June 21 The Mother Church of the ARP in the South, Cedar Springs ARP

This is quite an impressive church out in the country, dating back to 1779-  

Cedar Spring
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
ABBEVILLE COUNTY

Cedar Spring Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, originally called Cedar Creek, is an old red brick house of worship used by a congregation founded in 1782 by Dr. Thomas Clark, who was originally from Scotland.

This, with the Lower Long Cane Associate Reformed Presbyterian, formed the nucleus of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in the South.

The original site of Cedar Spring Church was about two miles south east of the present location, and gained the name "Cedar Creek" from the handsome cedar tree and the fine spring nearby on Cedar Creek The first house of worship was built of logs.

The second was erected on the present site before the death of Dr. Clark in 1791. The Presbytery of the Carolinas and Georgia was organized at "Cedar Spring Meeting House" on February 24, 1790, by Dr. Clark, the Reverend Peter McMillan, the Reverend John Boyse, and the Reverend David Bothwell, ministers, and the Reverend James Rogers, probationer, and James McBryde and William Dunlap, ruling elders.

In 1802 the church had five hundred and twenty members, and as many as seven hundred are said to have taken communion at one time during this period.

The early pastors of Cedar Spring Church were: Dr. Thomas Clark, Alex Porter, John T. Pressley, the Reverend William R. Hemphill, and H. T. Sloan.

The present building was erected in 1853.