September 17, 1717 - America’s First Presbyterian Synod Meets in Philadelphia
W. Birch & Son, First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia on High Street, 1799. Presbyterian Historical Society, RG 425, ID #3327. Public Domain.
Long before Presbyterianism became one of the major Protestant traditions in the United States, its congregations in the American colonies were scattered across a large territory and often separated by considerable distances. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, however, Presbyterian ministers had begun creating a system of church government that connected these congregations. An important step in that process occurred on September 17, 1717, when the first Presbyterian synod in the American colonies met in Philadelphia.
Presbyterianism grew out of the Reformed tradition of the Protestant Reformation and was especially associated with Scotland, where the influence of John Knox helped establish a Presbyterian form of church government. Unlike churches governed primarily by bishops, Presbyterian churches placed authority in representative bodies composed of ministers and elders. Local congregations were governed by sessions, while groups of churches and ministers were organized into presbyteries. As the church expanded, presbyteries could in turn be joined together under a larger governing body called a synod.
Presbyterians began appearing in the English colonies during the seventeenth century. Some came from Scotland and Ireland, while others emerged from the broader English Puritan and New England Congregationalist world. The boundaries between Presbyterians and Congregationalists were not always as sharply defined in colonial America as they later became. Philadelphia, with its religious diversity and growing population, became one of the principal centers of the emerging Presbyterian movement.
One of the most important figures in organizing early American Presbyterianism was Francis Makemie, an Irish-born minister who arrived in the colonies during the 1680s. Makemie traveled widely, preaching and helping establish congregations from the Chesapeake region northward. His efforts helped connect ministers and churches that otherwise operated largely independently.
Around 1706, seven ministers organized the first presbytery in the American colonies. Although it eventually became known as the Presbytery of Philadelphia, the early records often simply called it “the Presbytery.” Among its members were Makemie and Jedediah Andrews, pastor of Philadelphia’s Presbyterian congregation.
The Philadelphia congregation itself had begun gathering for worship during the 1690s. Before having a building of its own, Presbyterians shared the so-called Barbadoes Warehouse with other Protestants. In 1704, the congregation erected a church on High Street, now Market Street. The building became known as Old Buttonwood, apparently because of the buttonwood or sycamore trees surrounding it. It became an important meeting place for early American Presbyterianism.
The original presbytery did more than provide fellowship among ministers. It examined and ordained ministers, dealt with disputes, encouraged orderly congregational life, and helped provide accountability across churches separated by colonial boundaries. As Presbyterianism expanded, however, one presbytery was no longer sufficient.
In September 1716, the ministers agreed to reorganize their growing church structure into several presbyteries and to establish a larger governing body over them. The new arrangement included the presbyteries of Philadelphia, New Castle, and Long Island, with the developing organization around Snow Hill also involved in the restructuring. Together they formed what became known as the Synod of Philadelphia.
The synod held its first meeting in Philadelphia on September 17, 1717. The meeting took place at First Presbyterian Church, where both the earlier presbytery and the new synod met during their formative years. This represented an important institutional development: Presbyterianism in the colonies was no longer simply a collection of individual congregations or even a single regional presbytery. It now possessed a broader representative structure capable of coordinating churches across several colonies.
The new synod would soon face questions extending beyond church administration. One concerned the theological standards ministers were expected to affirm. Presbyterian ministers came from different parts of the British Atlantic world and did not always agree about how strictly a confession of faith should be required. In 1729, the Synod of Philadelphia adopted the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms through what became known as the Adopting Act, establishing the Westminster tradition as the principal confessional framework of organized American Presbyterianism.
Even that agreement did not eliminate controversy. During the Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s, Presbyterians divided over revivalism, ministerial education, conversion, and church order. In 1741, the Synod of Philadelphia fractured into factions commonly called the Old Side and New Side. The revival-oriented New Side eventually organized the Synod of New York, while the Old Side continued with the Synod of Philadelphia. The two groups reunited in 1758 as the Synod of New York and Philadelphia.
Presbyterian organization continued expanding with the population of the colonies and, later, the United States. In 1788, the existing synodical structure was reorganized into four synods, and in 1789 the first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America met in Philadelphia. The system of sessions, presbyteries, synods, and a General Assembly became one of the defining institutional characteristics of American Presbyterianism.
Why It Matters
The September 17, 1717 meeting marked the creation of the first Presbyterian synod in colonial America and represented a major step in transforming scattered Reformed congregations into an organized American church structure. The system developed by these early Presbyterians provided the institutional framework through which the denomination addressed doctrine, ministerial training, revival, missions, and church expansion during the eighteenth century and beyond.
