The Auburn Declaration, New School Presbyterians and Our Future

In the 1820s and 1830s the Presbyterian Church in the USA became deeply divided over doctrinal matters, and this culminated at the 1837 General Assembly in a split into the Old School and the New School Presbyterians. Each met and formulated a statement of doctrine. The New School convention was held in Auburn First Presbyterian Church, the colonial church that is now Calvary, and produced The Auburn Declaration, written by Rev. Baxter Dickinson, D.D., Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Theology in Auburn Theological Seminary from 1839 to 1847.

In 1870, when the Old School and the New School re-united, the basis was The Auburn Declaration, which is considered a pure statement of the doctrine of Calvin.  This fits with our traditional approach that continues today.

Our nearly 200-year history of mission service here and around the world demonstrates our congregation's natural and continuing capacity to walk with Christ. We are also genuinely open to and respecting of widely divergent views. This has roots in the New School too.

The New School churches and leaders were quite traditional, but they felt the church should be big enough to accommodate an evangelist such as Charles Finney, who led several revivals in Auburn First Presbyterian, and even to include a proponent of the governmental theory of atonement like Alfred Barnes, whose conviction for heresy and subsequent acquittal on appeal actually caused the Old School and the New School to split apart.

The New School dedicated much effort to building the church and to social reform, especially the abolition of slavery. Our pastors were leaders in the New School. In 1846, for the first and only time in our history, we called a pastor right out of seminary, Rev. Henry Addison Nelson. He became so distinguished as a New School leader and abolitionist that he was called to First Presbyterian Church in St. Louis to face the challenges of abolition in the days before the Civil War. Rev. Nelson is credited with saving Missouri for the Union.

In the Winter, 2008 issue of “Auburn Views,” newsletter of the Auburn Seminary, Barbara G. Wheeler tells the story of the New School and reflects on its meaning for us today. The full text of the article is posted on the Auburn Seminary website.

Barbara, who is president of Auburn Seminary, calls on the school's Center for Church Life to "uphold the commitments" of the founders of the New School Presbyterians. These commitments inspire the future of Auburn First Presbyterian Church too. They are:

You are invited to join in our nearly 200-year tradition of faith, service, and fellowship. Sunday mornings find us gathered for fellowship, study and the worship service at 10:30 AM (9:30 AM in the summer).