![Ebenezer Erskine statue, Stirling](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Ebenezer_Erskine_statue%2C_Stirling.jpg)
The First Secession was an exodus of ministers and members from the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
in 1733. Those who took part formed the Associate Presbytery and later the
United Secession Church
The United Secession Church (or properly the United Associate Synod of the Secession Church) was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination.
The First Secession from the established Church of Scotland had been in 1732, and the resultant "Associate Pre ...
. They were often referred to as seceders.
The underlying principles of the split focused upon issues of ecclesiology and ecclesiastical polity, especially in the perceived threat lay patronage represented to the right of a congregation to choose its own minister. These issues had their roots in seventeenth century controversies between presbyterian and episcopal factions in the Church of Scotland.
This was complicated by the fact that most ministers, by tradition, were the younger sons from the aristocratic families, and those same families were usually the local landowners. The local landowner therefore would often act as a "patron" to the church, not only through gifting of money, but through supply of their own relatives to fill the role of minister.
There were of course some ministers from more humble backgrounds, but these frequently found it very hard to receive nomination for any post, lacking the family connections then required.
Unlike later schisms, where the country congregations were the main participants, the main advocates of the Secession Church were the town dwellers, and most large Scottish towns had a Secession Church.
History
The
Patronage Act of 1711 laid a bed of general unrest amongst the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
, laying down set rules on how ministers were to be chosen and based on very non-Scottish ideas of feudal hierarchy, more a product of the
Act of Union of 1707 than of traditional Scottish approach to issues.
The First Secession arose out of an Act of the
General Assembly of 1732, which was passed despite the disapproval of the large majority of individual
presbyteries. This restricted to
Heritor
A heritor was a privileged person in a parish in Scots law. In its original acceptation, it signified the proprietor of a heritable subject, but, in the law relating to parish government, the term was confined to such proprietors of lands or house ...
s and
Elders the right of nominating Ministers to vacancies where the
Patron
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
had not nominated within six months. When
Ebenezer Erskine
Ebenezer Erskine (22 June 1680 – 2 June 1754) was a Scotland, Scottish minister whose actions led to the establishment of the First Secession, Secession Church (formed by dissenters from the Church of Scotland).
Early life
Ebenezer's father, ...
wished to have his dissent recorded, it was found that a previous Act of 1730 had removed the right of recorded dissent, and so the protests of the dissenters were refused. In the following October, Ebenezer Erskine, minister at
Stirling
Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
, and, at the time, Moderator of the
Synod of Stirling preached a sermon referring to the act as unscriptural and unconstitutional. Members of the
synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
objected, and he was censured. On appeal, the censure was affirmed by the Assembly in May 1733, but Erskine refused to recant.
[Fraser, pp. 384 et seq.] He was joined in his protest by
William Wilson,
Alexander Moncrieff and
James Fisher. They were regarded by the Assembly as being in contempt. When they still refused to recant, in November the protesting ministers were suspended. They replied by protesting that they still adhered to the principles of the Church, whilst at the same time seceding.
![Reformed Scots Church Denominations](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Reformed_Scots_Church_Denominations.svg)
In December 1733 they constituted themselves into a new presbytery. In 1734 they published their first testimony, with a statement of the grounds of their secession, which made prominent reference to the doctrinal laxity of previous General Assemblies. In 1736 they proceeded to exercise judicial powers as a church court, published a judicial testimony, and began to organize churches in various parts of the country. Having been joined by four other ministers, including the well-known
Ralph Erskine, they appointed Wilson Professor of Divinity. For these acts proceedings were again instituted against them in the General Assembly, and they were in 1740 all deposed and ordered to be ejected from their churches. Meanwhile, the membership of their 'Associate Presbytery' steadily increased, until in 1745 there were forty-five congregations, and it was reconstituted into an 'Associate Synod'.
In 1747 the Secession Church split following introduction of the Oath of Burghers, creating the
Burghers and
Anti-Burghers
The Anti-Burghers were opponents of the Burgher Oath on theological grounds.
History First Secession
In 1733 the First Secession from the Church of Scotland resulted in the creation of the "Associate Presbytery". This church split in 1747 ove ...
. In towns where the split occurred the churches were known as the Burgher Church and Anti-Burgher Church. In towns without such a split it continued to be known as simply the Secession Church.
A
Second Secession
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...
from the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
occurred in 1761, with
Thomas Gillespie and others. This was called the ''
Presbytery of Relief
The Relief Church (or Presbytery of Relief) 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.
In relation to the history of the Church ...
'' or more usually simply the ''Relief Church''.
In 1847, this denomination united with the
United Secession Church
The United Secession Church (or properly the United Associate Synod of the Secession Church) was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination.
The First Secession from the established Church of Scotland had been in 1732, and the resultant "Associate Pre ...
(formed in 1820 from the union of the
New Licht
The Anti-Burghers were opponents of the Burgher Oath on theological grounds.
History First Secession
In 1733 the First Secession from the Church of Scotland resulted in the creation of the "Associate Presbytery". This church split in 1747 ove ...
Burghers and New Licht
Anti-Burghers
The Anti-Burghers were opponents of the Burgher Oath on theological grounds.
History First Secession
In 1733 the First Secession from the Church of Scotland resulted in the creation of the "Associate Presbytery". This church split in 1747 ove ...
) to form the
United Presbyterian Church.
Theological Professors
1.
William Wilson (1736-1741)
2.
Alexander Moncrieff (1741-1747)
See also
*
Marrow Controversy
The Marrow Controversy was a Scottish ecclesiastical dispute occasioned by the republication in 1718 of ''The Marrow of Modern Divinity'' (originally published in two parts in London in 1645 and 1649 by "E. F.", generally believed to be a pseud ...
*
Thomas Mair
*
Thomas Nairn
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
References
Citations
Sources
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Bibliography
* ''Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland'' 1730, 1732, 1734. Church Law Society, Edinburgh, 1843, British History Onlin
* Knight, Charles. ''The English Cyclopaedia: a New Dictionary of Universal Knowledge,'' Volume VIII, pp. 487-494. Bradbury and Evans, London, 1861
* Fraser, Donald. ''The Life and Diary of the Reverend Ebenezer Erskine, A.M.: of Stirling, Father of the Secession Church, to which is prefixed a memoir of his father, the Rev. Henry Erskine, of Chirnside.'' W Oliphant, Edinburgh, 1831
* VanDoodewaard, William. ''The Marrow Controversy and Seceder Tradition.'' Reformation Heritage Books, Grand Rapids, 2011
{{Secession Fathers
Schisms in Christianity
1733 in Scotland
1733 in Christianity
History of the Church of Scotland
Presbyterianism in Scotland
Church of Scotland