was rejected by the nobles, who wished to appropriate to themselves the patrimony of the old Church. In 1581 the Second Book of Discipline, drawing its system directly from the Scriptures, was adopted by the Assembly, and this-confirmed in 1592 by King James, along with the Westminster documents-is still in force. Nothing but the undaunted perseverance of those two eminent men, John Knox and Andrew Melville, succeeded at last in procuring the complete recognition of the Calvinistic faith and the Presbyterian form of government as the established religion of Scotland, which was finally and formally effected by act of Parliament and with the consent of king James (I of England and VI of Scotland) in the year 1592.
The duplicity of the king, however, soon became apparent, for within a few years he intrigued to bring about the establishment of Episcopacy, and to assimilate the two national churches of Scotland and England. In this he was followed by his successors, Charles I, Charles II, and James II. The resistance of the people, the bloody persecutions that ensued, the civil turmoil, and the subsequent downfall of the Stuart dynasty, are matters of history. From 1660 to 1688, the Church was in the wilderness, scourged by such men as Claverhouse (q.v.) and Dalziel (q.v.), but leaving the record of many noble martyrdoms-as given in the story of the Scots Worthies and the Cloud of Witnesses. (See COVENANT AND SOLEMN LEAGUE).
Under William and Mary, Presbyterianism again became ascendant. In 1690 an "Act of Settlement" was passed, prelacy was abolished, and the Westminster Confession recognized as the creed of the Church. But the settlement of the Church on this basis was objected to by a small body of earnest men, the "Reformed Presbyterians," who had already distinguished themselves in zeal for the "Covenants" as securities alike for the freedom of the Church and the Christianity of the State, and who now felt unable either to enter into the Church or to give their unqualified adherence to the constitution of the State. Many of the more earnest descendants of the Covenanters (q.v.) protested against the reception of such men into the Church, and, finding their protest in vain, withdrew, and organized the Reformed Presbyterian Church. (See below.) Though this secession took place in 1681, the churches were not finally organized into a presbytery till 1743. Upon the union of the two kingdoms in 1707, Presbyterianism obtained every guarantee that could be desired. Since that time it has continued to be the established religion of Scotland, as much as Episcopacy is that of England.
The only confession of faith legally established before the Revolution of 1688 was that which is published in the History of the Reformation in Scotland, attributed to John Knox. It consists of twenty-five articles, and was the confession of the Episcopal as well as of the Presbyterian Church. The Parliament, however, during the Commonwealth, adopted the Westminster Confession. At the Revolution this confession was declared to be the standard of the national faith; and it was ordained by the same acts of Parliament which settled Presbyterian Church government in Scotland, "that no person be admitted or continued hereafter to be a minister or preacher within this Church unless he subscribe the [that is, this] confession of faith, declaring the same to be the confession of his faith." By the act of union in 1707 the same is required of all professors, principals, regents, masters, and others bearing office.
The Westminster Confession of Faith, then, and what are called the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, contain the publicly recognized doctrines of this Church; and it is well known that these formularies are an embodiment of the Calvinistic faith. No liturgy or public form of prayer is used in the Church of Scotland, the minister's only guide being the Directory for the Public Worship of God. The administration of the Lord's Supper, as a general thing observed four times a year, is conducted with simple forms, but is accompanied, usually preceded and followed, by special religious services, consisting of prayers and exhortations. A metrical version of the Psalms on the basis of that of Rous (died 1659) is used, and supplementary hymns have recently been introduced.
The provision which has been made by the law of Scotland for the support of the clergy of the Established Church consists of a stipend, a small glebe of land, and a manse (parsonage house) and office houses. By an act of Parliament passed in 1810, £10,000 per annum were granted for augmenting the smaller parish stipends in Scotland. By this act the lowest stipend assigned to a minister of the establishment is £150 sterling, with a small sum, generally £8 6s. 8d., for communion elements. Patronage, in part abrogated at the Revolution, was restored in 1712 by act of Parliament. Scottish independence rebelled at this, the people claiming the right to elect their own clergy, or at least to exercise a veto over the appointment of an unsatisfactory one; and the controversy which ensued led to secession, which was ushered in first by indifference, and was helped on by the renewal of the old interest. From that time a worldly spirit crept into the Church; men of talents, but lax in principle, obtained possession of influential positions; the leaven of moderatism— ridiculed in Dr. Witherspoon's Characteristics— set extensively to work; and in the course of time Arminian, Pelagian, and even Socinian tenets were propagated, with little attempt at concealment. The result was the secession of several important bodies from the Church. The first who formally withdrew were the Covenanters, or Cameronians, who objected to the interference of the state authorities in Church affairs, and to the Erastian principle involved in the existing establishment, as inconsistent with the covenant to which the Church had sworn. (See CAMERONIANS).
