The Presbyterian Church of Belize (PCB) is a Protestant church in the

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

tradition. It has a number of locations in the country. It also operates a medical clinic, a high school, primary education schools, and preschools

History

The oldest Presbyterian church in Belize is St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Belize City, which was established in 1850 by

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

settlers with public financial support. Its reach was limited largely to the European population of Belize City; but in 1958, Presbyterian missionary Don Manuel Beltran was sent by the

National Presbyterian Church in Mexico The National Presbyterian Church in Mexico ( es, La Iglesia Nacional Presbiteriana de México A.R.) is the second-largest Protestant church, and the largest Reformed denomination in Mexico. It is present throughout the country, and is particularl ...

to work with Maya speakers in Belize. He gradually attracted congregations in Cristo Rey,

San José San José or San Jose (Spanish for Saint Joseph) most often refers to: *San Jose, California, United States *San José, Costa Rica, the nation's capital San José or San Jose may also refer to: Places Argentina * San José, Buenos Aires ** San ...

, Patchakan, San Victor and Concepcion. St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church joined with Mayan and Spanish-speaking congregations and formed the national Presbyterian church of Belize in 1987, with support from the Presbyterian Church in America's "Mission to the World." A ministry among Belize's

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

population was established in 1988.

Churches

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

St. Andrew's was originally affiliated with the

Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...

and the first pastor served for almost 25 years. During the early years of the 20th century, the church was only open intermittently. At times it was administered by other branches of the Protestant church and at times considered merging with the Methodists and

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

s. The church maintained its Presbyterian heritage, however, in spite of the pressure to merge.

Unity Presbyterian Church

Unity Presbyterian Church was built to establish a church in a poor area of Belize City that was struck hard by a hurricane in 2000 which caused severe flooding in the area. The church received assistance from charitable organisations.

Today

There are 17 churches and church plants in the country today.

Seminary and education

''Belize Presbyterian Theological Seminary'' was founded in 2004 to train pastors. Classes are held in English, which is the official language of Belize. The students are Mayan, Chinese, and Creole who study over a period of three years. The president of the Seminary is Rev. Refael Ku, the board of directors comprises Belizean pastors, church elders, and MTW representatives. The Presbyterian Church of Belize also sponsors primary schools and high schools.

Theology

Creeds

* Apostles' Creed *

Nicene Creed The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...

Athanasian Creed The Athanasian Creed, also called the Pseudo-Athanasian Creed and sometimes known as ''Quicunque Vult'' (or ''Quicumque Vult''), which is both its Latin name and its opening words, meaning "Whosoever wishes", is a Christian statement of belief ...

Confessions

* Canons of Dort *

Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Calvinist Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg, ...

* Westminster Confession of Faith * Second Helvetic Confession

References

External links

''Mission to the World – Pages on Belize''''Reformed Protestantism in Belize''
{{coord missing, Belize Presbyterian denominations in Central America Protestantism in Belize Christian organizations established in 1987 Presbyterian denominations established in the 20th century