Talk:List of Presbyterian denominations in Australia

The Uniting Church

The methodists and congregationalists who joined in 1977 were not forming another presbyterian church. The basis of union does not state that the denomination is strictly presbyterian. --One Salient Oversight 15:59, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Reformed Churches

Along a similar vein to One Salient Oversight, I would argue that European Reformed Churches should not be included on this list. It may be true that they share a common theology, and perhaps a similar form of church government, but for the purposes of providing encyclopaedic information, a tighter definition should be applied. I would argue that the definition of a Presbyterian Church is: a denomination that adheres to the WCF and has a form of church government that is consistent with the Second Book of Discipline. If we were to include a heading of "churches that include the WCF in their confessional documents", we might include (on this page) CRCA but not FRCA.--M1CH4EL (talk) 04:48, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

South Australia

The article said:

• Free Presbyterian Church of South Australia (1850 until the 1920s)

I changed it to

• Free Church of South Australia (1850-1865)
• Presbyterian Church of South Australia (1865-1901) came into being as the merger of the Free Church, United Presbyterian Church and the Church of Scotland in South Australia. It in turn joined the Presbyterian Church of Australia in 1901.

I based my edit on the reference (provided) which included in part "... In 1865 the three branches of Presbyterianism established in South Australia, the Free Church, the United Presbyterian Church, and the Church of Scotland, united to form one Presbyterian Church in South Australia. They became part of the Presbyterian Church of Australia at Federation in 1901.", along with the line in the timeline diagram in the article. My edits were reverted by @StAnselm:, so under WP:BRD I bring it here to discuss. I believe my edit is at best "no less wrong" than what was there, but my interest is that I am in the process of drafting Scots Church, Adelaide, and noted the error in the article here in passing while looking for a target for a link from "Presbyterian Church of South Australia" from 1865. --Scott Davis ^Talk 11:33, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

I don't think the church website is such a reliable source; in any case, I was under the impression that part of the Free Presbyterian Church of South Australia stayed out of the 1865 union. In any case, User:Rowlandw is very knowledgeable in the field, and he will know. And of course the Presbyterian Church of South Australia did not cease in 1901. StAnselm (talk) 21:19, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

I'm happy to use more reliable sources if they are at hand. http://pcsa.org.au/about.html supports the creation of the PCSA union in 1865 of the three Presbyterian groups in SA, and that its nature changed in 1901. I'm not familiar enough with the organisation of Presbyterian churches to understand the ecclesiastical meaning of "entered in a Federal Union".

As a way forward for this article, I'd remove the heading "Defunct" (dates can stand for themselves where necessary), and the "Free Presbyterian Church of South Australia (1850 until the 1920s)" because it is not wikilinked or referenced, and neither of us have found an entity with a similar name that existed for that period. It appears in the diagram with a slightly different start date, but the diagram gives no clue as to its sources either. This article should list either all or none of the state-based entities that constitute the Presbyterian Church of Australia today (I lean towards none), but that article and Basis of Union (Presbyterian Church of Australia) record some of the history of the state churches prior to union. --Scott Davis ^Talk 04:32, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

There's no doubt about the entity - there is a book on the Free Presbyterian Church of South Australia. And the South Australian parliament had a "Free Presbyterian Church (Vesting of Property) Bill" in 2001. This source said it disbanded in the first half of the 20th century, so "1920s" sounds about right. Anyway, I agree that none of the state-based entities that constitute the PCA today should be included. StAnselm (talk) 04:50, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

I'm happy to leave it to people like you who know more about the subject and understand the terms used in the references. Cheers --Scott Davis ^Talk 05:30, 11 December 2014 (UTC)