Presbyterian Church of Australia

The Presbyterian Church of Australia, founded in 1901, is the largest Presbyterian and Reformed denomination in Australia. The PCA is the largest conservative, evangelical and complementarian Christian denomination in Australia. The Presbyterian Church of Australia is Reformed in theology and has a Presbyterian polity.

History

Beginnings

John Hunter (Royal Navy officer) the captain of HMS Sirius in the First Fleet was a former Church of Scotland minister.
Later Presbyterian Christianity came to Australia with the arrival of members from a number of Presbyterian denominations in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century. The Presbyterian missionaries played an important role to spread the faith in Australia. Since then Presbyterianism grew to the fourth largest Christian faith in the country.
The Presbyterian Church of Australia was formed when Presbyterian churches from various Australian states federated in 1901. The churches that formed the Presbyterian Church of Australia were the Presbyterian Churches of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia. These state churches were incorporated by separate Acts of Parliament for property holding purposes..

Church union

In 1977, 70% of the Presbyterian Church of Australia together with nearly all the membership of the Congregational Union of Australia and the Methodist Church of Australasia, joined to form the Uniting Church in Australia. Much of the 30% who did not join the Uniting Church did not agree with its liberal views, although a number remained because of cultural connections. Today all PCA churches are conservative.

After the union

Before the union the Presbyterian Church of Australia was liberal, but the continuing Presbyterian Church became increasingly conservative. A resurgence of traditional Reformed theology took place. In 1982 the denomination withdrew from the largely liberal Reformed Churches and later joined the conservative World Reformed Fellowship. In 1987 a new hymnbook was introduced. In 1991 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Australia repealed the approval of the ordination of women. Women elders continue in some states. The heresy trial of Peter Cameron in 1993 upheld historic Reformed beliefs. The church is active in missions with about 130 missionaries working around the world, including Korea, the Pacific and Myanmar.

Statistics

The Presbyterian Church of Australia has over 26,000 adults and children within 523 congregations with more than 300 ministers serving in congregational roles.
At the 2016 Commonwealth Census nearly 540,000 people identified as Presbyterian/Reformed, representing 2.3% of the population. However the 2021 Census recorded a 36.9% drop with 414,882 respondents identifying as Presbyterian/Reformed representing 1.6% of Australia's population. This makes Presbyterianism Australia's fifth largest Christian denomination, although not all Presbyterians are members of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. See also List of Presbyterian Denominations in Australia.

Church organisations

The Presbyterian Church of Australia's missionary organisation is the Australia Presbyterian World Mission. The organisation has more than 170 cross-cultural missionaries.
The Presbyterian Church of Australia has established Arabic, Chinese, Cook Islands, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Samoan and Sudanese congregations, as well as a deaf Presbyterian Church.
The Presbyterian Inland Mission continues the work of the Australian Inland Mission founded by John Flynn in 1912. Padres patrol outback Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia, and hopes to expand into the Northern Territory and Tasmania when resources become available.
The Presbyterian Church of Australia publishes the monthly Australian Presbyterian magazine and provides social and educational services.

Schools

The following schools have links with or are run by the Presbyterian Church of Australia. The closeness and formality of association varies.

The following schools in Queensland are conducted by
the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association.

Victoria

Theological colleges

The PCA currently has three colleges, based in Australia's three largest cities: the Queensland Theological College in Brisbane, Christ College in Sydney and the Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne. Trinity Theological College, Perth, though independent, is also recognised as a theological training institution.

Bookshops

The Presbyterian Church operates the Reformers Bookshop in Sydney and the PTC Media Centre – part of the Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne.

Beliefs

Ministers and elders of the Presbyterian Church of Australia are required to agree to the Westminster Confession of Faith as their subordinate authority under the Bible.

Interchurch organisations

The Presbyterian Church of Australia belong to the World Reformed Fellowship, which is a conservative association, where Reformed, Presbyterian, Reformed Baptist and Reformed Episcopal denominations, congregations and individuals can also participate.

Church government

The Presbyterian Church of Australia is ruled by elders or presbyters. Presbyterian churches recognise two types of elders: teaching elders and ruling elders. These elders meet at a local level in the Kirk Session. Only ordained ministers may preside at Communion, or the Lord's Supper, except in the rare circumstance where the presbytery licenses a ruling elder to do so. Likewise, only a minister can administer Baptism. A board or committee of management handles the material concerns of the local congregation. Deacons may also be elected to provide practical care.
The minister and an elder from each parish have a seat at their regional presbytery and at their state's general assembly. The General Assembly of Australia, composed of commissioners from each presbytery and state assembly, meets every three years. Every year each state's general assembly elects a moderator, while the General Assembly of Australia elects a moderator general for a three-year term.
In 1991, the PCA's General Assembly of Australia determined that only men are "eligible for admission to the Ministry of Word and Sacraments." The rights of women ordained prior to this time were not affected.

Australian Presbyterians

Current ministers in the Presbyterian Church of Australia include Allan Harman, Iain Murray and Bruce W. Winter. Notable former ministers of the PCA include Peter Cameron, who was charged with heresy in 1993 and subsequently excommunicated.