THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF NORTH AMERICA was organized in Pittsburg, Pa., on Nay 20, 1858. by a union of the Associate and the Associate Reformed churches. By one line the United Presbyterian Church is descended from the Covenanters of Scotland, by the other line it is descended from a body of men who were im bued with the ideas which later brought forth the Free Church of Scotland. The basis of the union was the Westminster Standards together with a 'Testimony.' The Testimony consists of 18 articles designed to set forth the views of the Church on "certain points not distinctly intro duced into the Confession of Faith." The Church holds to a restricted communion: it has been and still is distinguished by its attitude on the subject of Church psalmody, using only the Psalms for its worship of song. In 1881 the General Assem bly by a very small majority repealed the rule forbidding the use of instrumental music in the worship of God. The United Presbyterian Church
has always maintained a high standard for the ministry. As early as 1794 the Associate Church established a theological seminary in Pennsyl vania, the first on the Continent. Other semi naries and colleges have been founded. Home and foreign mission work has prospered as well as freedmen's work, publication, and ministerial relief. At the union, in 1858, there were 408 ministers, and the contributions were $253,150 for all purposes. The United Presbyterian Church has two theological seminaries—one at Allegheny, Pa., founded in 1825, and one at Xenia, Ohio, founded by the Associate Synod in 1794 at Ser vice, Pa., removed to Canonsburg in 1821, and to Xenia, Ohio, in 1825.