A few faithful men, led by Ebenezer Erskine, endeavored to breast the tide; but, being deposed by the commission of the Assembly, who were Moderates, they seceded in 1733, and formed themselves into a distinct body, called the Associated Presbytery, more commonly known as Seceders. They became known as the Secession Church. This secession proved a severe blow, and shook the establishment to its foundations. Another secession arose in 1760, and from it was formed the Presbyterians of Relief, better known as "The Relief Synod." These bodies have since been united, and constitute the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Those who remained in the Established Church were divided in opinion on the subject of lay patronage. The sentiment against it continued to grow because of the indifference of the clergy. For a while moderatism held the upper hand, but its reign was dreary. Under the dominant influence of principal Robertson, whose studies were more devoted to elegant literature than to the Holy Scriptures, the preaching of tie Gospel was superseded by moral essays, and Dr. Blair's cold and polished sermons were regarded as models of the highest excellence. This state of things continued till near the close of the 18th century, when Christians in Scotland began to share in that general reviving of evangelical principles which then pervaded Great Britain. A positive reaction set in, and gradually new life began to animate the frozen limbs of the Established Church. The evangelical party took heart, and constantly increased in strength. Dr. Andrew Thomson, Dr. Chalmers, and others came upon the stage of action, and under their vigorous lead a new era was inaugurated. The Assembly entered with zeal into the subject of foreign missions, while it multiplied churches to supply the need at home. The burden of patronage was felt to be a great hindrance to the progress of vital piety and active effort, and the autonomy or independent jurisdiction of the Church became a topic of earnest debate.
In 1834 the General Assembly passed the celebrated "Veto Act," giving to the Church courts the power of rejecting a presentee if judged by them unfit. This act was set aside by the civil court, and subsequently, on appeal, by the House of Lords, in the Auchterarder case, in 1839. The Assembly yielded so far as the temporalities were concerned, but at the same time unequivocally maintained the principle of non-intrusion as one that could not be given up consistently with the doctrine of the headship and sovereignty of Christ. The Strathlbogie case next occurred, bringing the civil and ecclesiastical courts into direct collision, which ended at last in the Disruption of 1843, under the lead of Chalmers, Cunningham, Welsh, Candlish, and Dunlop; 470 members signed an "Act of Separation and Deed of Demission," and the Free Church of Scotland was organized. Soon after the separation of 1843 an act of Parliament was passed, called "Lord Aberdeen's Act," to define the rights of congregations and presbyteries in the calling and settlement of ministers. But in 1874 this was suspended by another act, whereby patronage was abolished, and the right of electing ministers was vested in the people. Government still reserves, however, the appointment of theological professors. The Free Church carried off about one half the communicants of the Established Church, and became a rival communion in most of the parishes of Scotland. The three denominations-the Established Presbyterian Church, the United Presbyterian Church, and the Free Church (in which the Reformed Presbyterian Church merged in 1876) -constitute the chief Presbyterian churches of Scotland at the present time. (See SCOTLAND, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES OF).
The government, discipline, and worship of the Established Church of Scotland are in all respects the same as those of other Presbyterian churches. According to the constitution of the Church, there is a kirksession in every parish, consisting of the minister and a body of lay elders. All the ministers within a certain district, with one lay elder from each session, constitute the Presbytery of that district. The next higher court is the Provincial Synod, which embraces several neighboring presbyteries. The highest court of all is the General Assembly. It is a representative court, consisting of 247 members and 178 elders, the greater part chosen by the presbyteries, but a considerable number of elders chosen by the town-councils and universities. It meets early in May, is presided over by its moderator, and has the presence of a lord high commissioner, appointed by the crown, who, however, is not a member, and has no authoritative voice in the court. A "Commission of Assembly" meets in August, November, and March, consisting of the members of Assembly, and a minister named by the moderator, to attend to matters remitted to it by the Assembly, or that may arise in the intervals. In consequence of the connection with the state, there are certain peculiarities connected with the support of the ministers which it may be proper to notice.
Dr. Jamieson, in his interesting sketch of the "Church of Scotland" contributed to the Cyclopaedia of Religious Denominations, thus describes these peculiarities: — "The provision made for parish ministers by the law of Scotland consists of a stipend arising from a tax on land. It is raised on the principle of commuting tithes or teinds into a modified charge-the fifth of the land produce, according to a method introduced in the reign of Charles I, ratified by William III, and unalterably established by the treaty of union. To make this intelligible, we may observe that at the Reformation the teinds were appropriated by the crown, with the burden of providing for the minister. In after-times they were often bestowed as gifts on private individuals totally unconnected with the parish, and who thus came so far in place of the crown. These persons received the name of titulars, from being entitled to collect from the heritors the unappropriated teinds; but they were also bound on demand to sell to any heritor the titularship to his own teinds at nine years' purchase.
From the collective land-produce of a parish the court of teinds determines how much is to be allotted for the support of the minister. This general decree having fixed the amount, a common agent, appointed by the court, proceeds to divide it proportionally among the landholders, and this division, when fully made, is sanctioned by the court. It is called a decreet of modification, and forms the authority or rule according to which alone the minister collects his stipend. According to this system, which has proved a very happy settlement of a quaestio vexata, the burden falls not on the farmer or tenant, as in other countries where tithing exactions are made, but on the landholder or titular of the teinds, to whom a privilege of relief is opened by having them fixed. He may value them that is, to use the words of principal Hill, ‘ lead a proof of their present value before the Court of Session, and the valuation, once made by authority of that court, ascertains the quantity of victual or the sum of money in the name of teind payable out of his lands in all time coming.' The advantage of this system is that it enables proprietors to know exactly the extent of the public burdens on their estate; and the teind appropriated to the maintenance of the minister or to educational and other pious uses, being sacred and inviolable, is always taken into account, and deducted in the purchase or sale of lands. But that would not be so advantageous to the minister by fixing his income at one invariable standard were it not that provision is made for an augmentation of stipend every twenty years in parishes where there are free teinds.
