Secession Synod

The Secession Synod was the Presbyterian Synod of Ireland from 1743 to 1840.[1]

## History

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The Secession movement began in the 1733, when some Protestant preachers in Scotland observed what they saw as loosening in the orthodoxy of the Presbyterian Church and a movement towards liberal modernism. Ebenezer Erskine was dismissed from his Scottish congregation after declaring that the Scottish church needed to be reformed;[2] he and several others started their ‘Associate Presbytery’[3] and became known as Seceders.

Seceder congregations spread throughout Scotland and Ulster.[4] There was a split amongst the Seceders in Scotland over an oath (leading to the Burghers and anti-Burghers), but this was mended in 1818.[2]

## Creation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

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In the 1830s, students of both the Secession Synod and the Synod of Ulster attended the Belfast Academical Institution where a United Prayer Meeting was established.[2] In 1839 the students petitioned both Synods to unite and they agreed to set up a committee to deal with the issue; the committee produced twelve resolutions which were presented on 8 April 1840 and with concessions from both sides these were eventually accepted.[2]

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland was created in 1840 with the merger of the Secession Synod and the Synod of Ulster.[5] The ceremony was attended by 500 ministers and elders, including a visiting Robert Murray McCheyne.[6][7]

Some Seceder congregations refused to join the body, but in time most joined or became members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church.[3]

## External links

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* Tentmaker website, Irish Worthies, Ed. Rev. Thomas Hamilton (1875)

## References

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1. ^ Christian Study Library, 150th Anniversary of the General Assembly in Ireland
2. ^ a b c d UK Wells website, Church in N Ireland
3. ^ a b Discover Ulster Scots website, The Story of the Presbyterians in Ulster
4. ^ [1] Lisburn.com website, The Church in the Rolling Hills
5. ^ Presbyterian History Ireland website, The Last of the Seceders
6. ^ Audio Sermon website, Robert Murray Mc’Cheyne – Days of Revival 129
7. ^ Google Books website, Memoir and Remains of the Rev. Robert Murray McCheyne, by Robert Murray M'Cheyne, Andrew Alexander Bonar

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