29
May 1801 A.D. Church
Growth By Merger—1801 Plan of Union
Archivist. “May 29: Plan of Union (1801).” This
Day in Presbyterian History. 29 May
2014. http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2014/05/may-29/.
Accesssed 29 May 2014.
The Ends Don’t Justify the Means
The desires to grow increased members on the
rolls can be dangerous in that questionable methods can be
used to accomplish that end. From the year of the first
General Assembly in 1789, the church slowly grew from 419 churches to 511 in
1803. It is important to note that these increases did not come from
proselytizing of members in other denominations. As late as 1794, the
General Assembly had approved a circular which discouraged “sheep stealing”
from other denominations.:
But there was still a problem. As the population
shift in people continued to the west and south, there was a scarcity of
pastors and congregations to reach the expanding growth. Thus, the
idea of some type of cooperation between churches was suggested at the General
Assembly in 1800. By the next year, and specifically on this day, May
29, 1801, this cooperation was given a name, that of the Plan of
Union. And it was to take place between the Presbyterians and the
Congregationalist denominations.
The goal was admirable. For the purposes of not
duplicating the work of either Presbyterian or Congregational ministers,
Congregational mission churches or established churches could call a
Presbyterian minister, and Presbyterian mission churches or established churches
could call a Congregational minister. Each could interchange to the other
church with no problem.
As far as numerical growth was concerned, the Plan of
Union worked admirably. For thirty-five years, until 1837, the best
statistics show that the numbers of churches went from 511 to 2,965
churches. The number of ministers grew from 180 in number to 2, 140
clergy in 1837. The church had increased eleven fold in barely four
decades.
But at what cost doctrinally, was the question?
While there were some Congregational ministers who were Calvinistic in
theology, others were influenced by liberal beliefs from New England with
respect to sin and salvation. Original sin was denied as well as the
substitutionary satisfaction of Christ’s death on the cross for
sinners. Something had to be done if Presbyterian government and
doctrine was to continue.
In 1837, the Plan of Union was dissolved by the General
Assembly, and particularly the Old School General Assembly, having been
declared “unnatural and unconstitutional.” Entire synods, presbyteries,
ministers, churches, and members were cut off from the Presbyterian
church. The Assembly was determined that purity came before growth in the
order of importance.
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