Rankin's second trial - deposed by ARP commission including John Mason (1818)

Source: history-of-the-presbyterian-church-in-the-state-of-kentucky-with-a-preliminary-sketch-of-the-churches-in-the-valley-of-virginia
Page: 94
Type: quote
Confidence: high
Date mentioned: 1818
Topics: psalmody-controversy rankin-case associate-reformed-church church-trial
People: adam-rankin john-mason ebenezer-dickey john-lind silas-weir robert-bishop
Places: Kentucky, Lexington
Institutions: associate-reformed-church general-synod-arp

Context

After joining the Associate Reformed Church in 1793, Rankin eventually fell into conflict with that denomination as well. Davidson describes a second judicial investigation, remarkably featuring Dr. John Mason (who was himself involved in psalmody controversies in New York).

Extract

He was on no better terms with the Associate Reformed than he had been with the Presbyterians; and his pugnacious propensities brought on at last a judicial investigation. A commission of the General Synod, composed of Dr. John Mason, Ebenezer Dickey and John Lind, ministers, and Silas E. Weir, elder, was deputed to sit in Lexington upon the case. Dr. Mason, then in the zenith of his fame, was chairman.

Instead of standing a trial, Mr. Rankin declined their jurisdiction. The trial proceeded, notwithstanding, and a final decision was rendered, Sept. 17, 1818. Some of the complaints lodged against the defendant were dismissed, as defective in form; others, as not substantiated; but of the charge of “lying, and slandering his brethren,” he was convicted, and sentence of suspension from the office of the ministry was pronounced upon him. He refused to respect the decision, and he and his congregation declared themselves independent.

[From footnote:] The chief specification was his representing the Rev. Robert Bishop, late the venerable President of Miami University, as having intrigued to introduce into the Church an odious system of tythe-law.

[Regarding his writings:] The most favorable specimen of his powers is a work entitled, “Dialogues, pleasant and interesting, on the government of the Church,” designed as an answer to Dr. Mason’s “Plea for Catholic Communion.”

Significance

This extract reveals a fascinating convergence of the book’s two major case studies:

  1. John Mason judged Rankin: The same Dr. John Mason who championed open communion and Watts psalmody in New York chaired the commission that tried Rankin in Kentucky. Mason was “in the zenith of his fame” in 1818.

  2. Pattern repeats: Rankin was again convicted of “lying, and slandering his brethren” - the same basic charge as 1792, suggesting a consistent pattern of behavior

  3. Rankin wrote against Mason: His “Dialogues” were “designed as an answer to Dr. Mason’s ‘Plea for Catholic Communion’” - showing direct intellectual engagement between these two figures

  4. Independence as final refuge: After leaving Presbyterians for ARP (1793), then being suspended by ARP (1818), Rankin and his congregation “declared themselves independent” - denominational transfer reaching its logical endpoint

  5. Robert Bishop connection: The specific charge involved accusations against Robert Bishop, who would later leave the ARP to become a Presbyterian - another figure who crossed denominational lines

This connection between Mason and Rankin deserves exploration in the book as a point of intersection between the New York and Kentucky case studies.