What does it mean to be “Presbyterian”?
What We Believe
Doctrine
By grace PCWA believes itself to be among the churches who are true to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ .
- We seek to preach the Word of God
- We seek to administer the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
- We seek to supply Christian pastoral care
- We seek to carry out the Command of Jesus to go into all the world with the Good News
The highest standard by which the Church’s belief and practice is to be measured is the Word of God; the sixty six books of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. So that others can clearly understand what the Presbyterian Church of Australia believes is taught in the Bible, the Church has adopted the Westminster Confession of Faith (with two minor amendments) as a statement of its key doctrines. While the Church believes the Confession sets forth Biblical doctrines accurately and reliably, the Confession is always referred to as the subordinate standard and the Bible is the supreme standard.
You will find the Church’s doctrine of the Bible defined in Chapter 1 of the Westminster Confession of Faith. The Confession of Faith is quite detailed, and explains the Bible’s teaching on God, Creation, the wonder of being human and the awfulness of sin, and the whole work of God in salvation. The Confession is careful to emphasise that this salvation is by the sovereign Grace of God. It also sets out clear positions on living the Christian Life, and worshiping as a part of the Church in society. The Confession ends with a simple statement on the
expectation that Christ will one day return.
Copies of the Westminster Confession of Faith (as amended by the Presbyterian Church of Australia) can normally be obtained from the Church Office in your State. Copies of the original form of the Confession are generally available from most Christian bookshops, and various editions of the Confession in a more modern English are also available.
At the time the Presbyterian Church of Australia was formed, it also adopted a Declaratory Statement. The Declaratory Statement does not replace the Bible or the Westminster Confession of Faith, but was designed to show how the Westminster Confession of Faith is to be interpreted and used by this Church. The introductory wording from the 1901 Scheme of Union is given below, and shows how these are all related.
The Supreme Standard of the united church shall be the Word of God contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments:
The Subordinate Standard in the united church shall be the Westminster Confession of Faith, read in the light of the following declaratory statement:
The Declaratory Statement has six clauses. Among other things, these clauses require the Church to be grounded on the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation, to accept the events of the incarnation, life, death resurrection and ascension of Jesus and the events at Pentecost as real supernatural events, to be eager to preach the gospel to all, to hold out the moral law of God as binding on all people, to affirm the freedom of the Church from all civil headship and control, and to allow liberty of opinion on matters in the subordinate standard not essential to the doctrine it teaches so long as this liberty is not abused to the injury of the unity and peace of the Church.
When a minister or elder is first ordained (specially set apart for their work in the Church) they make a solemn declaration that they personally accept these doctrines, and they promise to keep on teaching and supporting these beliefs throughout their ministry. They also promise to fulfil their duties as set down in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church. The promises are repeated each time they take up work as a minister or elder in another congregation. These promises are summarized in what is called a Formula which all ministers and elders sign.
Worship
The worship of the Presbyterian Church has always been marked by simplicity and reverence. It consists of praise, prayer, the expounding and preaching of the Word of God, and the sacraments. In the Presbyterian Church, the minister has the privilege and special calling to arrange the worship service and to preach, and this will naturally lead to some variations from congregation to congregation. The central purpose of worship is always to bring glory to God, and this must always control what happens in a worship service. Occasionally someone approved by the minister may be invited to preach, but the minister is always answerable to other ministers and elders (i.e. the Presbytery, see below) for what happens.
The Church believes that there are only two sacraments; Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These ought to be observed properly and carefully. Christian baptism is only to be administered to those who become Christians as adults, or to the children of at least one Christian parent. It is not a social or community ritual, and will almost always be administered as part of a regular worship service.
Baptism is rightly administered by sprinkling or pouring of water, but those who have received baptism by immersion in other Christian Churches are also recognised as baptised. The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is administered in all our congregations, more or less frequently, as the minister and elders may determine.
Our History
‘…we preach Christ crucified…Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God…’ (1 Cor 1:23,24 NIV) ‘…And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved…’ (Acts 2:21 NIV)
The PCWA is part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, in direct historic continuity with the Church in Scotland as reformed in 1560, and a constituent member of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. Christianity in its Presbyterian expression came in its initial form to Western Australia in 1829 with the arrival of members of the Church of Scotland among the first European settlers.
The spiritual roots of world-wide Presbyterianism go back to work and preaching of John Calvin and John Knox at the time of the Reformation. The Reformers saw themselves as being in spiritual continuity with the people of God in biblical days. The formal origin of the PCWA dates from the arrival in 1879 of the Rev. David Shearer sent by the Free Church of Scotland and the subsequent foundation in 1892 of the Presbytery of Western Australia. At first the Presbytery of Western Australia was under the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria (PCV).
In 1901, following the astonishing population growth associated with the Goldrush, the Presbytery of Western Australia was re-organised into three Presbyteries under the newly formed General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Western Australia, which entered the Federal Union of the 24 July 1901 in order to bring into existence the Presbyterian Church of Australia. In 1977, the PCA entered a new stage of its history, when around two thirds of its membership left to help form the Uniting Church of Australia. Since then the PCA has enjoyed a time of biblical reformation and church consolidation.
Based firmly on the historic Reformed Faith as set forth in the Confession, the PCWA is a Bible-based, Christ-focused, missionary-minded Church which is prayerfully and actively seeking to extend its ministries. It regards those whom it admits to the office of the holy ministry as pledged to give a chief place in their teaching to the cardinal facts of the Christian faith and to the message of redemption and reconciliation implied and manifested in them.
Powers and Duties
As a constituent member of the PCA, the PCWA has and exercises such powers, discharges such duties and enjoys such rights and privileges as are provided for in the Basis of Union and the Articles of Agreement contained in the Scheme of Union of the 24 July 1901 and in subsequent amendments.
The PCWA has full autonomy in all matters, in so far as power relative to any particular matter has been assigned to the General Assembly of Australia (GAA) under the Basis of Union and the Articles of Agreement contained in the Scheme of Union of the 24 July 1901 and in subsequent amendments. Matters in respect to which the powers of the PCWA are modified in more or less degree by those of the PCA are:
The Doctrine, Worship and Discipline of the Church, World Mission, Home Mission especially in the Inland, Training of Students for the Ministry, Reception of Ministers from other Churches, Christian Education, the publication of a National Journal and other functions assigned by the State Churches to the PCA.
DOCTRINE The Supreme Standard of the Church is the Word of God written, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, which the PCWA regards as the only rule of faith and practice. The Subordinate Standard of the Church is the Westminster Confession of Faith as amended by the GAA. It is read in the light of the Declaratory Statement contained in the Basis of Union given in the Scheme of Union.
WORSHIP Worship, the Book of Common Order of the PCA has been approved as a guide to the orderly Administration of the Sacraments and other aspects of the Worship of the Church. The Westminster Directory of Worship may also be consulted for guidance.
DISCIPLINE Discipline is exercised for the spiritual good of the offender, the purity of the Church and the glory of God by those appointed to rule in the Church and is administered in a spirit of faithfulness, love and tenderness. The processes of discipline are set out in the Code of the PCA.
GOVERNMENT The only King and Head of the Church is the Lord Jesus Christ from whom all its powers and prerogatives are derived, so that all its functions are to be exercised in his Name, under the guidance of his Word and Spirit, and in subjection to His authority alone. The spiritual oversight of the congregation and the PCWA is vested in duly ordained presbyters, chosen by communicants and sitting in representative courts, designated Sessions, Presbyteries and General Assemblies in gradation of authority in the order named. The temporal affairs of the congregation are administered by office-bearers, chosen by the communicants and adherents.