This is done by the minister instituting a process before the judges of the Court of Session. who act as commissioners for the plantation of kirks and valuation of teinds; and in this process the act of 1808 requires that he shall summon not only the heritors of the parish, but also the moderator and clerk of presbytery as parties. In the event of the minister being able to prove a great advance in the social and agricultural state of the parish, the judges grant his application, allocating some additional chalders; but where the arguments pleaded appear to them unsatisfactory, they give a small addition, or refuse altogether. In many parishes, however, from the teinds being exhausted, ministers had no prospect of augmentation in the ordinary way; but redress was afforded through the liberality of Mr. Percival's government in 1810, who used his influence in procuring an act of Parliament to be passed according to which all stipends in the Establishment should, out of the exchequer, be made up to £150. This, though but a poor and inadequate provision for men of a liberal profession, was felt and gratefully received at the time as a great boon. But such is the mutability of human society that these stipends, which in 1810 formed the minimum, are now greatly superior to many which at the same period were considered, for Scotland, rich benefices; but which, being wholly paid in grain, have, through the late agrarian law, fallen far below that standard. The incomes of city ministers are paid wholly in money. Besides the stipend, every parish minister has a right to a manse or parsonage-house, garden, and offices-the style as well as the extent of accommodation being generally proportioned to the value of the benefice and the character of tie neighborhood. According to law, the glebe consists of four acres of arable land, although, in point of fact, it generally exceeds that measure; and, besides, most ministers have a grass glebe, sufficient for the support of a horse and two cows. All these, by a late decision of the Court of Session, are exempt from poor-rates and similar public burdens. Ministers in royal burghs are entitled to manses only."
The statistics of the Established Church of Scotland vary very slightly from year to year. The number of parish churches was in 1877, 1222. In addition to these there are forty-two Parliamentary churches, and a considerable number of chapels of ease and quoad sacra churches, which, under a scheme efficiently organized by the Rev. Prof. Robertson, are in course of being endowed and erected into new parishes in the terms of Sir James Graham's Act, passed in 1846. Altogether there are about 1500 congregations and 1384 ministers.
The following are the chief missionary and other benevolent undertakings of the Church:
1. The Home Mission Scheme. — It has three departments:
(1.) Church Extension. Local efforts in places requiring additional church accommodation are supplemented by grants from the funds of the scheme. In 1876, thirty-three churches, providing nearly 32,000 sittings, were thus aided.
(2.) Mission Churches, designed to be centers of mission work in destitute localities or in the more populous parishes of Scotland. These churches or chapels number ninety-three, with upwards of 22,000 worshippers. The Home Mission Committee insist that they shall be served with invariable regularity.
(3.) Mission Stations, not having the permanent character of churches, intended as points of evangelical work among the lapsed, non-church- going, or far-scattered people. There are seventy-seven such stations supplied by licentiates, or students in divinity, or qualified evangelists. Besides these operations, aid is given in certain cases towards the employment of Scripture-readers in the Highlands and Islands. The revenue of the scheme in 1876 from church-collections and legacies amounted to £11,780.
2. Of undertakings more especially affecting the clergy of the Church may be noticed the Association for Augmenting the Smaller Livings, i.e. livings under £200 per annum. For this purpose the sum of £7305 was reported to last General Assembly. Also the Ministers and Professors Widows Fund, to which every parish minister and every professor in the national universities is bound to subscribe. The capital sum of the fund amounts to upwards of £212,000. Ministers and professors may subscribe according to one or other of four rates, viz. £3 3s., £4 14s. 6d., £6 6s., or £7 17s. 6d.
3. A report is yearly presented to the Assembly as to the condition of the Sabbath-schools in connection with the Church. Between 15,000 and 16,000 persons are engaged in the work of teaching 167,000 juvenile scholars, and upwards of 24,000 adults of both sexes.
4. Colonial Missions seek to provide means of grace for Scottish colonists in the various British dependencies and elsewhere. When the scattered communities are organized into churches-some large and influential, as in the dominion of Canada-the aid given by the Home Church is curtailed, if not wholly withdrawn. But the committee have a great sphere of labor in the ever-enlarging and developing colonial empire of Great Britain. Agents of the mission report from British Columbia, the South American continent, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Ceylon, India. Under the Colonial Mission are also included European stations, such as Paris and Dresden, where ministrations are maintained for the benefit of resident Presbyterians. The total income of the scheme in 1877 was upwards of £15,000.
5. Jewish Missions. — The efforts put forth in connection with this mission are concentrated on Turkey and Egypt. It has agents in Constantinople, Smyrna, Alexandria, Beyrut, and Salonica. The sum of the charge on which it operates is upwards of £7000.
