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06504 October 6, 2006
Tricentennial of American Presbyterianism celebrated
Philadelphia service marks 300th anniversary of first presbytery meeting
by Toya Richards Hill
PHILADELPHIA - The great cloud of Presbyterian witnesses most certainly would have been pleased on Sunday, Oct. 1.
Peering down at the goings on inside Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church here, they had to be smiling as they watched their offspring paying homage to them. And no doubt they marveled at just how far their church had come in 300 years.
A colorful procession of presbytery banners, two choirs and a brass ensemble, an array of denominational officials and a hearty crowd gathered to mark the 300th anniversary of the first presbytery meeting in America. Held in Philadelphia in 1706, the meeting set the foundation for what is today the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
"You can feel the cloud of witnesses in this place," the Rev. Joan Gray, moderator of the 217th General Assembly, said of those early church founders."They are with us in spirit."
"They ran the race that was set before them. We would not be sitting here if they had not been faithful," she told the worshippers.
Seven Presbyterian ministers organized that first presbytery, which was a general presbytery with broad geographical boundaries. They were led by the Rev. Francis Makemie, considered the father of American Presbyterianism.
The other six men, all considered nonconformists in the Anglican-majority colonial environment, were the Revs. Jedidiah (or Jedediah) Andrews, Samuel Davis (or Davies), John Hampton, George McNish, Nathaniel Taylor and John Wilson.
"They were religious dissidents," said Frederick Heuser, director of the Presbyterian Historical Society, the Philadelphia-based national archives and historical research center of the PC(USA).
"They realized that they needed each other's fellowship," he said, adding that the men gathered for fellowship, education, and for disciplining, licensing and ordaining ministers. "They were individuals who were interested in establishing some sort of community."
The Historical Society, which hosted a reception a few hours prior to the Oct. 1 anniversary worship service, has in its collection the minutes book from that first presbytery meeting.
The presbytery grew, and in 1716-17 it expanded into more presbyteries and the first synod was created. The Synod of Philadelphia consisted of about 17 congregations.
"It's important for us to mark significant anniversaries like this. To look back to the past for clues or keys to the future," said the Rev. Ed Gehres, executive presbyter of Philadelphia Presbytery and a member of the 300th anniversary service planning committee.
Philadelphia, Donegal, Lehigh, New Brunswick, New Castle and West Jersey presbyteries all helped host the tricentennial event and took part in the worship service.
"This glorious day is indeed the day that the Lord has made," the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA), proclaimed from the pulpit.
He remarked at how those early denomination founders, whose actions "sparked a movement," knew they needed one another to be faithful to Jesus Christ. They knew they needed each other "to discern God's will."
The challenge today is recognizing that "if we want to go the distance we need one another," said Kirkpatrick, who noted that the celebration was taking place on World Communion Sunday.
Recognition of the need for one another was especially reflected in the diverse worship service, which included an African-American choir from Lombard Central Presbyterian Church, scriptures read in Spanish and Korean, the call to confession led by an ordination candidate and even comments from a Presbyterian U.S. Senator.
"Now it is our turn. * It's time for us to get down to business. It's time for us to lay aside the weights and the sins that so closely beset us," Gray told the worshippers. "It's time for us to lay aside fear of risk and change."
"If we are going to go forward we are going to have to make change our friend and embrace it," she said.
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