History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988

What do Mattie Ross (True Grit) and 7 of 9 (Star Trek Voyager) have in common? They were both Cumberland Presbyterians. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church grew out of the Great Revival which began in Kentucky in about 1800. This attractive hardcover volume (660+ pages, published June 2000) by Matthew H. Gore, traces the roots of the Cumberland Presbyterian Denomination to the beginnings of the Presbyterian and Reformed denominations in North America prior to the American Revolution. In depth coverage begins with the emigration of James McGready to Kentucky in the late-1700s and the evolving theological and political differences within the Presbyterian Church. Chapters include:

1. Seeds of Presbyterianism, Roots of Dissent

2. Dissent's Fertile Ground

3. The Works of James McGready

4. Dissent Bears Fruit: Cumberland Presbytery

5. Formative Period: Cumberland Presbytery 1810-1813

6. Logan Presbytery 1813-1821

7. Formative Period 1821-1829

8. Cumberland College

9. The Rich Ozone of Cumberland Presbyterian Teaching

10. Green River Synod and the General Assembly - Politics and Religion 1829-1845

11. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky is a Court

12. The Rise and Fall of Anderson Presbytery 1821-1898

13. Logan Presbytery 1821-1906

14. Princeton Presbytery 1829-1906

15. Kentucky & Louisville Presbyteries 1830-1906

16. Purchase & Obion Presbytery in Kentucky 1819-1882

17. Ohio Presbytery 1837-1890

18. King & Cumberland Presbytery 1843-1906

19. Kentucky Synod 1845-1865

20. Davis Presbytery 1859-1898

21. Slavery, Cumberland Presbyterians and Kentucky 1829-1865

22. Green River Synod, the Final Years 1845-1888

23. Nolin Presbytery 1873-1898

24. Mayfield Presbytery 1881-1906

25. The Case of the Partial Union: the Specter of 1906

26. Involvement of Women

27. Kentucky and the China Mission

28. Kentucky Synod 1888-1906

29. Kentucky Synod 1906-1946

30. Kentucky Synod 1946-1988

31. Owensboro Presbytery 1890-1988

32. Leitchfield Presbytery 1906-1988

33. Cumberland Presbytery 1906-1988

34. Logan Presbytery 1906-1988

35. Mayfield Presbytery 1906-1988

36. Princeton Presbytery 1906-1988

37. The Cult of Personality

38. Churches of Note

Appendices of special interest to genealogists include:

1. Class Rolls of Cumberland College: Drawn from primary source material, the rolls include every student known to have attended Cumberland College in Princeton, Kentucky, from its beginnings in 1825 to demise in about 1860. Rolls include all known years of enrollment for each student and their graduation year when known.

2. Directory of Kentucky Cumberland Presbyterian Churches (c. 1798-1998): hundreds of present day and extinct churches are all listed with their locations (town, village, city, or county) when known. The dates of their existence and presbyteries to which they belonged are given. When known, name and location changes are listed also.

3. Kentucky Ministers 1810-1988: Ministers are listed by presbytery and date!

4. Meeting Dates and Places 1810-1988: All known meetings of Kentucky judicatories are listed along with moderators and clerks when known.

Extensive documentation is provided in the form of annotations and bibliography. A topical and surname index is also included.

Published by the Joint Heritage Committee of Covenant and Cumberland Presbyteries, 2000. Hardcover, 660+ pages. Illustrated with numerous photographs. Part of the first edition limited to just 800 copies.

Matthew H. Gore (born 1962) is a British historian, popular culturist, and educator residing in Memphis, Tennessee. He is best known for his book The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988 (2000), but has published on a variety of topics as diverse as The Origin of Marvelman (a British superhero of the 1950s and 1960s), the relative scarcity of East German philatelics, and the biography of British pulp artist, Denis McLoughlin. He is employed by the Board of Christian Education of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at the Cumberland Presbyterian Center in Memphis, Tennessee, and has been associated with both Western Kentucky University, which honored him with their James H. Poteet Award, and the University of Kentucky. He also serves as editor for the Boardman Books (Memphis, Tennessee) series Comics Monographs.