6. Missions to the Heathen. — The scenes of these missions, comprehended under the word "Foreign Missions," are India, Africa, and China. It can scarcely, indeed, be said that a mission exists in China; but steps have been taken to originate a Christian work in that vast empire. The agency in Africa is not yet complete. A station has been formed and is partly occupied by a company of Christian artisans, headed by a medical missionary, in the Highlands of East Africa-the station having received the name of Dr. Livingstone's birthplace, Blantyre. The Indian missions retain the mixed character which Scotch missions in India have hitherto borne- educational and evangelistic. In the three great Presidency towns, the educational institutions are still maintained, and are at present in a state of efficiency. Evangelical efforts are also carried on in connection with the institutions and in native churches. In the Punjab there are stations at Sealkote, Gû jrat, and Wazirabad. An interesting work is also promoted among the Highlanders of India at Darjeeling, and outside the British territory an agency is maintained at Chumba, whose feature is that the mission, conducted by Europeans, is kept apart from the Church, presided over by natives. The income of these foreign missions for the year ending January, 1876, was upwards of £19,000.
7. Two other agencies may be briefly noted:
(1.) Continental and Foreign Churches Committee. — Established as the medium of communication between the churches and other Reformed churches of Christendom. It is charged with the duty of cultivating friendly relations with such churches, and administering such sums as the liberality of the Church bestows on societies and agencies abroad seeking to spread the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ. For many years the committee have been able to aid the Central Society of the French Reformed Church, and the Evangelization Commission of the Waldensian Church in Italy. From time to time it has aided other agencies. The care of certain chaplaincies on the Continent intended for the benefit of Presbyterians temporarily resident there also devolves on this committee. Its income in 1876 was £1205.
(2.) The Army and Navy Chaplains Committee are entrusted with the oversight of chaplains laboring in garrison towns or at the camps. The convener of the committee communicates, in behalf of the Church, with the naval and military authorities.
No Church in Europe has taken more prompt and energetic steps for the general diffusion of school education than the Presbyterians of Scotland. As early as 1695 it was enacted "that there be a school founded and a school-master appointed in every parish by advice of the presbyteries, and to this purpose that the heritors do, in every congregation, meet among themselves, and provide a commodious house for a school, and modify a stipend to the school-master, which shall not be under ten merks (£6 13s. 4d.) nor above twenty merks." As almost all the population of the country is Presbyterian, the common-school system long sustained a parochial character. When, in 1843, the Free Church of Scotland was organized, it was resolved to erect schools in connection with the congregations of the Free Church, and the educational scheme which in consequence sprang up was co-extensive with the parochial system of the Established Church. In 1873, of 2108 schools inspected by the government inspectors, 1379 belonged to the Established and 577 to the Free Church; while of non- Presbyterian schools there were eighty-six belonging to the Episcopal and sixty-six to the Catholic Church. The introduction of the new national system of education has in a great measure superseded the operations of the educational scheme of the Church of Scotland. Few schools now remain in relation to it. The care of the committee is now chiefly occupied with providing religious instruction in all schools desiring it, and giving grants for excellence in religious instruction. The Scottish universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen are in organic connection with the Church of Scotland by means of theological professorships; while at St. Andrew's an entire college, St. Mary's, is appointed solely to the teaching of theology and the languages connected with it. The theological institutions are the theological faculties of the several national universities. The number of professors is, at Edinburgh, four; Glasgow, four; St. Andrew's, three; Aberdeen, four. Students, 198. Students of divinity are required to attend a full course of arts at the university, and three years more at the Divinity Hall. The sessions in both cases last about five months. Students in this and the other Presbyterian churches of Scotland have often assistance from bursaries or scholarships, which are allotted chiefly by competition. See Hetherington, Hist. of the Church of Scotland; M'Crie, Lives of Knox and Melville; id. Sketches of Church History, and Review of Scott; Fessenden, Encycl. of Relig. Knowledge; Cyclop. of Relig. Denominations (Lond. and Glasg.); Wilson, Presb. Hist. Almanac; Schem, Ecclesiastes Year Book.
2. UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. — In 1732 the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine, as retiring moderator of the Synod of Stirling and Perth, preached a sermon on Christ as the Cornerstone, in which he sharply inveighed against the corruptions and abuses that had crept into the Scottish Church. His sermon gave great offence, and incurred the censure of the synod. He appealed to the General Assembly, who condemned and rebuked him. Upon entering his protest, they handed his case over to the Commission. The Commission summarily suspended Erskine and three other ministers — Wilson, Moncrieff, and Fisher, who had joined in his protest cast them out of ministerial communion. The four brethren, deeming this treatment unconstitutional and unscriptural, immediately organized themselves into a presbytery, to which they gave the name of the Associate Presbytery, and published their testimony. or vindication. of their secession. The next Assembly showed a disposition to make concessions, but the seceders refused to listen. How far they were right in this has been debated. That they were not satisfied to return to the bosom of the Establishment is clear, for they went on to gather congregations and appoint a professor of theology; and, in consequence of their activity and the popular sympathy, they increased rapidly. The Assembly next proceeded to harsher measures, and in 1740 deposed the seceding ministers, now eight in number. The doors of the churches were closed against them, and some of them, as Moncrieff, preached all winter in the open air. Great difficulty was found in procuring sites for houses of worship. Still they grew, and in 1745 the presbytery expanded into a synod with thirty settled congregations and sixteen vacancies. But now a dissension arose about the burgess oath, and in 1747 they split into two synods. The General Associate Synod, or Anti- burghers, denounced the oath as sanctioning the Establishment with all its corruptions; the Associate Synod maintained that it only referred to the true Protestant faith, in opposition to popery. After seventy-three years of separation, during which each throve and sent offshoots to other parts of the world, both branches reunited (a few only standing aloof) in 1820, under the name of the United Secession Church, when the new body embraced 373 congregations.
