Synod of the Trinity is an upper

judicatory The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

of the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

headquartered in

Camp Hill, Pennsylvania Camp Hill is a borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is southwest of Harrisburg and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area. The population was 8,130 at the 2020 census. There are many large ...

. The synod oversees sixteen presbyteries covering all of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, most of

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, and a portion of eastern

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

History

The

Presbyterian Church in the United States of America The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was a Presbyterian denomination existing from 1789 to 1958. In that year, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North America. The new church was named the United ...

has its roots in the territory of the Synod of the Trinity, which was founded as the Synod of Philadelphia in 1717 following the division of the Presbytery of Philadelphia into three presbyteries (Philadelphia, New Castle, and

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

), with the synod as a superior body. After the

Presbytery of New Brunswick The former Presbytery of New Brunswick is now part of the Coastlands Presbytery as of March 1, 2021 The Presbytery of New Brunswick was a presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA). In 1738 the Presbytery of East Jersey was merged with the Pr ...

was expelled from the synod in 1741 during a major division in the church,

Jonathan Dickinson Jonathan Dickinson (1663–1722) was a merchant from Port Royal, Jamaica who was shipwrecked on the southeast coast of Florida in 1696, along with his family and the other passengers and crew members of the ship. He wrote about their experien ...

left the synod in 1745 to form the

Synod of New York The Synod of New York was a Presbyterian synod formed in 1745 during the Old Side–New Side Controversy Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station i ...

. An advocate of the

Great Awakening The Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals in American Christian history. Historians and theologians identify three, or sometimes four, waves of increased religious enthusiasm between the early 18th century and the late 20th cent ...

, Dickinson founded a seminary that later became

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. The synod was reunited as the Synod of New York and Philadelphia in 1758. By 1851, the synod, then known as the Synod of Philadelphia, was "one of the largest and most influential Synods in the Presbyterian Church, embracing the entire States of Delaware, Maryland, and the greater part of the State of Pennsylvania." By 1881, the synod consisted of nineteen Pennsylvania counties, the City of Philadelphia, and a portion of western Africa.Synod of Philadelphia, The New York Times, 17 October 1881
/ref> In 1882, the name was changed to the Synod of Pennsylvania. When the General Assembly decided in 1973 to create regional judicatories, the synod was merged with the

Synod of West Virginia A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

to form the Synod of Pennsylvania-West Virginia. Finally, when church reunion occurred in 1983, presbyteries in a portion of eastern Ohio were joined to the synod and the name was changed to the Synod of the Trinity. The

Presbyterian Historical Society The Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) is the oldest continuous denominational historical society in the United States.Smylie, James H. 1996. ''A Brief History of the Presbyterians.'' Louisville, Kentucky: Geneva Press. Its mission is to coll ...

shows 81 Presbyterian/Reformed historic sites registered within the bounds of the synod.

Presbyteries

There are sixteen presbyteries in the synod.
Beaver-Butler

Carlisle

Donegal

Huntingdon

Kiskiminetas
* Lackawanna
Lake Erie

Lehigh
* Northumberland *

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pittsburgh
* Presbytery of Redstone
Shenango

Upper Ohio Valley
* Washington Presbytery
West Virginia

References

External links

* {{coord, 40.24043, -76.93311, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Presbyterianism in the United States History of Pennsylvania Trinityc Presbyterianism in West Virginia Presbyterianism in Pennsylvania Presbyterianism in Ohio 1717 establishments in Pennsylvania