The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination spawned by the Second Great Awakening.

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 ...

, The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988, (Memphis, Tennessee: Joint Heritage Committee, 2000). In 2019, it had 65,087 members and 673 congregations, of which 51 were located outside of the United States. The word ''Cumberland'' comes from the

Cumberland River The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and ...

valley where the church was founded.

History

Formation

The divisions which led to the formation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church can be traced back to the First Great Awakening. At that time,

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

in North America split between the ''Old Side'' (mainly congregations of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

and Scots-Irish extraction) who favored a doctrinally oriented church with a highly educated ministry and a ''New Side'' (mainly of English extraction) who put greater emphasis on the revivalistic techniques championed by the Great Awakening. The formal split between Old Side and New Side lasted only from 1741 to 1758, but the two orientations remained present in the reunified church and would come to the fore again during the Second Great Awakening. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Presbyterians on the frontier suffered from a shortage of educated clergy willing to move to the frontier beyond the Appalachian Mountains. At the same time, Methodists and

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

were sending preachers with little or no formal training into frontier regions and were very successful in organizing Methodist and Baptist congregations. Drawing on New Side precedents,

Cumberland Presbytery {{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 ...

in Kentucky began ordaining men without the educational background required by the Kentucky Synod. This was bad enough for supporters of the Old Side, but what was even worse was that the presbytery allowed ministers to offer a qualified assent to the Westminster Confession, only requiring them to swear assent to the Confession "so far as they deemed it agreeable to the Word of God". Old Siders in the Kentucky Synod (which had oversight over Cumberland Presbytery) sought to discipline the presbytery. Presbytery and synod were involved in a protracted dispute which touched upon the nature of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Ultimately, the synod decided to dissolve

and expel a number of its ministers. The Cumberland Presbyterian denomination was made up of the expelled members of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) and others in the area when the Kentucky Synod dissolved the original Cumberland Presbytery. There is historical evidence in the writings of several of the founders that indicate they did not intend the split to be permanent and certainly did not anticipate a long-standing separate denomination. On February 4, 1810, near what later became Burns, Tennessee in the log cabin home of the Rev.

Samuel McAdow Samuel McAdow (1760–1844), a Presbyterian minister. One of the founders of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1810. McAdow was born April 10, 1760, in North Carolina, the son of a farmer. He and his family were members of the Buffalo Presbyte ...

, he, the Rev.

Finis Ewing Finis Ewing (July 10, 1773 – July 4, 1841) was the primary founder of the Cumberland Presbyterian Denomination on February 4, 1810. Biography Originally ordained by Transylvania Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1803, Ewing bec ...

and the Rev. Samuel King reorganized Cumberland Presbytery. After rapid growth, Cumberland Presbytery became Cumberland Synod in 1813 and the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination in 1829 when the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was established. A replica of the Rev. Samuel McAdow's cabin now stands where the three founded the church, and a sandstone chapel commemorating the event has been erected nearby. These two buildings are two of the main attractions in the surrounding Montgomery Bell State Park. An outgrowth of the Great

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. ...

, also called the Second Great Awakening, the new denomination arose to minister to the spiritual needs of a pioneer people who turned from the doctrine of predestination as they interpreted it to embrace the so-called "Whosoever Will" gospel of the new church. The

Red River Meeting House The Red River Meeting House was the site of the first religious camp meeting in the United States. Held June 13–17, 1800, it marked the start of the Second Great Awakening, a major religious movement in the United States in the first part of the ...

in Logan County, Kentucky, marks the location of the revival meeting thought by some to have given rise to the first organized Cumberland Presbyterian congregation.

Subsequent history

In 1826, Cumberland Presbyterians established Cumberland College in Princeton, Kentucky, in order to better train their candidates for the ministry. Although very much a frontier institution, under the presidency of Franceway Ranna Cossitt, Cumberland College was one of the first colleges in the United States to accept women as students. Ann Harpending and Melinda Barnett, for example, enrolled in the very first class. The

Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America The Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America is a historically African-American denomination which developed from the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1874. History The church was formed after African-American delegates to the Cumberland Presb ...

