The Presbyterian Church of Victoria is one of the constituent churches of the

Presbyterian Church of Australia The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA) is the largest Presbyterian denomination in Australia. (The larger Uniting Church in Australia incorporated about two-thirds of the PCA in 1977.) History Beginnings When captain James Cook lande ...

. It was established in 1859 as a

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

, Free Presbyterian and United Presbyterian congregations. 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." In 1901, it united with the Presbyterian churches of the other states of Australia to form the

. From 1901 to 1977, the PCV was the largest of the state Presbyterian churches. In 1977, the majority of congregations left to join the

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

. The Presbyterian Church of Victoria accepts the

Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the " subordinate standard" ...

as its

subordinate standard A subordinate standard is a Reformed confession of faith, catechism or other doctrinal or regulatory statement subscribed to by a Protestant church, setting out key elements of religious belief and church governance. It is ''subordinate'' to the B ...

, 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 Form of Presbyterial Church Government'' is a document drawn up by the Westminster Assembly dealing with Presbyterian polity. It forms part of the Westminster Standards, and was adopted by the Church of Scotland in 1645. Contents Church of ...

, the

Directory of Public Worship The ''Directory for Public Worship'' (known in Scotland as the ''Westminster Directory'') is a liturgical manual produced by the Westminster Assembly in 1644 to replace the ''Book of Common Prayer''. Approved by the Parliament of England in 164 ...

, and the

Second Book of Discipline The ''Book of Discipline'' refers to two works regulative of ecclesiastical order in the Church of Scotland, known as ''The First Book of Discipline'' (1560) and ''The Second Book of Discipline'' (1578), drawn up and printed in the Scottish Reform ...

. The Presbyterian Church of Victoria has entered into formal partnership agreements with the

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

synods of the

Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) is a Presbyterian denomination. It consists of five synods: one in Zambia ( Zambia Synod), one in Zimbabwe ( Harare Synod) and three in Malawi – Livingstonia Synod in the north of the country, N ...

, as well as the Presbyterian Church in Sudan. The PCV operates the

Presbyterian Theological College The Presbyterian Theological College (PTC) is the theological college of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria. It provides theological education for candidates for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, as well as for members of o ...

in Box Hill, and exercises oversight over

Belgrave Heights Christian School Belgrave Heights Christian School is an, independent, co-educational, Presbyterian school located in Belgrave Heights on the edge of the scenic Dandenong Ranges. The school is located east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is an open-enrolme ...

, Presbyterian Ladies' College,

St Andrews Christian College St Andrews Christian College is an independent, co-educational school situated in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Wantirna South, Victoria, Wantirna South. The school was founded in 1983 by the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, and takes studen ...

and Scotch College in Melbourne, and King's College in

Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (Al ...

. The Presbyterian Church of Victoria publishes a quarterly magazine called ''Fellow Workers''. The current Moderator of the PCV is Peter Phillips. File:Scots' Church in Collins Street.jpg, The Assembly Hall on Collins Street is the location of the annual meeting of the PCV's

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

. File:Presbyterian Theological College.jpg, The

Box Hill, Victoria Box Hill is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of the city's Central Business District (CBD), located within the City of Whitehorse local government area. Box Hill recorded a population of 14,353 at the 2021 census. Founded as ...

Notable Moderators

* James Clow (7 April 1859) * Adam Cairns (1 November 1859) * Duncan Stewart McEachran (1885) * David Ross (1896) *

Patrick John Murdoch Patrick John Murdoch (10 June 1850 – 1 July 1940) was a Scottish-Australian Presbyterian minister, known for being the father of Keith Murdoch and the grandfather of Rupert Murdoch. Life Murdoch was born on 10 June 1850 in the Free Church m ...

(1898) * Alan Cameron Watson (1953) *

Allan Harman Allan Macdonald Harman, (born 7 June 1936)Douglas J. W. Milne (ed.), ''Israel and the Church: Essays in Honour of Allan Macdonald Harman'' (2001). is an Australian Presbyterian theologian and Old Testament scholar. He has been described as a " ...

(1989)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1859 establishments in Australia Christian denominations in Australia Presbyterian Church of Australia Presbyterian denominations established in the 19th century Presbyterian denominations in Australia Reformed denominations in Oceania Religious organizations established in 1859 Protestantism in Victoria (Australia)