In Scotland, the majority of the denomination, which had split off in 1863, united with the Free Church in 1876, which in turn merged with the United Presbyterian Church in 1900 and then the Church of Scotland in 1929. In 1872, RPCS minister Torrens Boyd, speaking at the Irish RP Synod, had prophetically warned that such unions were like chaining two ships together – when the waves begin to roll ‘they will rasp each other’s sides off, tear open each other’s hearts and go down together’. At the same Synod, the RPCI received a proposal from the mainstream (and still exclusively psalm-singing) Presbyterian Church in Ireland to discuss a potential union. They replied, acknowledging the Christian kindness and love of union in initiating the proposal, declaring their ‘earnest concern and desire to have the divisions of the Church speedily healed, on the grounds of Scriptural truth and duty’, but concluding that given their ministerial and membership vows, any discussions were unlikely to produce the desired union.
Against this background, the ‘First International Convention of Reformed Presbyterian Churches’ was held in Scotland in 1896. The purpose of was ‘to examine the distinctive doctrines that were held by the three Churches and to renew their commitment to these common principles’. The book published to commemorate the conference lauded its success in this regard: ‘The first international Convention in her history has infused new life into the Church, and cheered her ranks’. Another benefit of the conference was that ‘Covenanters from the Old and New Worlds met each other for the first time face to face, and clasped hands warmly together in a friendship which will endure while life lasts’.
One of the resolutions at the conference was to ask the Synods to hold a similar convention in 1899. As it turned out, however, it was almost four decades before a similar conference was held – marking the tercentenary of the signing of the National Covenant of Scotland in 1938. The conference – once again held in Scotland – was organised by Revs A. C. Gregg, W. J. Moffett (RPCS) and Rev. J. Boyd Tweed (an American pastor who had recently been inducted as pastor in the Glasgow RP Church). The number of delegates totalled 630, with more joining them for the various public meetings.
Once again, it was hoped that a series of conferences would follow, but the war and its aftermath delayed plans. International Youth Conventions were held in Scotland in 1962 (with 35 Americans chartering a plane) and Ireland in 1964.
The first all-age International Conference of the modern era was held in 1966 in Carlton College, Michigan. Between 60 and 70 Irish RPs chartered a flight to attend, with a total attendance of 1352. A conference planned for Scotland in 1968 did not take place. Further International Conferences in the US were held in 1966 and 1970, with the planned 1974 conference moved to 1976 due to fuel shortages. Since then, International Conferences have been held in America every four years, with the venue changing to Calvin College, Michigan in 1996 and then Indiana Wesleyan University in 2012. The conference planned for 2020 was initially postponed for a year due to the outbreak of COVID-19, before being cancelled altogether. God willing, we will return to IWU in 2024.
International Conferences organised by the Irish RP Church have been held every four years from 1982, initially at Kerrykeel, then Portrush, Termonfeckin (five times), Gartmore (Scotland – twice) and from 2018 at the Gold Coast in Waterford.
The current arrangement means that an International Conference is held every two years, alternatively in the USA and the UK/Ireland. As the years have gone by, the number of countries represented has increased dramatically given new RP works in Asia and South America.
