Anti-Burghers joined Associate rather than Associate Reformed Church due to psalmody disapprobation

Context

This passage from the History of the Associate Reformed Synod of the South explains why the Associate Presbytery of the Carolinas grew rapidly in its early years. The author identifies two causes: defections from the Associate Reformed Church, and the immigration of Anti-Burghers who consistently chose the Associate Church over the Associate Reformed. The Burgher/Anti-Burgher split originated in Scotland over civic oaths, but the passage indicates these groups also diverged on their acceptance of the ARP’s modified psalmody practice.

Extract

The growth of the Associate Presbytery of the Carolinas was very considerable during the first five or six years of its existence. This was the result of two causes. The one cause was the number of those who left the Associate Reformed Church and joined it. The other was that nearly all the Anti-Burghers who came into the country united with the Associate rather than with the Associate Reformed Church.

This was the case in every section of America. The Anti-Burgher branch of the Secession Church, in both Scotland and Ireland regarded with decided disapprobation the Associate Reformed Church. Few of its members coming to America joined it. Of the donations made to establish the Associate Reformed Theological Seminary, nearly all were obtained from Burghers. Of the Anti-Burghers, it may be said they were generally opposed to all negotiations having a union in view, and opposed to unions when formed. Anti-Burgher ministers rarely ever coalesced with the Associate Reformed Church.

Significance

This extract reveals a transatlantic dimension to denominational sorting over psalmody. The Anti-Burgher branch of the Scottish Secession Church, known for stricter positions on worship practice, consistently refused to affiliate with the Associate Reformed Church—a pattern the author notes held “in every section of America.” The “decided disapprobation” from Anti-Burghers in Scotland and Ireland shaped immigration patterns: Anti-Burgher immigrants sought out the stricter Associate Church rather than the ARP. This evidence suggests that psalmody preferences were not merely local disputes but part of a broader international Reformed network where convictions about worship practice determined ecclesiastical affiliation. The passage also shows how the Burgher/Anti-Burgher division, originally about civic oaths, mapped onto the psalmody controversy in America.