Celebrating the 1822 Anniversary of the Associate Reformed Synod of the South
the Carolinas and Georgia. Though Clark would die on December 26, presbytery joined with others to be- come the Associate Reformed Synod of North America. Due to increas- ing growth, this Synod established in 1803 four co-ordinate synods. The northern presbyteries became the Synod of New York, the western presbyteries became the Synod of Scioto (the region of Ohio), and the mid-Atlantic presbyteries became the Synod of Pennsylvania. The pres- byteries that had developed out of the Presbytery of the Carolinas and Georgia became on May 9, 1803 the Synod of the Carolinas. Each synod together formed a General Synod, which would convene every two to joint General Synod of the Associate Reformed Church met at Greencastle, Pennsylvania.
Lower Long Cane ARPC celebrating 250 years By Rev. John Paul Marr O
as April Fool’s Day. Two hundred years ago, however, on 1 April 1822, a group of southern Associate Reformed presbyteries em- barked on what some may have considered a fool’s errand. They reorganized - formed origins under the name the Associate Reformed Synod of the South. This synod became the foundation for the denomination now known in the United States as the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARPC). The current ARPC owes this almost foolhardy 1822 enterprise to the vibrant min- istry legacy of the Reverend Doctor Thomas Clark.
In the mid-eighteenth century Clark’s transplanted Scot-Irish congrega-
tions produced the seeds where in the American Colonies these Associates G. Leyburn, The Scotch-Irish: A Social History Chapel Hill, NC: The University bloomed in the colonial city of Philadelphia during the latter season of the years of discussions, the Associate Presbyteries of Pennsylvania and New York (with their Seceder origins) and the Reformed Presbytery of North America (with their Covenanter and Praying Societies origins) organized themselves into the Associate Reformed Church. (L.M. Allison, A Short History of the As- sociate Reformed Presbyterian Church: Its Agencies and Institutions.) Clark whole- heartedly supported this union and he worked diligently to encourage the cohesive identity of this young denomination in its beginning years. The ministry leadership of Clark among the southern Associate Reformed
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ARPC minister and historian Ray A. King noted, however, in A History of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church that during these years “the strong sense of the unity of the vis- ible Church was missing among A. King, A History of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.) The Associate Reformed Presbyterian 2012 publication Introduction to the History and Ministries of the Associ- ate Reformed Presbyterian Church re- marked that “[t]he General Synod of the Associate Reformed Church did (Kathy Barron, Introduction to the His- tory and Ministries of the Associate Re- formed Presbyterian Church.) In 1820 the Synod of Scioto withdrew from the General Synod and became in- dependent, known as the Associate Synod of the West. Then one year later, in 1821, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church absorbed the Synod of Pennsylvania. By 1855 the Synod of New York had merged with the Associate Synod of the West. Three years later they united
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
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