Appendix A: Higher Judicatories Related to LPC. 1860-1986.

American Presbyterian Church Government

American Presbyterians developed three levels of church government, often termed 'judicatories,' above the level of the local church. Each PRESBYTERY is made up of representatives from the SESSIONS, local governing boards, of each church plus all of the clergy belonging to the presbytery. Presbyterian clergy are not members of local churches. They belong to presbyteries. Presbyteries take the place of bishops and exercise direct authority over the churches. SYNODS, composed of delegates from a number of presbyteries, form an intermediate level of church government. The GENERAL ASSEMBLY, also composed of delegates from the presbyteries, supervises the life of the whole church, establishes general policy, and acts as the court of final appeal for the church.

In 1706, colonial Presbyterians formed the first higher judicatory, known simply as 'the Presbytery,' in American Presbyterian history. Eventually, Presbyterians formed several other presbyteries, which joined to form a single Synod. Theological divisions caused the Synod to split into two independent synods, which were reunited in 1758. After the American Revolution, in 1788, Presbyterians established the PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (PCUSA). In 1837, one wing of the PCUSA, more traditionally Calvinistic, succeeded in ousting another group from the denomination. The first group became known as the OLD SCHOOL faction, and the second group was called the NEW SCHOOL faction. Each group retained the official name of PCUSA. Maryland churches remained almost entirely in the Old School denomination.

In 1857, the relatively small number of New School Presbyterians in the South withdrew from the staunchly anti-slavery New School denomination and formed the 'UNITED SYNOD.' When the Civil War broke out, the Old School Presbyterians in the South formed the PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA (PCCSA). The United Synod joined with the PCCSA in 1864, and after the Civil War the PCCSA changed its name to the PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES (PCUS), often called the 'Southern Presbyterian Church.' Eventually the Synods of Missouri and Kentucky , along with the Presbytery of Patapsco in Maryland , left the PCUSA and joined the PCUS.

In 1869, the northern Old School and New School denominations reunited and continued to be called the PCUSA. The next major change among the Presbyterian denominations did not take place until 1958 when the PCUSA united with another branch of Presbyterianism, the UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA, to form the UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (PCUSA). The decades-long dialogue regarding reunion of the Northern and Southern branches of Presbyterianism finally led, in 1983, to the formation of the PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA).