The leaders of the Reformation wanted to return to a faith and practice more consistent with the teachings of the Bible. Understanding God did not come from allegiance to a church, they argued, but through individual study of scripture. This led to a surge in production of new versions of the Bible. The Bibles produced during the Reformation where just as important as the individuals who led the movement.
The Historical Society has the privilege of preserving some of the most important...
The Presbyterian Historical Society documents the experiences of Presbyterians from across the country. As part of our series on regional histories, here are five stories about the Atlanta area collected by PHS.
In the expanding industrial city which was Philadelphia after the Civil War, a flood of new migrants doubled the African American population, already the largest in the North. Most of the new arrivals were freed slaves from the South, fleeing poverty, violence, and a landless future in an agricultural society. The Philadelphia black community soon grew beyond its old wards in the southeast corner of Center City. By 1879, the northwestern section of the city (now the Fairmount section), was home to more than six thousand African Americans, but with very few churches of any kind.
The Presbyterian Historical Society documents the experiences of Presbyterians from across the country. As part of our series on regional history, here are five stories about the Chicago area collected by PHS.
1) Chicago Pioneers
Presbyterians have been active in Chicago since the city’s beginning. The First Presbyterian Church was organized in 1833, before Chicago was officially...
The Presbyterian Historical Society holds a treasure trove of stories you can read on paper, including pastor diaries, church minutes, and rare library books. Other stories lie hidden inside objects from our museum collection.
In anticipation of this year’s Reformation Sunday, we’d like to tell you about one such object--a 400-year-old gavel with a history of ownership just as interesting as the materials it was made from.