Pleasant Grove Church left ARP for Southern Presbyterian with understanding that inspired Psalmody not be disturbed

Context

This passage from the Centennial History describes Pleasant Grove Church in Decatur County, Georgia. The church was organized in the 1840s and served the ARP community in southwestern Georgia and northwestern Florida. After the Civil War, the congregation left the ARP to join the Southern Presbyterian Church, but under remarkable terms that protected the practice of inspired psalmody.

Extract

Pleasant Grove, Decatur Co, Ga.—Southwestern Georgia and Northwestern Florida was visited about 1830 by Rev. J. L. Pressly. Revs. J. M. McCreary spent two Sabbaths in May, ‘37; J. C. Chalmers a while, ‘39; J. S. Pressly, three Sabbaths, Jan.. 42. A church was organized by one of these or some other. Rev. J. C. Chalmers reorganized it, Dec., ‘44. and spent 11 weeks in that region. Revs. D. F. Haddon, D. P. Robinson, J. S. Pressly and J. I Bonner supplied for a short time each. Rev. A. McElroy was pastor May 1, 1847, fall-1858. Rev. M. Oates was supply Oct., ‘60,-Oct., ‘61, and received $372. J. Gibson, D. McGinnis and Geo. Boyce were ruling elders, Thomas Wighams a prominent member. Passed into the Southern Presbyterian Church after the Civil War, with the distinct understanding that the inspired Psalmody should not be disturbed while one member desired it. Mrs. R. G. Chestnut remains that one.

Significance

This extract provides exceptional evidence of how deeply psalmody commitments shaped denominational identity even when formal affiliation changed. The congregation left the ARP for the Southern Presbyterian Church—moving toward hymns, not away from them—but negotiated terms to protect psalm-singing. The “distinct understanding” that “inspired Psalmody should not be disturbed while one member desired it” reveals that even in a context of denominational merger, exclusive psalmody was treated as a matter of conscience worthy of explicit protection.

Most remarkable is the concluding detail: “Mrs. R. G. Chestnut remains that one.” At the time of the Centennial History’s publication (around 1903), nearly four decades after the church joined the Southern Presbyterians, one member still exercised her right to inspired psalmody. This suggests:

1. The agreement was honored across decades
2. Personal psalmody convictions could persist even when institutional affiliation changed
3. At least some Southern Presbyterian churches tolerated or accommodated exclusive psalm-singing members

This case complicates simple narratives of denominational sorting by showing that individuals with minority worship preferences could sometimes negotiate space within majority-hymn-singing denominations. It also shows that the psalmody question was not merely about institutional practice but about individual conscience—the agreement protected “one member” who still desired it.