The Presbyterian Church of Victoria is one of the constituent churches of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. It was established in 1859 as a union of Church of Scotland, 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 Presbyterian Church of Australia, while in 1977, the majority of congregations left to join the Uniting Church of Australia. From 1901 to 1977, the PCV was the largest of the state Presbyterian churches.
The Presbyterian Church of Victoria accepts the Westminster Confession of Faith as its subordinate standard, 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 Directory of Public Worship, and the Second Book of Discipline.
The Presbyterian Church of Victoria has entered into formal partnership agreements with the Blantyre and Zambia synods of the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian, as well as the Presbyterian Church of Sudan.
The PCV operates the Presbyterian Theological College in Box Hill, and exercises oversight over Belgrave Heights Christian School, King's College in Warrnambool, Presbyterian Ladies' College, St Andrews Christian College and Scotch College.
The Presbyterian Church of Victoria publishes a quarterly magazine called Fellow Workers. The current Moderator of the PCV is the Rt Rev. David Palmer.
Famous quotes containing the words presbyterian, church and/or victoria:
“What I often forget about students, especially undergraduates, is that surface appearances are misleading. Most of them are at base as conventional as Presbyterian deacons.”
—Muriel Beadle (b. 1915)
“Say, is there Beauty yet to find?
And Certainty? And Quiet kind?
Deep meadows yet, for to forget
The lies, and truths, and pain? . . . oh!
Stands the Church clock at ten to three?
And is there honey still for tea?”
—Rupert Brooke (1887–1915)
“Sometimes my wife complains that she’s overwhelmed with work and just can’t take one of the kids, for example, to a piano lesson. I’ll offer to do it for her, and then she’ll say, “No, I’ll do it.” We have to negotiate how much I trespass into that mother role—it’s not given up easily.”
—Anonymous Father. As quoted in Women and Their Fathers, by Victoria Secunda, ch. 3 (1992)