The Relief Church was the result of Mr. Gillespie's deposition by the General Assembly in 1752. He had refused to assist in intruding an obnoxious presentee over the parish of Inverkeithing. After his deposition he continued to preach in Dunfermline, but labored alone for several years. At length, being joined by Messrs. Boston and Colier, the three constituted the Relief Presbytery. Soon after another presbytery was necessary, and in 1775 (Eadie says 1773) the two met at a synod. It was characteristic of the Relief Church to maintain free communion with all true Christians, and to disapprove of the very principle of establishments. They founded a divinity hall, and increased to seven presbyteries, 114 congregations, and 45,000 communicants.
These two bodies, the United Secession and the Relief, having so much in common, for some time contemplated a union, which was at last consummated in Edinburgh, May 10, 1847, in Tanfield Hall, Canonmills. They took the title of the United Presbyterian Church. In common parlance, they are often familiarly spoken of as the "U. P. Church." They constitute a very popular and powerful body of Christians in Scotland, reporting, as the statistics of May, 1876: number of congregations, 620; of elders, 5075; members, 190,242; Sunday-school teachers, 12,129; Sunday- school scholars, 92,502; total income for 1875, £419,965. In the synod held at Edinburgh May 11, 1876, its sanction was given by a vote of 373 to 45 for the union of the United Presbyterian congregations in England with the English Presbyterian Church; and an animated discussion took place in advocacy of separation of the Church from the State. The following are the articles of the basis as adopted by the two synods:
"1. That the Word of God contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is the only rule of faith and practice.
"2. That the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, are the confession and catechisms of this Church, and contain the authorized exhibition of the sense in which we understand the Holy Scriptures, it being always understood that we do not approve of anything in these documents which teaches, or may be supposed to teach, compulsory or persecuting and intolerant principles in religion.
"3. That Presbyterian government, without any superiority of office to that of a teaching presbyter, and in a due subordination of Church courts, which is founded on and agreeable to the Word of God, is the government of this Church.
"4. That the ordinances of worship shall he administered in the United Church as they have been in both bodies of which it is formed; and that the Westminster Directory of Worship continue to be regarded as a compilation of excellent rules.
"5. That the term of membership is a credible profession of the faith of Christ as held by this Church-a profession made with intelligence, and justified by a corresponding character and deportment.
"6. That with regard to those ministers and sessions who think that the second section of the twenty-sixth chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith authorizes free communion (that is, not loose or indiscriminate communion, but the occasional admission to fellowship in the Lord's Supper of persons respecting whose Christian character satisfactory evidence has been obtained, though belonging to other religious denominations), they shall en)joy what they enjoyed in their separate communions— the right of acting on their conscientious convictions.
"7. That the election of office-bearers of this Church, in its several congregations, belongs, by the authority of Christ, exclusively to the members in full communion. "
8. That this Church solemnly recognizes the obligation to hold forth, as well as to hold fast, the doctrine and laws of Christ; and to make exertions for the universal diffusion of the blessings of his Gospel at home and abroad.
"9. That as the Lord hath ordained that they who preach the Gospel, should live of the Gospel; that they who are taught in the Word should communicate to him that teacheth in all good things: that they who a e strong should help the weak; and that, having" freely received, they should freely give the Gospel to those who are destitute of it— this Church asserts the obligation and the privilege of its members, influenced by regard to the authority of Christ, to support and extend, by voluntary contentions, the ordinances of the Gospel.
"10. That the respective bodies of which this Church is composed, without requiring from each other an approval of the steps of procedure by their fathers, or interfering with the right of private judgment in reference to these, unite in regarding as still valid the reasons on which they have hitherto — maintained their state of secession and separation from the judicatories of the Established Church, as expressed in the authorized documents of the respective bodies; and in maintaining the lawfulness and obligation of separation from ecclesiastical bodies in which dangerous error is tolerated, or the discipline of the Church or the rights of her ministers or members are disregarded.
