{{about, the historical presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, presbyteries of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Cumberland Presbytery (Cumberland Presbyterian Church)
The Cumberland Presbytery existed from 1802 to 1806 as a presbytery of the
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was the first national Presbyterian denomination in the United States, existing from 1789 to 1958. In that year, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North Americ ...
, a predecessor to the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...
. The presbytery was strongly influenced by the
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the early 19th century in the United States. The Second Great Awakening, which spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching, sparked a number of reform movements. R ...
Transylvania Presbytery
Transylvania Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), as it was established in 1786 from part of Abingdon Presbytery, encompassed all of Kentucky, settlements on the Cumberland River in Tennessee, and later the settlements on the Great Miami ...
was established from part of
Abingdon Presbytery Abingdon Presbytery is a part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and within the Synod of Mid-Atlantic
Synod of the Mid-Atlantic is an upper judicatory of the Presbyterian Church (USA) based in Richmond, Virginia. The synod oversees fourteen pres ...
in the Synod of Virginia. Transylvania Presbytery originally encompassed all of Kentucky, settlements on the Cumberland River in Tennessee, and later the settlements on the Big and Little Miami Rivers in Ohio.
The presbytery grew rapidly and in 1799 was divided into three smaller presbyteries. Transylvania Presbytery retained the area to the south and west of the
Kentucky River
The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 13, 2011 in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. The river and its tri ...
in central Kentucky. West Lexington Presbytery covered the area of Kentucky between the Kentucky River and the Licking River. Washington Presbytery comprised the area northeast of the Licking River and north of the Ohio River.
In 1802, these three presbyteries were separated from the Synod of Virginia to form the
Kentucky Synod {{about, the synod of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church synod, Kentucky Synod (Cumberland Presbyterian Church)
Kentucky Synod was a synod of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of Am ...
. One of the first actions of the Kentucky Synod was to form Cumberland Presbytery from the portion of Transylvania Presbytery south of the Salt River.
Dissolution
Cumberland Presbytery was the heart of the Second Great Awakening. Although ministers in support of the
Revival of 1800 The Revival of 1800, also known as the Red River Revival, was a series of evangelical Christian meetings which began in Logan County, Kentucky. These ignited the subsequent events and influenced several of the leaders of the Second Great Awakening. ...
generally dominated the presbytery, the anti-revival faction dominated the Kentucky Synod. In 1806, differences between the presbytery and the synod over the revival, ordination standards for ministers, and the literal interpretation of the
Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" ...
resulted in Cumberland Presbytery being dissolved back into Transylvania Presbytery.
The former members of Cumberland Presbytery fought for their position for a number of years in the hope that the Kentucky Synod would reconsider. The
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...
of the Presbyterian Church agreed that the synod had made an error of judgement, but it took no action to reinstate Cumberland Presbytery. In 1810, the former members of Cumberland Presbytery reformed the presbytery as the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Sources
* ''History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988'', by
Matthew H. Gore
Matthew H. Gore (born 1962) is a British historian, popular culturist, and educator residing in Memphis, Tennessee. He is best known for his book ''The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988'' (2000), but has published ...