The Westminster Presbyterian Church is a small but growing

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

denomination in Australia. It is based in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, and has one congregation in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

History

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 The Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod was a Reformed and Presbyterian denomination in the United States and Canada between 1965 and 1982. Formation The RPCES was formed in 1965 with the union of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, ...

in the United States, to work among

Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

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 Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, north of Paddington, southwest of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn, on Edgware Road. It is part of the City of Westminster and is northwest of Charing C ...

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 Kelmscott is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in West Oxfordshire, about east of Lechlade in neighbouring Gloucestershire. Since 2001 it has absorbed Little Faringdon, which had been a separate civil parish. The 2011 Census ...

. 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 Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

. In 1982 overseas support was taken over by

Mission to the World Mission to the World (MTW) is the mission-sending agency for the Presbyterian Church in America. The evangelical Christian organization believes in advancing the Great Commission by promoting Reformed and covenantal church planting movements usi ...

, the mission arm of the

Presbyterian Church in America The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Calvinist, Reformed in theolog ...

, with the merger of the RPCES into the larger denomination. 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.

Theology

The church describes itself as confessional, Reformed and Presbyterian. The

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

is the supreme standard of the denomination, and is regarded as the only infallible rule of faith and life. The

Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith, or simply the Westminster Confession, 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 becam ...

is accepted as expressing the system of doctrine taught in the

and is the subordinate standard of the denomination. The form of the

adhered to is that adopted by the

Orthodox Presbyterian Church The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) is a confessional Presbyterian denomination located primarily in the United States, with additional congregations in Canada, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. It was founded by conservative members of the Presbyte ...

and the

External links

Westminster Presbyterian Church of Australia

References

Presbyterian denominations in Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Protestantism in Western Australia 1970 establishments in Australia Religious organizations established in 1970 {{Presbyterianism-stub

History

Theology

See also

External links

References