ABSTRACT
An additional effect of Anglican stirrings in the colonies at the beginning of the eighteenth century was, in response, the crystallization of Presbyterian organization from previously scattered independent ministers and congregations. The first presbytery emerged after a meeting in Philadelphia in 1706. As numbers of congregations and ministers grew, organization was elaborated. In parallel the need to be able to train ministers in America was increasingly felt. After the Old Side/New Side or 'Old Light'/'New Light' division in the Philadelphia Synod in 1741 on the question of revivals, the Old Side Synod acted in 1743 to establish an Academy at New London, perhaps with an eye to sustaining a more conservative ministry.
