Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil was formally created, and thus the Church became autonomous from both American churches. The Synod comprised three presbyteries (Rio de Janeiro, Campinas-Oeste de Minas and Pernambuco), 20 missionaries, 12 native ministers and about 60 churches. Veteran Rev. A. L. Blackford was its first Moderator. The Synod created the Presbyterian Seminary, elected its first two professors and divided the Campinas-Oeste de Minas Presbytery in two: São Paulo and Minas. The church enjoyed a major expansion during the last years of the 19th century, with many new missionaries, Brazilian ministers, churches and schools. However, a crisis halted this progress. The Synod and the New York Missions Board had different priorities; whilst the former wanted more resources for the evangelistic work and the installation of the Seminary, the latter preferred an emphasis on education, especially through Mackenzie College. At the same time there was some attrition between Rev. Eduardo Carlos Pereira and the Schoolmasters of Mackenzie College, Horace M. Lane and William A. Waddell. Rev. Eduardo C. Pereira adopted some radical postures, losing even the support of many of his Brazilian colleagues. A newspaper battle ensued, between Pereira's O Estandarte and Álvaro Reis's O Puritano. In 1900 the United Presbyterian Church of São Paulo was formed, consisting mostly of people who left Pereira's church. By the same time, a new problem made matters even more complicated: the Freemasonry controversy. In March 1902, Pereira began divulging his five-point Platform on the missionary, educational and Masonic matters. After a year of heated argument, the crisis came to its closure on July 31, 1903, during the Synod meeting. After having his proposals rejected, Pereira and his colleagues withdrew from the Synod and founded the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil. In 1956 the Fundamentalist Presbyterian Church was formed under the influence of Karl McIntosh and the Bible Presbyterian Church USA, has over 20 congregations and 1800 members. United Presbyterian Church in Brazil was formed in 1978, has 48 churches and 3,466 members in 8 presbyteries. A member church of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. Worship General rules regarding the church's public worship practices are laid in the Principles of Liturgy (PL), which stand as a Directory of Worship. Articles 7 and 8 of the PL read: Article 7. The Service of Public Worship is a religious act, through which the people of God worships their Lord, comes into communion