Presbyterian Church in Canada
Encyclopedia
The Presbyterian Church in Canada is the name of a Protestant Christian
church, of presbyterian and reformed
theology
and polity, serving in Canada
under this name since 1875, although the United Church of Canada
claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939. According to the Canada 2001 Census
409,830 Canadians identify themselves as Presbyterian, that is, 1.4% of the population.
Its roots in Canada can be traced back both to Scottish
settlers and French Huguenots, and the first Presbyterian churches formed in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, following such European Protestant Reformation
theologians such as John Calvin
and John Knox
.
Once the largest Christian denomination in English-speaking Canada, in 1925 some 70% of its congregations joined with the Methodist Church of Canada
and the Congregationalist Union
to form the United Church of Canada. The terms Continuing Presbyterians and Non-Concurring Presbyterians were then used by those who did not participate in the merger, until the legal right to use the name "Presbyterian Church in Canada" was regained in 1939. The Supreme Court of Canada
ruled that although the institutional Presbyterian Church in Canada may legally have merged with the Methodist Church, the United Church had effectively vacated the name and it remained available to the non-concurring Presbyterians. It also was a benefit to have support from a Governor General of Canada
, such as Lord Tweedsmuir, and Prime Minister
William Lyon MacKenzie King
in their respective offices in 1939.
. At the Plains of Abraham
outside of the walled Citadelle of Quebec
, there was a Scottish Battalion, the 78th Fraser Highlanders
, complete with a Presbyterian chaplain, Reverend Robert MacPherson. This group eventually became the roots of St. Andrew's Church
in Quebec City
.
In the colony of Nova Scotia
the Presbyterians were initially Reformed settlers of Germanic
roots, and started St. Andrew's in Lunenburg in 1753; they joined Church of Scotland
's Nova Scotia Synod
(started in August 1833) in 1837. In Truro
, First United Church (Presbyterian until 1925) was founded in 1760 by Scottish
settlers. St. James Presbyterian Church was formed in 1925 by the minority that did not join the United Church. In Halifax, St. Matthew's dates back to 1749 as a "Dissenting Protestant Worship House", and adhered to Presbyterian polity at a later date; the Presbyterian Church of St. David is another 1925 "Minority Group" from within downtown Halifax congregations including St Matthew's, and celebrated its 80th Anniversary in 2005, meeting in the former Grafton Street Methodist (1869) building, acquired in their early days.
After the departure of the Thirteen American Colonies
from British North America
, there was an increase in population within the Canadas, divided in 1791 into Upper Canada
(now called Ontario) and Lower Canada
(now called Quebec), including most of the previously populated areas of the New France
colony, and within the Maritimes, including Nova Scotia
, New Brunswick
, and Prince Edward Island
.
Some of the early Canadian Presbyterians were United Empire Loyalists
of Scots descent, and others came directly from Scotland, such as in the 1773 arrival of The Hector
in Pictou, Nova Scotia
.
Early Clergy represented many strands of reformed theology, and were educated in Scotland, Ireland, and the United States. Initial attempts at forming native Presbyteries were futile. American influences in the Canadas came first from Dutch Reformed missionaries from New York State, and later American Presbyterians from many different Presbyterian groupings.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
church, of presbyterian and reformed
Reformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...
theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
and polity, serving in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
under this name since 1875, although the United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939. According to the Canada 2001 Census
Canada 2001 Census
The Canada 2001 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 15, 2001. On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count of Canada was 30,007,094. This was a 4% increase over 1996 Census of 28,846,761. In...
409,830 Canadians identify themselves as Presbyterian, that is, 1.4% of the population.
Its roots in Canada can be traced back both to Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
settlers and French Huguenots, and the first Presbyterian churches formed in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, following such European Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
theologians such as John Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
and John Knox
John Knox
John Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...
.