, a primarily African-American denomination, split from the primarily white Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1874. Relations between the two groups have for the most part been very cordial, and many of the CPCA ministers have trained at Memphis Theological Seminary. A reunion attempt on the part of both denominations failed to win approval in the late 1980s. The African American church wanted equal representation on all boards and agencies, feeling that otherwise they would be swallowed up by the larger white church. The joint committee drafting the plan of union agreed and made such a stipulation in its reporting to the General Assembly. However, many in the white, rural, southern-based church were not willing to cede that much power and balked at the plan. No other plans for union have been attempted. However, the two denominations share a confession of faith and cooperate in many common ministries. The

Upper Cumberland Presbyterian Church The Upper Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Christian denomination in the United States with fewer than 1,000 members among twelve congregations in Alabama and Tennessee. Origins The name Cumberland comes from the church's historic connection ...

is a small denomination which broke off from the Cumberland Presbyterian church over issues of membership in the National Council of Churches and the use of the

Revised Standard Version The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1952 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. This translation itself is a revision of the Ameri ...

of the Bible. In 1889, Cumberland Presbyterians were the first body in the Presbyterian or

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

traditions to ordain a woman as a minister, Louisa Mariah Layman Woosley. A relatively conservative body, Nolin Presbytery, ordained Woosley while a relatively liberal body, Kentucky Synod, opposed her ordination and instructed the presbytery to remove her from the ministerial roll.

Reunion

By 1900, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was the third largest Presbyterian or Reformed body in the United States and was rapidly growing. After making revisions to the Westminster Confession in 1903, the PCUSA (the so-called "Northern" denomination) proposed reunification with the CPC. The General Assembly voted by a significant majority for the union in the 1906 meeting. As a result, a large number of Cumberland congregations re-entered the PCUSA in 1906 and those who remained in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church felt somewhat antagonistic towards the PCUSA for generations afterward. About 1,000 pastor and 90,000 former Cumberland Presbyterian Church member joined the Northern Presbyterian Church, but about 50,000 stayed out and continued on as Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Over the years, the bitterness subsided but has never entirely been forgotten.

Recent history

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America held concurrent 2006 general assemblies in Birmingham, Alabama in celebration of 300 years of Presbyterianism in North America. The confessional differences between the denominations that resulted in the CPC's split have largely disappeared. However, new differences have arisen such as the stances on homosexuality and views toward the scriptures. The CPC, for the most part, holds to more conservative beliefs than the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), with an orientation toward

Arminianism Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...

as opposed to the strict Calvinism of other conservative Presbyterian churches in the U.S.

Beliefs and practices

Cumberland Presbyterians were among the first denominations to admit women to their educational institutions and to accept them in leadership roles. They were the first to include women as ordained clergy. Cumberland Presbyterians were also early to ordain African-Americans to the ministry. The 1984 revision of the Cumberland Presbyterian Confession of Faith, reflecting the denomination's long-standing traditions, was one of the first inclusive confessional documents in the Reformed tradition. This Confession was revised by a broad composite of theologians of both Cumberland Presbyterian Churches. However, for the most part, the CPC's constituency and theology resembles that of the United Methodist Church, appealing mainly to long-established families with revivalistic religious tastes and generally conservative cultural dispositions, derived chiefly from the agricultural orientation of most of its historic territory, the Upper South. Although explicit fundamentalism and liberalism are rare in the CPC, neither is entirely absent, and recent trends in the denomination seem to be moving it further to the right. As the denomination has become more conservative, some of its more liberal ministers and members have transferred membership to the Presbyterian Church (USA), thereby intensifying already-present theological and social tendencies in the remaining CPC faithful toward evangelicalism.

Structure

As with any church holding to a Presbyterian polity, individual congregations are represented by elders (who form a session to govern the local church) at presbyteries. Presbyteries, in turn, send delegates to synods. Finally, the entire structure is governed by the General Assembly. The Assembly charges various boards and agencies with the day-to-day operation of the denomination. Cumberland Presbyterian congregations may be found throughout the U.S. as well as in several foreign countries (Japan, Hong Kong, Colombia, etc.) but are primarily located in the American

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and border states, with strong concentrations in Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Missouri, southern Illinois, Arkansas, and Texas. Many of those congregations are located outside major metropolitan areas, in small towns and rural communities. The majority of those churches founded in towns and cities in the 19th century joined in the union with the PCUSA in 1906 after the General Assembly voted to unite with that body. However, so did a fair number of the country churches, who were likely served at the time by pastors with relatively greater theological training, which would have been required by the mainstream Presbyterian tradition for admission to the ministry.

