| Westminster Presbyterian Church | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | WPC |
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Calvinism |
| Theology | Reformed Evangelical |
| Governance | Presbyterian |
| Origin | 1970 Perth |
The Westminster Presbyterian Church is a small but growing Presbyterian denomination in Australia. It is based in Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, and has one congregation in the Australian Capital Territory.
The Westminster Presbyterian Church grew from informal Bible study meetings organized in Perth in 1970 by Rev David Cross, who had been sent to Western Australia by World Presbyterian Missions, the mission arm of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod in the United States, to work among Aboriginal people in the country town of Brookton. When that work did not progress as expected, David Cross came to Perth and commenced work among the people of that city at the request of local Presbyterians who were unhappy with developments in their own denomination.
The original Bible study work quickly grew into the first established church of a new denomination, which initially moved between several suburbs in the north-east of Perth before settling on a permanent home in the suburb of Maida Vale under the leadership of Rev Derek Jones. In 1976 a second congregation commenced in the suburb of Bull Creek, this time under the personal leadership of David Cross, and in time this congregation grew to become the largest in the denomination. In 1979, Rev Peter Adamson commenced a third congregation in the south-eastern suburb of Kelmscott. In the meantime, the original work of David Cross at Brookton bore some results in that the Aboriginal congregation he had worked with organized themselves as Calvary Presbyterian Church and joined the emerging denomination.
Support for the new denomination by World Presbyterian Missions continued throughout the 1970s as David Cross worked under their auspices. In 1981 their involvement was expanded through the provision of a second worker, Rev Oliver Claassen, who commenced the first congregation outside Western Australia, at Redbank Plains, a suburb of Ipswich, Queensland. In 1982 overseas support was taken over by Mission to the World, the mission arm of the Presbyterian Church in America, with the merger of the RPCES into the larger denomination. [1]
In May 2019, the 23rd National Assembly met in Armadale, Western Australia, and was attended by over 30 delegates representing churches in Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales and the ACT, as well as delegates from a growing partnership with Westminster Presbyterian Church Myanmar.
The church describes itself as confessional, Reformed and Presbyterian.
The Bible is the supreme standard of the denomination, and is regarded as the only infallible rule of faith and life. The Westminster Confession of Faith is accepted as expressing the system of doctrine taught in the Bible and is the subordinate standard of the denomination. The form of the Westminster Confession of Faith adhered to is that adopted by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in America.
Presbyterianism is a Reformed (Calvinist) Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders. Other Reformed churches are organised in a similar way, but the word Presbyterian, when capitalized, is applied to churches that trace their roots to the Church of Scotland or to English Dissenter groups that formed during the English Civil War.
The United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA) is a theologically conservative federation of Reformed churches founded in 1996. Many churches joined the URCNA after splitting from the Christian Reformed Church in North America denomination.
The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland was formed in 1893. The Church identifies itself as the spiritual descendant of the Scottish Reformation. The Church web-site states that it is 'the constitutional heir of the historic Church of Scotland'. Its adherents are occasionally referred to as Seceders or the Wee Wee Frees. Although small, the church has congregations on five continents.
The Presbyterian Reformed Church (PRC) is a North American Christian denomination which was founded in Ontario, Canada on November 17, 1965, when two existing congregations, with similar Scottish Presbyterian roots, came together under a Basis of Union drafted by Prof. John Murray of Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA.
The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA), founded in 1901, is the largest Presbyterian denomination in Australia. The larger Uniting Church in Australia incorporated about 70% of the PCA in 1977.
The Presbyterian Reformed Church (PRC) is a Presbyterian denomination in Australia. The denomination was formed in 1967, as a result of growing theological liberalism within the Presbyterian Church of Australia, prior to the formation of the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977.
The Christian Reformed Churches of Australia (CRCA), formerly known as the Reformed Churches of Australia (RCA) is a Christian denomination established in Australia belonging to the Reformed/Presbyterian tradition.
The Bible Presbyterian Church is an American Protestant denomination in the Calvinist tradition. It was founded by members of the Presbyterian Church of America over differences on Eschatology and Abstinence, after having left the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America over the rise of Modernism.
The Protestant Reformed Churches in America is a Protestant denomination of 33 churches and over 8,000 members.
The Free Presbyterian Churchof Australia is a denomination which currently consists of four congregations in fellowship with the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster. There are congregations in Port Lincoln, Perth, Lock and Kingston, Tasmania.
The Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ukraine is a conservative Evangelical Protestant denomination in the Reformed tradition. It holds to the presbyterian form of church governance and to the Reformed theology of the Westminster Standards.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) is a Presbyterian church with congregations and missions throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, and Chile. Its beliefs—held in common with other members of the Reformed Presbyterian Global Alliance—place it in the conservative wing of the Reformed family of Protestant churches. Below the Bible—which is held as divinely inspired and without error—the church is committed to several "subordinate standards," together considered with its constitution: the Westminster Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms, along with its Testimony, Directory for Church Government, the Book of Discipline, and Directory for Worship.
The Presbyterian Church of the Philippines (PCP), officially The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the Philippines, is a growing evangelical, Bible-based Reformed church in the Philippines. It was officially founded in 1987 and the General Assembly was organized in September 1996.
The Africa Evangelical Presbyterian Church (AEPC) is a growing conservative Presbyterian and Reformed Church which adheres to the Westminster Confession of Faith started in Kenya, later spread to the surrounding countries like Burundi, Tanzania, Congo and as far as Zimbabwe. The headquarters of the church is located in Nairobi, Kenya. The current Moderator is Rev. Dr Joseph Mutei installed on Sunday 26th June 2022.
The Presbyterian Church in Sudan or also the Presbyterian Church in South Sudan is a major Reformed denomination in South Sudan, when it become independent from Sudan.
The Evangelical Reformed Church of Myanmar is a Reformed, Christian Church in the country of Myanmar. It holds to the Westminster Confession of Faith
The Free Church in Southern Africa grew out of the work of the missionaries of the Glasgow Missionary Society (c.1823), and after 1843 came under the care of missionaries of the Free Church of Scotland. Historically, the church has served mainly the Xhosa speaking people in eastern and western Cape region, stretching from Cape Town to Transkei. In 1900 the majority of the Free Church of Scotland joined with the United Presbyterian Church (Scotland) to form the United Free Church of Scotland. All the Free Church missionaries joined the United Free Church, leaving no missionaries to serve the many Xhosa Christians who remained faithful to the old Free Church. In 1908, in response to an appeal from the Xhosa church, Rev Alexander Dewar was appointed to King William's Town, and, for the next thirty-five years, served the church until he died in 1943. Four other missionaries, for longer or shorter periods, served alongside Mr Dewar. In 1944 the Rev Joseph McCracken of the Irish Evangelical Church served with others as Mr Dewar's successors. McCracken retired in 1974 and died in South Africa in 1987. In 1982 the church become independent, though remains in close connection with the Free Church of Scotland.
The Presbyterian Church in Singapore is a Presbyterian Reformed church. The current moderator is the Rt Rev Keith Lai.
The Presbyterian Church in Japan is a conservative Reformed denomination in Japan, founded by American missionaries in the mid-1900s.
Presbyterianism has had a presence in the United States since colonial times and has exerted an important influence over broader American religion and culture.
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