Reflections on the Rev Ebenezer Erskine and Scotland’s First Secession
Maj Jamie Erskine MBE
June 2025
With more historic local churches earmarked for closure every month, caused in part by what has long been described as Scotland being “overchurched“, Maj Jamie Erskine, our longest serving trustee, reflects on the career of one of his kinsmen, the Rev Ebenezer Erskine (1680-1754), and the part that this 18th century minister and theologian played in the significant growth of Scottish places of worship in the century that followed his remarkable life.
As the plans for the reorganisation of the Church of Scotland churches in Kinross-shire move forward, perhaps it is of interest to look back at the story of a past minister of Portmoak Church, one of the churches closed in the reorganisation.
There are, probably, a large number of people who have driven along the road between Kinross and Kelty and either not noticed the obelisk shaped memorial on the west side of road near Gairneybridge, or who have seen it and not known what it was. It was in fact erected in 1883 to commemorate the formation of the First Presbytery of the Secession Church, led by four ministers, at Gairneybridge on 6 December 1733 for the maintenance of scripture truth and the rights of the Christian people. The names of the four ministers – Ebenezer Erskine, William Wilson, Alex Moncrieff and James Fisher – are etched on the memorial. This short blog focuses on Erskine, who was a minister in Portmoak for 28 years.
Ebenezer Erskine was born on 22 June 1680, the son of the Reverend Henry Erskine, whose family was a cadet branch of the Earls of Mar, and the brother of Ralph Erskine, another noted minister. Henry Erskine, who was born in 1624 in the Scottish Borders and ordained in 1649 at Cornhill, had an eventful life and at one time was threatened with being imprisoned on the Bass Rock and was later imprisoned at Newcastle. After his release in 1685 he was admitted as the minister in Chirnside in the Scottish Borders where he died in 1696. It was, therefore, perhaps no surprise that his son, Ebenezer Erskine, also ruffled a few feathers in his time!
Erskine attended Edinburgh University and was ordained as a minister at Portmoak in 1703. He was rebuked at the 1722 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for defending the doctrines contained in the book, The Marrow of Modern Divinity*. In 1730 he left Portmoak for West Church in Stirling. However, it was at the 1732 General Assembly that he became notorious.
The General Assembly passed an act about the planting of vacant churches and allowed landowners, known as patrons, to force congregations to call the minister they wanted. Erskine was incensed and a sermon he preached on lay patronage at the Synod of Perth led to new accusations being levelled against him. He had to defend himself by appealing to the General Assembly but the Assembly supported his accusers. This led to him and the three other afore-mentioned ministers meeting in the village of Gairneybridge and forming a separate church court under the name of “Associate Presbytery”. In 1739 they were summoned to appear before the General Assembly but refused, as they did not acknowledge its authority. They were subsequently deposed by the Church of Scotland.
In the following years many people, estimated to be over 100,000 at one point, joined their communion. The Associate Presbytery remained united until 1747, when a division took place over how the church should respond to a new oath required of all burgesses. Erskine joined with the “burgher” section, becoming their professor of theology. He continued to preach to a large and influential congregation in Stirling until his death.
He was a very popular preacher, often having to preach outside due to the size of the congregation and was known as a man of considerable force of character. He was noted for acting on principle with honesty and courage. In 1820 the burgher and anti-burgher sections of the Secession Church were reunited, followed, in 1847, by their union with the relief synod as the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. In 1874 patronage was abolished by an act of Parliament.
Erskine died on 2 June 1754 and was buried in Stirling. His sermons are still available today and often referred to by students of theology. His influence spread far and wide and in the United States, part of the Associate Presbyterian Church united with most of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in 1782, forming the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. This denomination, which continues today, has an Erskine College in South Carolina. His teachings also remain popular in the Dutch Reformed Church.
*In 1720, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland passed the “Act concerning a Book, entitled, The Marrow of Modern Divinity,” which concluded:
“The General Assembly do hereby strictly prohibit and discharge all the ministers of this Church, either by preaching, writing, or printing, to recommend the said book, or, in discourse, to say any thing in favour of it; but, on the contrary, they are hereby enjoined and required to warn and exhort their people, in whose hands the said book is, or may come, not to read or use the same.”
Our thanks to Jamie for this insight into one of Scotland’s lesser known, but once very influential clergymen. If you would like to share your thoughts on any matter relating to Scotland’s religious built or cultural heritage please do get in touch with us.