Presbyteries

Cumberland Presbytery, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1810–1813

The genesis of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was the reformed Cumberland Presbytery organized on February 4, 1810. The presbytery was made up of members of the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

and others in the area left abandoned when Kentucky Synod PCUSA dissolved the original Cumberland Presbytery and expelled many of its ministers. The new independent presbytery struggled to be reunited with the larger Presbyterian Church. At the same time, it grew rapidly and divided into three smaller presbyteries in 1813. Cumberland Presbytery was succeeded by

Cumberland Synod Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 1974 ...

Cumberland Presbytery, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1845–1988

King Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church met only three times in 1843 and 1844 before being renamed Cumberland Presbytery by

Green River Synod Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

in 1844. Located primarily in South-Central and Eastern Kentucky, this Cumberland Presbytery was a member

judicatory The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

from 1844 to 1888 and of Kentucky Synod from 1888 to 1988. This Cumberland Presbytery was one of the best organized and funded of all

Cumberland Presbyterian The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination spawned by the Second Great Awakening.Matthew H. Gore, The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988, (Memphis, Tennessee: Joint Heritage Committee, 2000). ...

judicatories. After the partial reunion of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1906, it was the financial stability of Cumberland Presbytery that enabled the Cumberland Presbyterian Denomination to survive. In 1988, as part of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church middle

realignment, this Cumberland Presbytery was dissolved only to be reformed as a much larger presbytery. The last stated clerk was Rev. James W. Knight.

Cumberland Presbytery, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1988–present

Primarily located in central and eastern Kentucky with one congregation in Pennsylvania, Cumberland Presbytery forms the traditional heart of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. This incarnation of the presbytery was formed in the

middle

realignment of 1988. Cumberland Presbytery is a part of

Midwest Synod The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Kentucky Synod, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1845–1865

Formed from

in 1845 and dissolved back into Green River Synod in 1865. This Kentucky Synod's history is largely unknown. It was dissolved for repeatedly failing to meet.

Kentucky Synod, Cumberland Presbyterian Church 1888–1988

In 1888, the name of

was changed to Kentucky Synod. In 1988, Kentucky Synod merged with North Central Synod to form the

Synod of the Midwest A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word meani ...

. Kentucky Synod was, perhaps, the best funded and organized of all

synods. Few other judicatories exercised synodic authority to the same degree. The synod maintained a "Center" in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and employed an executive and staff. The last Executive Presbyter was Rev. James W. Knight.

Demographics

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is present in 23 US states, mainly in the South. Tennessee has far the highest adherents rate 4,64 /1,000 people, about 30,000 members, followed by Kentucky with 10,000 members. Arkansas and Alabama has a large followers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church represents both 1,23/1,000 adherents rate, with about 6,000 members in 59 churches in Alabama, and 3,600 members in 61 congregations in Arkansas. In the South churches are in Texas,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida. The denomination is present also in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Arizona and California. The church has Korean language speaking Presbyteries.

Schools and institutions

Prior to the 1906 partial union, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church placed a great deal of emphasis on education and sponsored 22 colleges and universities. All but one united with the Presbyterian Church. The denomination now maintains a single four-year liberal arts college, Bethel University, formerly Bethel College, located in McKenzie, Tenn.Yearbook of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 2015. Recently, the denomination has related to this institution through a covenant agreement, forgoing direct ownership and control. The denomination also operates a seminary, Memphis Theological Seminary, in Memphis, Tennessee. The

Cumberland Presbyterian Center Cumberland Presbyterian Center is the denominational headquarters of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, located in Memphis, Tennessee. Original building The original center was located at 1978 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, from 1951 to 2 ...

, also located in Memphis, houses other church boards and agencies. The denomination maintains a Children's Home in Denton, Texas. The Historical Foundation of the CPC and the CPCA maintains its library and archives at the

in Memphis. In recent years, the denomination adopted an alternate educational route to ordination of ministers, known as the

Program of Alternate Studies Program, programme, programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program management, the process of managing several related projects * Time management * Program, a part of planning Arts and entertainment Audio * Programm ...

