Synod of the Trinity is an upper

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 ...

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 ...

headquartered in

Camp Hill, Pennsylvania Camp Hill is a borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. It is southwest of Harrisburg and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area. The population was 7,888 at the 2010 census. There are many large corporations bas ...

. The synod oversees sixteen presbyteries covering all of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, most of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, and a portion of eastern

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

History

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 ...

has its roots in the territory of the Synod of the Trinity, which was founded as the Synod of Philadelphia in 1717 following the division of the

Presbytery of Philadelphia The Presbytery of Philadelphia, known during its early years simply as the Presbytery or the General Presbytery, is a presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It was the first organized presbytery in what was to become the United States. H ...

into three presbyteries (Philadelphia, New Castle, and

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

), with the synod as a superior body. After the

Presbytery of New Brunswick The Presbytery of New Brunswick is a presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA). In 1738 the Presbytery of East Jersey was merged with the Presbytery of Long Island and renamed the Presbytery of New York, and two days after that, the Presbytery o ...

was expelled from the synod in 1741 during a major division in the church,

Jonathan Dickinson Jonathan Dickinson (1663–1722) was a merchant from Port Royal, Jamaica who was shipwrecked on the southeast coast of Florida in 1696, along with his family and the other passengers and crew members of the ship. The party was held captive by Job ...

left the synod in 1745 to form the

Synod of New York The Synod of New York was a Presbyterian synod formed in 1745 during the Old Side–New Side Controversy by the Presbytery of New Brunswick and the Presbytery of New York The Presbytery of New York was a presbytery formed in 1717 as the Long Isl ...

. An advocate of the

Great Awakening Great Awakening refers to a number of periods of religious revival in American Christian history. Historians and theologians identify three, or sometimes four, waves of increased religious enthusiasm between the early 18th century and the late ...

, Dickinson founded a seminary that later became

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. The synod was reunited as the Synod of New York and Philadelphia in 1758. By 1851, the synod, then known as the Synod of Philadelphia, was "one of the largest and most influential Synods in the Presbyterian Church, embracing the entire States of Delaware, Maryland, and the greater part of the State of Pennsylvania." By 1881, the synod consisted of nineteen Pennsylvania counties, the City of Philadelphia, and a portion of western Africa.Synod of Philadelphia, The New York Times, 17 October 1881
/ref> In 1882, the name was changed to the Synod of Pennsylvania. When the General Assembly decided in 1973 to create regional judicatories, the synod was merged with the Synod of West Virginia to form the Synod of Pennsylvania-West Virginia. Finally, when church reunion occurred in 1983, presbyteries in a portion of eastern Ohio were joined to the synod and the name was changed to the Synod of the Trinity. Th
Presbyterian Historical Society
shows 81 Presbyterian/Reformed historic sites registered within the bounds of the synod.

Presbyteries

There are sixteen presbyteries in the synod.
map

Carlisle

Donegal

Huntingdon

Kiskiminetas

Lackawanna

Lake Erie

Lehigh

Northumberland
*

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pittsburgh
*

Presbytery of Redstone The Presbytery of Redstone is a Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) governing congregations in Westmoreland, Fayette, Somerset, and Cambria Counties in Western Pennsylvania. Its headquarters in located in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. I ...

Visi
website

Shenango

Upper Ohio Valley
*

Washington Presbytery Washington Presbytery, of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is the association of PCUSA churches in Washington and Greene counties in Pennsylvania. It contains sixty-five churches and has roughly twelve thousand members. History It was formed from po ...

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Visi
website

West Virginia

References

External links

*

{{coord, 40.24043, -76.93311, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Presbyterianism in the United States History of Pennsylvania Trinityc Presbyterianism in West Virginia Presbyterianism in Pennsylvania Presbyterianism in Ohio 1717 establishments in Pennsylvania