The ARP Denomination
The Associate Reformed
Presbyterian Denomination (ARP) denomination's roots can be traced to the 17th
century Covenanters (the Reformed Church). The Reformed broke away from
the Church of Scotland due to the failure of the church to acknowledge
Presbyterianism as the only legitimate and God-ordained civil and ecclesial
government. Equally, our roots are in the 18th century Seceders (the
Associates, led by Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine), who broke away from the Church
of Scotland  over the allowance of non-Presbyterians to hold public office and
be public servants. Members of these two groups/presbyteries migrated to
Ireland and eventually to America. In 1782, the two merged into one
church--the Associate Reformed Presbyterian church--in Philadelphia, PA.
In 1804, the
denomination included four regional synods. In 1822, the southern
churches formed an independent synod, the "Synod of the
South." Other synods eventually merged with different Presbyterian
denominations. Later, the name of the Synod was changed to "The
General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church." The
denomination founded a seminary in 1837 and a college in in 1839; Erskine
College and Erskine Theological Seminary are both located in Due West.
Follow this link to view
a chart showing our history and its relation to to other Presbyterian
churches.
Today, the growing Synod has 197 churches in 15 states and Canada. It is the
oldest Presbyterian denomination with a continuous history in the United
States. Our eight presbyteries presbyteries are listed below:
| Canada
Presbytery |
Constituted in January 2004 by
the division of Northeast Presbytery. It now includes all of our churches
in Canada. |
| Catawba
Presbytery |
Constituted in 1919 by the
division of First Presbytery. It now includes the States of Louisiana,
Texas, and all of South Carolina, except for the following western
counties: Abbeville, Aiken, Allendale, Anderson, Barnwell, Edgefield,
Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens,
Saluda, Spartanburg, and Union. |
| First
Presbytery |
Constituted in October 1800, it
was formed by the division of the Associate Reformed Presbytery of the
Carolinas and Georgia. It now includes all churches in the State of North
Carolina. |
| Florida
Presbytery |
Constituted October 16, 1963, by
the division of Second Presbytery. It now includes all churches in the
State of Florida. |
| Mississippi
Valley Presbytery |
Constituted in 1931 when the
Memphis and Louisville Presbytery merged. It now includes the western
two-thirds of the State of Tennessee, the State of Kentucky, the State of
Mississippi, and all territory lying west of the Mississippi River,
excluding the states of Washington, Oregon, and California. Note, however,
that the Cleveland Street Church, New Albany, Mississippi is a member of
the Tennessee-Alabama Presbytery and The Korean Gospel Church of Houston,
Texas is a member of the Pacific Presbytery. |
| Northeast
Presbytery |
Constituted January 1, 1987, it
was formed by the division of Virginia Presbytery. It now includes all
churches in the Northeastern United States, bordered on the west by the
West Virginia and Ohio state borders, on the south by the Rappahannock
River, the western boundaries of Fauquier and Loudoun Counties of Virginia
to the West Virginia State border, to the southern boundaries of Preston,
Taylor, Harrison, Doddridge, Ritchie and Wood Counties of West Virginia;
and the District of Columbia. |
| Pacific
Presbytery |
Constituted July 10, 1997 when
the General Synod entered into a covenant relationship with certain
ministers and congregations of the independent U. S. Presbytery to
establish the Pacific Presbytery. It includes the States of Washington,
Oregon, and California, with special provisions for The Korean Gospel
Church of Houston, Texas to be a part of the Pacific Presbytery and two
churches in New York to remain in the Pacific Presbytery for up to two
years. |
| Second
Presbytery |
Constituted in October 1800, it
was formed by the division of the Associate Reformed Presbytery of the
Carolinas and Georgia. It now includes the State of Georgia and the
following western counties of South Carolina: Abbeville, Aiken, Allendale,
Anderson, Barnwell, Edgefield, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick,
Newberry, Oconee, Pickens, Saluda, Spartanburg, and Union |
| Tennessee-Alabama
Presbytery |
Constituted in 1937, it now
includes the State of Alabama, the Eastern third of the State of
Tennessee, and the Cleveland Street Church, New Albany, Mississippi. |
| Virginia
Presbytery |
Constituted in 1854. It includes
the State of Virginia, except for those counties to the east and north of
the boundary formed by the western boundaries of Fauquier and Loudoun
Counties and the Rappahannock River; the state of West Virginia, except
for the counties north of the southern boundaries of Preston, Taylor,
Harrison, Doddridge, Ritchie, and Wood counties. |
Fraternal Delegates
What is
this? Fraternal delegation is a union with other churches that are
either members of the ARP Synod or "which are Reformed in confession
(i.e., churches that adhere to the Westminster Confession and
Catechisms and/or the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession,
and the Canons of the Synod of Dordt), polity, and liturgy, as
determined not only by their formal standards, but also by their actual
practice." The denomination (and our church) is in fraternal
delegation with the following presbyterian/reformed churches:
For more information on our delegation, visit
our synod page on Fraternal
Delegation.
The Due West ARP Church
ARP
preaching stations existed near Due West before the Revolutionary War.
The first structure located at the present site was a log-cabin church built
in 1790 by the Rev. Peter McMullen. He dedicated it as the Due West
Corner Church as it was located in the "far west corner of the
denomination." The town grew up around the church and took its
name.
The
church languished between 1801 and 1830 but was revived in the early
1830's. Its members raised sufficient money to justify Synod's decision
to locate a seminary and college in Due West. Since then, the town,
church and college have worked together to maintain a community in which
excellence in higher education is nurtured in a Christian atmosphere.
because so many ministers of the denomination were trained in Due West, this
Church is called the "Mother Church" of the denomination.
The
present church building was erected in 1925 and is well maintained. The
E. M. Skinner pipe organ, added in 1953, was rebuilt in 1995. A church
library is provided. The sanctuary is much larger than might be
anticipated to accommodate the baccalaureate services of the college and
seminary. In addition, Mary Galloway Giffen, the first foreign
missionary of the denomination, was a daughter of the Due West congregation.
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