. PAS, as it became known, was intended to serve persons embarking on a second vocation but not as an alternate a seminary education. However, a larger and larger percentage of candidates for the ministry are being allowed by their presbyteries to choose this non-seminary route to ordination, prompting a debate over what many in the church regard as a lessening of educational standards. At the present rate, the number of Cumberland Presbyterian clergy ordained without a seminary degree will surpass seminary-trained clergy within a few years.

Notable members

James Wickliffe Axtell James Wickliffe Axtell (April 16, 1852 – December 23, 1909) was a newspaper man and prominent member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Biography Axtell was born in Pennsylvania, the son of the Rev. Dr. Philip Axtell who founded a number o ...

* Richard Beard * William Jennings Bryan, American politician * Thomas Hardesty Campbell * Franceway Ranna Cossitt (president of Cumberland College, 1st Stated Clerk, etc.) * David Crockett (frontiersman, politician) *

America McCutchen Drennan America McCutchen Drennan (also, America McCutchen Witherspoon; July 23, 1830 – June 26, 1903) was an American educator and pioneer missionary to Japan. She did not acquire the Japanese language, and from the beginning of her career as a mission ...

(1830–1903), educator and missionary * J.S. “Chris” Christie (Alabama Political Figure) *

(founder) *

John Frizzell John B. Frizzell (born in Kingston, Ontario) is a Canadian screenwriter and film producer. After several years writing, directing and co-producing the documentary series ''A Different Understanding'' for TVOntario, Frizzell joined partners Niv Fic ...

(historian) *

Myles Horton ] Myles Falls Horton (July 9, 1905– January 19, 1990) was an American educator, socialist, and co-founder of the Highlander Folk School, famous for its role in the Civil Rights Movement (Movement leader James Bevel called Horton "The Father o ...

* William T. Ingram * Samuel King (founder) * James W. Knight * Sylvanus Lowry *

(founder) * Benjamin Wilburn McDonnold *

Rob Orr (Texas politician) Robert Orr may refer to: * Bob Orr (bookseller) (born 1950), co-founder of Lavender Menace Bookshop in Edinburgh, Scotland * Bobby Orr (born 1948), Canadian hockey player * Bobby Orr (drummer) (1928-2020), jazz drummer * Rob Orr (politician) (born ...

* James D. Porter * Jeri Ryan (actress) *

Beverly St. John Beverly St. John (October 14, 1918 – May 18, 2017) was an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and served as that denomination's first female moderator of the General Assembly in 1988. The Cumberland Presbyterian denomination had been the ...

John Stiles John Stiles was born and raised in the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the author of the poetry collections ''Scouts are Cancelled'' and ''Creamsicle Stick Shivs'', as well as the novels ''The Insolent Boy'' and ''Taking the Stairs' ...

* John Templeton (1912–2008), American businessman, investor, and philanthropist *

Louisa Woosley Louisa Mariah Layman Woosley (March 24, 1862 - June 30, 1952) was the first woman ordained as a minister in any Presbyterian denomination. She was ordained by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church on November 5, 1889. Ordained ministry Woosley, a Cum ...

(first ordained woman in Presbyterianism) *

Carver Yu Tat-sum Carver may refer to: Places United States * Carver, Massachusetts, a town * Carver County, Minnesota ** Carver, Minnesota, a city * Carver, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Carver, Richmond, Virginia, a neighborhood * Carver, West Virgi ...

(Former president of

China Graduate School of Theology The China Graduate School of Theology (CGST) is a theological seminary in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. The President is Bernard Wong, who succeeded Stephen Lee in 2021. CGST is accredited by the Asia Theological Association to offer Master of Christi ...

)

References

Bibliography

* Thomas Hardesty Campbell, Milton L. Baughn, and Ben M. Barrus. ''A People Called Cumberland Presbyterian'' (Memphis: Tennessee, 1972). *

. ''The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988''. Published by the Joint Heritage Committee of Covenant and Cumberland Presbyteries (Memphis: Tennessee, 2000). *''2006 Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church'' (Memphis: Tennessee, 2007). *''2007 Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church'' (Memphis: Tennessee, 2008). *''2013 Yearbook of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church'' (Memphis: Tennessee, 2013).

External links

Denominational website

History and Biographical Information

Cumberland Presbyterian Magazine

Cumberland Presbyterian ResourcesProfile of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church on the Association of Religion Data Archives websiteWelcoming Cumberland Presbyterians
a grassroots movement embracing people of all sexualities and gender expressions in the life of the church {{Authority control