The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Australia is a

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 ...

church in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is a small Presbyterian church numbering slightly over 200 persons with its largest congregation in the area of

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The first church, in Geelong, was started in 1858. It links itself historically with those in the

Covenanter Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from ''Covenan ...

movement in Scotland who did not accept the settlement of

Presbyterianism Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

in that country in 1690, and has sister denominational relations with the Reformed Presbyterian churches of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Fraternal relations exist with the

Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia The Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia (PCEA) is a small Presbyterian denomination which was formed in Sydney on 10 October 1846 by three ministers and a ruling elder. As of December 2012 it consists of 13 pastoral charges with a total of ...

History

A number of Reformed Presbyterians had migrated from Scotland or Ireland to Australia. A number who did not join other branches of Presbyterianism were against occasional hearing, and they wanted a minister of their own. They wrote to the parent church requesting this. Rev. A. M. Moore eventually answered. He was ordained in Belfast 18 August 1857, and arrived in Melbourne in late December 1857, to commence the work in Geelong which he served until his death in 1897. Geelong was the only congregation for many years, the most notable minister after Moore being H.K. Mack who served 1909-46. Congregations were begun in

McKinnon, Victoria McKinnon is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government area. McKinnon recorded a population of 6,878 at the 2021 census. ...

(1933 begun/1946 organised under Rev. W. R. McEwen),

Frankston, Victoria Frankston is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Frankston recorded a population of 37,331 at the 2021 census. Due to ...

(1971/1977), and

Sunbury, Victoria Sunbury () is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Hume Local government areas of Victoria, local ...

(1979/1981, closed 2006). In 1959, Rev. A. Barkley, RP minister in Geelong, became the founding principal of the

Reformed Theological College The Reformed Theological College (RTC) is the theological college supported by the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia, the Reformed Churches of New Zealand, and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Australia. It is located in the Melbou ...

. In 1974, the Australian Presbytery petitioned the parent body, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland, and was made a separate denomination (or church) on 12 June. In former times, church law required members to believe that the

Solemn League and Covenant The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians in 1643 during the First English Civil War, a theatre of conflict in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. On 17 August 1 ...

were still binding and forbade them from participating in government because the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

does not explicitly make the Australia an officially Christian country; these provisions have been repealed. The Frankston congregation, after closing in 1989, was revived around 2004 as a preaching station of the McKinnon congregation. The organising pastor from February 2006 was Rev. Ed Blackwood from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 2008 it became a separate congregation meeting in a hall in Frankston South. The pastor resigned in August 2015 and returned to the U.S. Pastor Andrew McCracken moved to Frankston from the United States to take up the work again in March 2020.

Organisations

Theological Seminaries

(in conjunction with the Christian Reformed Church of Australia and the

Reformed Churches of New Zealand Reformed Churches of New Zealand is a Calvinist denomination in New Zealand. The denomination is constituted of 21 member churches, the first seven of which were formed in 1953. Total membership as of 2020 stands at 3,283. Form of doctrine The do ...

)

References

External links

RPCA WebsiteFrankston Reformed Presbyterian ChurchMcKinnon Reformed Presbyterian Church
{{Authority control Presbyterian denominations in Australia Reformed Presbyterian Church (denominational group) Religious organizations established in 1858 1858 establishments in Australia Organisations based in Geelong

History

Organisations

Theological Seminaries

See also

References

External links