"The United Church, in their present most solemn circumstances, join in expressing their grateful acknowledgment to the great Head of the Church for the measure of spiritual good which he has accomplished by them in their separate state, their deep sense of the many imperfections and sills which have marked their ecclesiastical management, and their determined resolution, in dependence on the promised grace of their Lord, to apply more faithfully the great principles of Church-fellowship, to be more watchful in reference to admission and discipline, that the purity and efficiency of their congregations may be promoted, and the great end of their existence as a collective body may be answered with respect to all within its pale land to all without it, whether members of other denominations or ‘ the world lying in wickedness.' "And, in fine, the United Church regard with a feeling of brotherhood all the faithful followers of Christ, aid shall endeavor to maintain the unity of the whole body of Christ by a readiness to co-operate with all its members in all things in which they are agreed."
The United Presbyterian Church is a voluntary Church. The doctrine of its voluntary condition is not formally contained in any portion of her standards, but it is distinctly implied. She holds to the theology of the Westminster Confession of Faith, and of the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, but she objects to every part of the Westminster Confession "which teaches, or is supposed to teach, compulsory or persecuting and intolerant principles in religion." "Her creed," says Eadie, "is that the exalted Jesus is the only King and Head of his Church, and that this headship wholly supersedes the patronage and endowment of the Church by civil rulers. She believes, indeed, that Christ is King of nations, and that therefore nations should serve God, and that all rulers and magistrates are bound to glorify him in their respective spheres and stations. But such service and such glorification of God must be in harmony with the revealed mind of Christ; and the duty of endowing Christianity nowhere appears among the statutes of the New Testament States which establish Christianity venture beyond divine enactment, and contravene the spirituality of that kingdom which ‘ is not of this world.' It is plain, too, from recent events in Scotland and England, that neither purity nor freedom can exist as it ought in an established Church. Spiritual independence can flourish only in a Church which has no connection with the State." Ebenezer Erskine said in his day, "There is a great difference to be made between the Church of Scotland and the Church of Christ in Scotland; for I reckon that the last is to a great extent drawn into the wilderness by the first; and since God in his adorable providence has led us into the wilderness with her, I judge it our duty to tarry with her for a while there, and to prefer her afflictions to all the advantages of a legal establishment." Christ's house, according to Ebenezer Erskine, is "the freest society in the world." It should bear no trammels, and it bore none for 300 years. Accordingly the United Presbyterian Church is a free Church, and will not submit to any law of patronage. The Relief Church had its origin in this grievance; and the Secession Church, while it had a special struggle for doctrine, no less distinctly vindicated the rights of the people. Pastors are therefore chosen by the united voice of the members in full communion; for Christ's ordinances are meant solely for Christ's people. The Presbytery exercises no control whatever over the popular suffrage. It sends one of its members to moderate in the call, and sees that the call is gone about in a regular way.
No canvassing is allowed, and the whole work of the Presbytery is, in fact, to guard and preserve purity of election. The Presbytery sustains the call after being convinced- that there is nothing to vitiate it as a free expression of the mind of the people. The minister so called may either be one who is or has been in a charge, or he may be what is called a probationer. The vacant churches are supplied by these probationers— a body of men who have finished the educational curriculum appointed by the Church, been examined by their respective presbyteries, and licensed as persons qualified to preach the Gospel, and fit, if they shall be called, to take the pastoral charge of a congregation. The probationers are thus a body of lay preachers, authorized candidates for the ministry. They are sent among the vacant churches without partiality and by rotation, that their gifts may be tried, and sometimes they are located for months together at a missionary station. When a probationer is called, and accepts the call, he appears before the Presbytery in whose bounds the Church calling him is situated, and preaches what are called trial discourses. Such appearance in the Presbytery on the part of the pastor elect is to win the confidence of his brethren.
After all the prescribed trials have been gone through and sustained, a day for the ordination is fixed. One of the ministers of the Presbytery is appointed to preside and ordain, and another is appointed to preach. An edict is at the same time appointed to be publicly served in the congregation by the officiating minister or preacher at least ten days before the day of ordination. Upon the day fixed, the Presbytery meets at the appointed time and place, and is constituted by the moderator. The officer is then sent to the assembled congregation to intimate that the Presbytery has met, and requiring all who have any valid objections to the ordination being proceeded with immediately to appear before the Presbytery and state them. The officer having returned, and no objectors appearing, the Presbytery then proceeds to the place of worship. If objections are made, they must be decided upon before the ordination takes place. After sermon, the moderator gives a brief narrative of the different steps of procedure regarding the call. He then calls on the candidate for ordination to stand up, and in presence of the congregation puts to him the questions of the formula. But before proposing the ninth question, he asks the members of the congregation to signify their adherence to the call by holding up their right hands. These steps being taken, the moderator comes down to the platform, where the candidate kneels, and, surrounded by the other brethren of the Presbytery, he engages in solemn prayer, and towards the conclusion of the prayer, or after it is concluded, he, by the imposition of hands (in which all the brethren of the Presbytery join), ordains him to the office of the holy ministry, and to the pastoral inspection of the congregation by whom he has been chosen and regularly called, commending him for countenance and success to the grace of God in all the duties incumbent upon him as a minister of the Gospel. After the ordination is thus completed, the members of Presbytery give to the newly ordained pastor the right hand of fellowship, and appropriate addresses are then delivered to minister and people. These services being concluded, the moderator accompanies the newly ordained pastor to some convenient place, where the members of the congregation may acknowledge him as their minister by taking him by the right hand. The Presbytery then returns to its place of meeting, when the newly ordained minister's name is entered on the roll, and he takes his seat as a member of the Presbytery, on which the commissioners for the congregation crave extracts. A member of Presbytery is also appointed to constitute the session of the congregation and introduce the minister to his seat there. The whole procedure of the dar is entered on the Presbytery's record.
