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HISTORICAL
NOTE The
Presbytery of Elizabeth finds its historical beginnings in the First
Presbytery (The Presbytery of Philadelphia) organized in 1706 under
the leadership of Rev. Francis Makemie.
The First Presbyterian Church of Woodbridge became part of the
Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1710. When
the Presbytery of Philadelphia was divided in 1744 and the Synod of
Philadelphia established, the churches which are now in the Presbytery
of Elizabeth were made part of the Presbytery of East Jersey. In
1738 the Presbytery of East Jersey and the Presbytery of Long Island
were dissolved and the Presbytery of New York constituted on the same
ground embracing the same churches. In
1809 the Presbytery of New York was divided and the churches in the
northern part of New Jersey were constituted in the Presbytery of
Jersey. On
October 2l, 1824, the newly formed Synod of New Jersey, meeting at
Morristown dissolved the Presbytery of Jersey and formed of its
churches and ministers the Presbytery of Elizabeth Town and the
Presbytery of Newark. The
first meeting of the Presbytery of Elizabeth Town was held in the
First Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth on November 3, 1824. The
records of the Presbytery of Jersey were divided between the two
Presbyteries ‑ Elizabeth Town and Newark:
those prior to April 27, 1813 were given to the Presbytery of
Newark, and the remainder to the Presbytery of Elizabeth Town. The
Presbytery of Elizabeth was constituted at the Reunion of the Old
School and the New School on June 21, 1870 when the Presbytery of
Elizabeth Town was dissolved and the Presbytery of Elizabeth was
constituted. The
Presbytery of Elizabeth embraced all the ministers and churches of the
Presbytery of Elizabeth Town together with certain ones from the
Presbytery of Newark, and the dissolved Presbyteries of Passaic,
Raritan and Philadelphia Fourth.
Its boundaries, as defined by the Synod of New Jersey were:
"To comprise the counties of Union and Somerset (except the
churches of Kingston and Bound Brook) and all Hunterdon County between
the Newton and New Brunswick Presbyteries and Middlesex County north
of the Raritan River." With
the dissolution of the Presbytery of Morris and Orange by the 176th
General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the United
States of America, meeting in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, May 21, 1964,
the following churches were transferred to the Presbytery of
Elizabeth:
The Westminster Presbyterian Church of Berkeley Heights, NJ;
The New Providence Presbyterian Church, New Providence, NJ;
Central Presbyterian Church, Summit, NJ; together
with their ministers, certain commissioned church workers, and other
ministers. This
same 176th General Assembly approved the following description,
approved by the Presbytery of Elizabeth on October 1, 1963: BOUNDARIES
OF ELIZABETH PRESBYTERY: Union County, Middlesex and Somerset Counties
north of the Raritan River with the exception of the Borough of Bound
Brook; and in Hunterdon County, Clinton Town, Clinton Township, Franklin
Township, High Bridge Borough, Lebanon Borough, Readington Township
and Union Township. Since
the action of the 176th General Assembly (1964) the following churches
have been added to the roll of Elizabeth Presbytery: Christ Church, Martinsville Oak Tree, Edison First, Fords Calvin, Linden Trinity United, Warren Bethlen-Magyar, Linden Korean,
Elizabeth
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