The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church is a conservative Reformed denomination rooted in the Scottish Covenanting tradition, known for exclusive psalmody and confessional Presbyterianism.
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian (ARP) Church traces its origins to the Secession movement in 18th-century Scotland, when a group of ministers broke from the Church of Scotland over issues of church-state relations and spiritual independence. Scottish and Irish immigrants brought these convictions to America, and in 1782 the Associate Reformed Church was formally organized on American soil. The denomination takes its name from the merger of two Scottish Presbyterian secession bodies — the Associate Presbytery and the Reformed Presbytery — and has maintained a distinct identity within American Presbyterianism ever since.
The ARP Church is confessionally Reformed, holding to the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms as its doctrinal standards. It is governed by a Presbyterian polity of elders and presbyteries, with a General Synod as its highest governing body. The denomination is known for its historic practice of exclusive psalmody — singing only the biblical Psalms in corporate worship, without the use of hymns — though individual congregations vary in how strictly they observe this tradition today.
The ARP Church is concentrated primarily in the Carolinas, with Erskine College and Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, South Carolina serving as its educational institutions. Fayetteville's ARP congregation reflects the denomination's presence in the broader Piedmont and Coastal Plain region of the Carolinas. ARP churches tend to be smaller and more traditional in character, with a strong emphasis on catechesis, covenantal family worship, and confessional integrity.
The ARP Church is distinguished by its historic practice of exclusive psalmody and its strong confessional identity rooted in the Westminster Standards. Unlike the PCA or PCUSA, the ARP has maintained an unbroken denominational identity since 1782 without major splits or mergers, giving it a particular continuity with the Scottish Covenanting tradition.
Traditional and ordered, centered on Scripture reading, psalm singing (often a cappella in more traditional congregations), expository preaching, and the sacraments. Services tend to be reverent and unhurried.
Organized in America in 1782 from Scottish and Irish Presbyterian secession traditions.
Exclusive psalmody, confessional Reformed theology, and Erskine College and Seminary in Due West, SC.