*1: The form of edict is as follows: "Whereas the Presbytery of — of the United Presbyterian Church have received a call from this congregation, addressed to A. B., preacher (or minister) of the Gospel, to be their minister, and the said call has been sustained as a regular Gospel call, and been accepted by the said A. B., and he has undergone trials for ordination; and whereas the said Presbytery, having judged the said A. B. qualified for the ministry of the Gospel and the pastoral charge of this congregation, have resolved to proceed to his ordination on the day of, unless something occur which may reasonably impede it. Notice is hereby given to all concerned that if they, or any of them, have anything, to object why the said A. B. should not be ordained pastor of this congregation, they may repair to the Presbytery which is to meet at on the said day of with certification that, if no valid objection be then made, the Presbytery will proceed without further delay. By order of the Presbytery. A. B., Moderator. C. D., Clerk."
The formula put to ministers on their ordination is as follows: "
1. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and the only rule of faith and practice?
"2. Do you acknowledge the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, as an exhibition of the sense in which you understand the Holy Scriptures; it being understood that you are not required to approve of anything in these documents which teaches, or is supposed to teach, compulsory or persecuting and intolerant principles in religion?
"3. Are you persuaded that the Lord Jesus Christ, the only King and Head of the Church, has therein appointed a government distinct from and subordinate to civil government? And do you acknowledge the Presbyterian form of government, as authorized and acted on in this Church, to be founded on and agreeable to the Word of God?
"4. Do you approve of the constitution of the United Presbyterian Church as exhibited in the Basis of Union and while cherishing a spirit of brotherhood towards all the faithful followers of Christ, do you engage to seek the purity, edification, peace, and extension of this Church?
"5. Are zeal for the glory of God, love to the Lord Jesus Christ, and a desire to save souls, and not worldly interests or expectations, so far as you know your own heart, your great motives and chief inducements to enter into the office of the holy ministry?
"6. Have you used any undue methods, by yourself or others, to obtain the call of this Church?
"[The members of the Church being requested to stand up, let this question be put to them:
"Do you, the members of this Church, testify your adherence to the call which you have given to Mr. A. B. to be your minister? And do you receive him with all gladness, and promise to provide for him suitable maintenance, and to give him all due respect, subjection, and encouragement in the Lord?
"An opportunity will here be given to the members of the Church of signifying their assent to this by holding up their right hand.] "
7. Do you adhere to your acceptance of the call to become minister of this Church?
"8. Do you engage, in the strength of the grace that is h in Christ Jesus, to live a holy and circumspect life, to rule well your own house, and faithfully, diligently, and cheerfully to discharge all the parts of the ministerial work to the edifying of the body of Christ?
"9. Do you promise to give conscientious attendance on the courts of the United Presbyterian Church, to be subject to them in the Lord, to take a due interest in their proceedings, and to study the things which make for peace?
"10. All these things you profess and promise through grace, as you shall be answerable at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints, and as you would be found in that happy company?"
The Church has one theological institution, with a staff of seven professors, including the principal. The number of students for 1876-77 was 107, and the average for the ten preceding years 136. Students have to pass through a full course of arts at the university before joining the theological hall and the theological curriculum is over three years, with a session each year from the beginning of November to the middle of April. Very recently a change was made in the management of the theological hall, with a view to the more efficient training of the students. It was agreed that the means of maintaining the hall should be partly by a capital fund and partly by annual contributions, and the capital fund of £40,000 has already been nearly realized. In connection with the theological hall there is a scheme of scholarships, and a committee who have charge of the distribution of these on competitive examination of applicants. In 1876 eleven special scholarships were awarded of the aggregate value of £275; and from the ordinary fund two of £20 each, ten of £15, and forty-one of £10. In 1876 the number of young people under religious instruction in Sabbath-schools and Bible classes was 103,750.
The following are among the other undertakings of the United Presbyterian Church:
Home Mission Fund. — This fund is under the direction more immediately of the Home Committee of the Board of Missions. Its object is to supplement the stipends of the weaker congregations, to support missionary stations, to aid in the support of catechists, and maintain a scheme of home evangelization.
By the Stipend Augmentation Scheme and its Surplus Fund, including arrangements which have been made with certain congregations in reference to allowances for house-rent where manse accommodation has not been provided, the following general results in regard to the stipends of ministers for the year 1877 have been obtained:
104 Stipends have been raised to £200 per annum, with manse or allowance for rent of £20.
38 Stipends are less than £200 but not under £197 108.
| 37 | " | " | 197 | 10s., | " | " | 190 |
| 32 | " | " | 190 |
| " | " | 180 |
| 14 | " | " | 180 |
| " | " | 170 |
| 10 | " | " | 170 |
| " | " | 160 |
| 8 | " | " | 160 |
| " | " | 157 10s |
13 Stipends are under the former minimum of 157 10s.
All the other Stipends in the Church are upwards of £200 per annum.
