John Thomson or Thompson (ca. 1690–1753) was born in Ireland and became a minister in the Presbytery of Philadelphia, later the Synod of Philadelphia. He served as a missionary in both Virginia and North Carolina, where he died a natural death in 1753. He is buried in the cemetery of Centre Presbyterian Church in Mooresville, North Carolina. Life John Thomson was born in 1690 in Northern Ireland of Scotch-Irish descent. He studied at the University of Glasgow in 1706. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Armagh on June 23, 1713. He came to America and was ordained by the still fledgling Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1717. He served the Lewes, Delaware Presbyterian Church. He served that congregation until 1729. He was elected as Moderator of the New Castle Presbytery in 1718, and Moderator of the Synod of Philadelphia in 1719 and again in 1722. Thomson then served as the pastor for Middle Octorara from 1730 to 1733 when he left because the congregation had difficulty paying him. He received a call to Chestnut Level, Pennsylvania where he served from 1733 to 1744. During the disruption caused in the church by the Great Awakening, John Thomson stayed with the Old Side Synod of Philadelphia as one who opposed the Awakening. Thomson then went to be a missionary and church planter in the backwoods of Virginia. He settled in Buffalo, Virginia in 1744 and ministered there until 1750. He then served as a missionary to North Carolina from 1751 until his death in 1753. Adopting Act John Thomson is the primary author of the Adopting Act of 1729. This act requires that every candidate for the Presbyterian ministry subscribe to the Westminster Confession and Catechisms in all essential and necessary articles. Any scruples would be judged by the presbyteries to see if they were against essential and necessary articles. Rev. Thomson originally proposed requiring candidates subscribe to the Westminster Standards in 1727, but the Synod delayed acting on it. Not every minister was in favor of the adopting of the Westminster. Rev. Jonathon Dickenson published a work entitled, "Remarks on an Overture" where he criticized the idea of subscribing to man made standards and claimed it would not help protect that church from heresy. We know that other ministers such as Jedidiah Andrews also objected to the act. In 1729, Thomson's motion was brought up again and referred to a committee