[1] In 1726, the Synod expelled ministers, grouped together as the Presbytery of Antrim, who refused to subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith.
Later there was a further secession by those who, insisting on the sole kingship of Christ, rejected the Confession.
In 1763 they organised a distinct Reformed Presbyterian Church, and in 1811 established their own provincial synod.
In the first decades of the 19th century, positions hardened with New Light ministers adopting a Unitarian or Arian scepticism regarding the doctrine of the Trinity.
[4] The departure of the latitudinarian party made possible a reconciliation with the earlier Seceders.