The Springfield Presbytery was an independent presbytery that became one of the earliest expressions of the Stone-Campbell Movement. It was composed of Presbyterian ministers who withdrew from the jurisdiction of the Kentucky Synod of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America on September 10, 1803.[1]: 696 It dissolved itself on June 28, 1804, with the publication of a document titled the Last Will and Testament of The Springfield Presbytery, marking the birth of the Christian Church of the West.
The immediate cause of withdrawal by the ministers was that the Synod of Kentucky had censured the Washington Presbytery for the following:
They gave the following reasons for withdrawing from the jurisdiction of the Synod:[1]: 696
Based on those reasons, the ministers said that they chose to withdraw from the jurisdiction of the Kentucky Synod rather than be prosecuted under the authority of the Confession of Faith, which they could not acknowledge.[1]: 696 But, they said they did not desire to break from communion with the members of the Synod.[1]: 697
They formed the Springfield Presbytery two days later.[1]: 697 The Springfield Presbytery was a loose association of the dissenting ministers and their congregations. The Presbytery ordained a sixth minister, David Purviance, who joined it after the West Lexington Presbytery of Kentucky had refused to ordain him.
On January 31, 1804, the several ministers published a 141-page defense of their actions, in which they opposed the use of creeds to determine who is a Christian. The defense was entitled An Apology for Renouncing the Jurisdiction of the Synod of Kentucky. To Which Is Added a Compendious View of the Gospel and a Few Remarks on the Confession of Faith.[1]: 697 The Apology was written by Robert Marshall. It argued that the examination of McNemar in 1802 had been conducted without due process, which would have justified an appeal of the decision to the General Assembly. It went on to argue that they had no reasonable hope of redress within the Presbyterian church as long as "human opinions", rather than scripture, were the standard of orthodoxy.[1]: 697
Stone wrote the Compendious View of the Scripture. Systematically laying out the doctrines which the Washington Presbytry had condemned, he wrote the first theological statement of the Restoration Movement.[1]: 697
Thompson wrote the Remarks on the Confession, arguing that, since creeds served to divide the church, even if a perfect creed could be found, it should be rejected as the standard for Christian fellowship.[1]: 697 The unstated implication was that unity was preferable to orthodoxy.
By 1804 the Springfield Presbytery had attracted 15 congregations in Ohio and Kentucky.[1]: 697 The leaders of this newer presbytery became concerned by its growth, as they did not want to create a new denomination or "party".[1]: 697 Ultimately convinced that their newer Springfield Presbytery was sectarian, the six ministers dissolved it on June 28, 1804. To publicize the dissolution, they signed a document entitled The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery.[1]: 697 This tract willed that "this body die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large." It expressed the desire for Christian union and identified the Bible as the only standard of Christian faith and practice.[1]: 697
In addition to signing the Last Will and Testament, the ministers agreed to take "no other name than "Christians," on the basis that it was "the name first given by divine authority to the disciples of Christ."[1]: 697 Soon, they adopted the name "Christian" to identify their group. Thus, former congregations from the Springfield Presbytery eventually became known as the Christian Church.[2]: 80 It is estimated that the Christian Church numbered about 12,000[clarification needed] by 1830.[2]: 82
The Last Will and Testament became a founding document of the Restoration Movement. The dissolution of the Springfield Presbytery was in part a symbolic act, based on the principle that gave priority to individual autonomy for local congregations. Such Congregational ideals are still fundamental to the Disciples of Christ and the Churches of Christ, due in no small part to this document. The document titled Last Will and Testament of The Springfield Presbytery was signed by Robert Marshall, John Dunlavy, and Richard McNemar on June 28, 1804, in the presence of B. W. Stone, John Thompson, and David Purviance, who served as witnesses.
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