Presbyterian Church of Victoria

The Presbyterian Church of Victoria is one of the constituent churches of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. It was established in 1859 as a union of Church of Scotland, Free Presbyterian and United Presbyterian congregations.[1]

Presbyterian Church of Victoria
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationReformed evangelical
PolityPresbyterian
ModeratorRev Ian Hutton
AssociationsFormed the Presbyterian Church of Australia in 1901
RegionVictoria, Australia
Origin1859
Melbourne, Victoria
Merger ofThe Church of Scotland Synod of Victoria, the Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria and the United Presbyterian Church
Separations1977 - most congregations joined the Uniting Church in Australia
Congregations133
Members6,273
Official websitepcv.org.au

The Presbyterian Church of Victoria in the nineteenth century has been described as "the strongest, wealthiest, loudest and most influential of the churches in Victoria."[2] In 1901, it united with the Presbyterian churches of the other states of Australia to form the Presbyterian Church of Australia. From 1901 to 1977, the PCV was the largest of the state Presbyterian churches.[3] In 1977, the majority of congregations left to join the Uniting Church in Australia.

The Presbyterian Church of Victoria accepts the Westminster Confession of Faith as its subordinate standard, read in the light of a Declaratory Statement of 1901. It also subscribes to the "general principles" of the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, the Form of Presbyterial Church Government, the Directory of Public Worship, and the Second Book of Discipline.[4]

The Presbyterian Church of Victoria has entered into formal partnership agreements with the Blantyre and Zambia synods of the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian, as well as the Presbyterian Church in Sudan.[5]

The PCV operates the Presbyterian Theological College in Box Hill, and exercises oversight over Belgrave Heights Christian School, Presbyterian Ladies' College, St Andrews Christian College and Scotch College in Melbourne, and King's College in Warrnambool.

The Presbyterian Church of Victoria publishes a quarterly magazine called Fellow Workers.[6] The current Moderator of the PCV is Ian Hutton.[7]

Notable Moderators

Notable churches

References
  1. Harman, Allan; Harman, Mairi (2009). Reaching Forward: From a Rich Heritage to a Certain Goal. Presbyterian Church of Victoria. pp. 19–23.
  2. Roe, Jill (1968). "Challenge and Response: Religious Life in Melbourne, 1876-86". Journal of Religious History. 5 (2): 149–166. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9809.1968.tb00501.x.
  3. Harman and Harman, Reaching Forward, 31
  4. "Code of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria". Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  5. Burns, Philip (June 2010). "Partners!" (PDF). Fellow Workers. 7 (2): 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  6. "Fellow Workers". Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  7. Phillips, Peter (7 October 2023). "General Assembly of Victoria 2023 News". Presbyterian Church of Victoria. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
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