Once the largest Christian denomination in English-speaking Canada, in 1925 some 70% of its congregations joined with the Methodist Church of Canada
Methodist Church of Canada
The Methodist Church of Canada was a united church formed in 1884 and comprising most former Methodist denominations in Canada including some that had been active along Canada's eastern coast and north of the St...
and the Congregationalist Union
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
to form the United Church of Canada. The terms Continuing Presbyterians and Non-Concurring Presbyterians were then used by those who did not participate in the merger, until the legal right to use the name "Presbyterian Church in Canada" was regained in 1939. The Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
ruled that although the institutional Presbyterian Church in Canada may legally have merged with the Methodist Church, the United Church had effectively vacated the name and it remained available to the non-concurring Presbyterians. It also was a benefit to have support from a Governor General of Canada
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
, such as Lord Tweedsmuir, and Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
William Lyon MacKenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
in their respective offices in 1939.
Background and roots
In 1759, Great Britain gained full control of the French colony of New FranceNew France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
. At the Plains of Abraham
Plains of Abraham
The Plains of Abraham is a historic area within The Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, that was originally grazing land, but became famous as the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took place on 13 September 1759. Though written into the history books, housing and minor...
outside of the walled Citadelle of Quebec
Citadelle of Quebec
The Citadelle — the French name is used both in English and French — is a military installation and official residence located atop Cap Diamant, adjoining the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada...
, there was a Scottish Battalion, the 78th Fraser Highlanders
78th Fraser Highlanders
The 78th Regiment, Regiment of Foot otherwise known as the 78th Fraser Highlanders was a British infantry regiment of the line unit raised in Scotland in 1757, to fight in the French and Indian War.-History:...
, complete with a Presbyterian chaplain, Reverend Robert MacPherson. This group eventually became the roots of St. Andrew's Church
St. Andrew's Church (Quebec City)
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Quebec City is a Presbyterian Church in Canada congregation in the Upper Town of Quebec City.The congregation's roots began with the British conquest of Quebec at the Plains of Abraham in 1759. Under the leadership of Church of Scotland Chaplain Robert MacPherson...
in Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
.
In the colony of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
the Presbyterians were initially Reformed settlers of Germanic
Foreign Protestants
The "Foreign Protestants" were a group of immigrants to Nova Scotia in the mid-18th century and the ethnonymical basis behind the name "New Brunswick", as well as support behind naming "Prince Edward Island" for a representative of the Braunschweiger dynasty....
roots, and started St. Andrew's in Lunenburg in 1753; they joined Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
's Nova Scotia Synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
(started in August 1833) in 1837. In Truro
Truro, Nova Scotia
-Education:Truro has one high school, Cobequid Educational Centre. Post-secondary options include a campus of the Nova Scotia Community College, as well as the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in the neighboring town of Bible Hill.- Sports :...
, First United Church (Presbyterian until 1925) was founded in 1760 by Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
settlers. St. James Presbyterian Church was formed in 1925 by the minority that did not join the United Church. In Halifax, St. Matthew's dates back to 1749 as a "Dissenting Protestant Worship House", and adhered to Presbyterian polity at a later date; the Presbyterian Church of St. David is another 1925 "Minority Group" from within downtown Halifax congregations including St Matthew's, and celebrated its 80th Anniversary in 2005, meeting in the former Grafton Street Methodist (1869) building, acquired in their early days.
After the departure of the Thirteen American Colonies
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
from British North America
British North America
British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...
, there was an increase in population within the Canadas, divided in 1791 into Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
(now called Ontario) and Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
(now called Quebec), including most of the previously populated areas of the New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
colony, and within the Maritimes, including Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
, and Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
.
Some of the early Canadian Presbyterians were United Empire Loyalists
United Empire Loyalists
The name United Empire Loyalists is an honorific given after the fact to those American Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War and prior to the Treaty of Paris...
of Scots descent, and others came directly from Scotland, such as in the 1773 arrival of The Hector
Hector (ship)
The Hector was a ship famous for having brought the first Scottish settlers to Nova Scotia in 1773.- Career :A full rigged Fluyt, the Hector was employed in local trade in waters of the British Isles as well as the immigrant trade to North America, having made at least one trip ca...
in Pictou, Nova Scotia
Pictou, Nova Scotia
Pictou is a town in Pictou County, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Located on the north shore of Pictou Harbour, the town is approximately 10 km north of the larger town of New Glasgow....
.
Early Clergy represented many strands of reformed theology, and were educated in Scotland, Ireland, and the United States. Initial attempts at forming native Presbyteries were futile. American influences in the Canadas came first from Dutch Reformed missionaries from New York State, and later American Presbyterians from many different Presbyterian groupings.