Elder John Sterling walked out of Concord Presbyterian over psalmody at communion

Context

This passage from the Centennial History describes the origin of Little River Church (also called Sterling’s Meeting House) in Fairfield County, South Carolina. The account preserves a dramatic oral tradition about Elder John Sterling walking out of Concord Presbyterian Church during a communion service when the congregation was asked to divide between psalm-singers and hymn-singers. The text notes some uncertainty about the timeline, as hymns were not introduced to Concord “until about twenty years ago” from the 1903 perspective.

Extract

Little River, Fairfield Co., S. C., organized about 1811 by the A. R. Presbytery of the Carolinas. On the roll of Associate Presbytery of the Carolinas in 1819. It originated from an effort to displace the Psalms in Concord Presbyterian Church. Tradition says that on one occasion when the sacrament was being observed, the minister said that all who favored Psalms would take their seats at one table, while all who favored hymns would take their seats at another table. Whereupon John Sterling one of the elders, rose up and said, “I had thought that this was the house of the Lord, but you have made it a house of confusion;” and taking his hat he walked out of the church, and many others followed him. This was the beginning of the Little River or Sterling congregation. It is proper to state, however, that the hymns were not introduced into Concord Church until about twenty years ago.

Significance

This extract preserves a vivid oral tradition of psalmody-driven denominational split. John Sterling’s quote—“I had thought that this was the house of the Lord, but you have made it a house of confusion”—is one of the most memorable statements of resistance to hymn introduction in the sources. The image of an elder dramatically walking out during communion, with “many others” following him, captures the emotional intensity of psalmody convictions. The detail about dividing communicants at the Lord’s table by their psalmody preferences suggests the depth of feeling on both sides. The caveat about the timing of hymn introduction at Concord indicates the historian’s uncertainty about the exact chronology, but the oral tradition itself is valuable evidence of how these events were remembered and transmitted within ARP communities.