In evangelistic effort and home evangelization £5047 were expended in 1876 under the direction of the Home Committee of the Board of Missions.
The Aged and Infirm Ministers Fund has a capital fund of £35,593, with a reserve fund of £1000, and provides an annuity of not less than £50 per annum to aged and infirm ministers and missionaries of the Church.
Manse Fund. — For this scheme £52,772 have been raised by subscriptions and donations up to December, 1876, and £49,449 expended up to April, 1877, in grants to 232 congregations; and the conditions on which these grants were offered required the congregations to raise not less than £90,341, as it is stipulated where grants are given that the manse shall be free of debt when the last installment of the grant has been paid. The Foreign Mission Fund is to defray the expenses of the foreign missionary operations of the Church. The missions supported out of the find, nine in number, are situated in Jamaica, Trinidad, Old Calabar, Kaffraria, India, China, Spain, Japan, and Algeria. In these nine missions there are 61 ordained missionaries, 7 European medical missionaries, 2 European male teachers, 21 European female teachers, 22 ordained native missionaries, 91 native evangelists, 212 schoolmasters, 44 native female teachers, 86 other agents, 84 principal stations, 13-l out-stations, 13.212 communicants, 2033 inquirers, 197 week-day schools, 13,387 pupils, with a total educated agency of 384. The income of the Foreign Mission Fund for 1887 was £56,872 17s. 4d.
Under the direction of the synod, the Foreign Mission Board voted, during 1876, the following grants, viz.:
(1) To the Union of Evangelical Churches of France, £500;
(2) to the Evangelical Society of Lyons, £150;
(3) to the Evangelical Society of Geneva, £250;
(4) to the Belgian Missionary Society, £200;
(5) for evangelical work in Bohemia. £150;
(6) to the Waldensian Church, £350 (including £100 towards the salary of the Rev. J. Simpson Kay of Palermo);
(7) to the Free Church of Italy, £100;
(8) for evangelical work at Aix-les-Bains, Savoy, £50;
(9) to the French Canadian Missionary Society, £100;
(10) for Rev. Ferdinand Cesar's work in Moravia, £75;
(11) for outfit and passage of two ministers to Australia, £340;
(12) to Rev. David Sidney, Napier, New Zealand, for salary of evangelist (three years), £150; and
(13) salary of Rev. Dr. Laws, of the Nyassa mission of the Free Church. These grants amount in all to £2715. Besides these special grants made directly by the Foreign Committee, the following special contributions by individuals were sent through the hands of the synod's treasurer:
(1) £1530 from the Theological Hall Students' Missionary Society, for pastor Yakopian's work in Cesarea, Cappadocia;
(2) £5 for Protestant churches in Bithynia;
(3) £1 6s. 3rd. for Mount Lebanon Schools;
(4) £100 for Protestant Church in Bohemia;
(5) £50 5s. for Rev. F. Cesar's work in Moravia;
(6) £20 for the Union of Evangelical Churches in France;
(7) £45 4s. 4d. for evangelical work at Aixles-Bains, Savoy;
(8) £44 for Christian work in Paris;
(9) £25 for Reformed Church in the Netherlands;
(10) £131 2s. 4d. for the Waldensian Church;
(11) £50 for the Free Italian Church;
(12) £4 2s. for Rev. J. S. Kay, Palermo;
(13) £5 for Mrs. Boyce's Orphanage, Bordighera;
(14) £33 6s. 8d. for Freedmen's Missions Aid Society; and
(15) £606 18s. 7d. for the Agra Medical Mission (Dr. Valentine's scheme).
These donations, destined by the donors for the objects specified, amounted in all to £2631 5s. 2nd., which, added to the grants administered by the Board-viz., £2715-make the total contribution of the Church during 1876, for objects outside the Foreign Mission, £5346 5s. 2nd. The ordinary congregational income of the Church for the year 1876 was £233,114; the missionary and benevolent income £82,927; and the benevolent income not congregational £62,226 -the total, including the English congregations, up to June, 1876, being £406,204. See Hetherington, Hist. of the Church of Scotland; Cyclop. of Religious Denominations (Lond. and Glasgow); Wilson, Presb. Hist. Almanac. (See UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH).
3. FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. — This large and useful body of Christians, now numbering nearly a million of people, was organized into a separate religious denomination in May, 1843. The circumstances which led to its formation as a Church distinct from the Establishment have already been detailed in a previous article. The conflict which at length terminated in the Disruption had its origin in the two reforming acts passed by the General Assembly of 1834, the one of which, the Act on Calls, asserted the principle of non-intrusion, and the other, usually called the Chapel Act, asserted the right of the Church to determine who should administer the government of Christ's house. Both of these acts gave rise to lawsuits before the civil tribunals, thus bringing into discussion the whole question as to the terms of the connection between the Church and the State. As
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Presbyterian Churches'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/p/presbyterian-churches.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
