Short title. Commencement of Act. Schedule. Presbyterian Church of Australia. in Western Australia have resolved to unite and form one Presbyterian Church, to be called the Presbyterian Church of Australia, upon the terms contained in the Scheme of Union set forth in the Schedule to this Act: And whereas by an Act of the Legislative Council of Western Australia, passed in the forty-eighth year of the reign of her late Majesty Queen Victoria, numbered twenty, it was provided that certain properties of the said Presbyterian Church of Western Australia should be held in the manner in the said Act provided: And whereas it is expedient that the said union should be effected upon the terms contained in the said Scheme of Union: And whereas the assent of the Parliament of Western Australia is necessary to effect this object: Be it therefore enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows, that is to say: 1. THIS Act shall be called, and may for all purposes be cited as, the Presbyterian Church of Australia Act, 1901. 2. THIS Act shall not come into operation until— (a.) The Moderators of the General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Churches of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia sign a deed poll declaring that the said Churches have agreed to unite upon the terms of the Scheme of Union set forth in the Schedule hereto; and (b.) The Parliament of each of the States of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria has passed an Act giving effect to the said Scheme of Union; and (c.) A notice that such union has taken place, and such Acts have been passed, signed by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Western Australia, has been published in the Government Gazette. The production of a copy of the Government Gazette containing such notice, and purporting to be signed by such Moderator, shall be conclusive evidence that the requirements of this section have been duly complied with. 3. UPON the coming into operation of this Act, notwithProperties to be held standing anything contained in the said Act numbered twenty or in subject to Scheme of any deed, declaration, or statement of trust, all hereditaments, estates, and temporal privileges, and all equitable rights belonging Union. to Presbyterian Church of Australia. to the Presbyterian Church in Western Australia, and the congregations thereof, or held on behalf of or in connection with such Church and congregations or bodies connected therewith, in this section called properties of the Church, shall be held subject to the provisions of the said Scheme of Union. All decisions of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, or the Judicial Commission thereof, given or come to in accordance with the said Scheme of Union, shall be binding on the Presbyterian Church in Western Australia and its Judicatories, and on all congregations and members of the said Church, and on all properties of the Church. Save as aforesaid, the trusts upon which such properties of the Church respectively are held shall not be affected or varied by this Act. 4. THE standards of religious belief and of ecclesiastical Standards of government set forth in the said Scheme of Union shall be held to religious belief. be the standards as well of the Presbyterian Church in Western Australia as of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, and the subordinate standard therein set forth may from time to time be altered in accordance with the provisions contained in the said Scheme of Union. Adherence to such standards, subject to any such alteration as aforesaid, shall be required as entitling the said Presbyterian Church in Western Australia, and the congregations and office-bearers thereof respectively, to continued possession in all time coming of the hereditaments, estates, temporal privileges, and equitable rights of whatsoever nature, whether such hereditaments, estates, temporal privileges, and equitable rights have already accrued, or may hereafter from time to time accrue, to the said Presbyterian Church in Western Australia, or to any or all of the several congregations and office-bearers respectively forming the said Presbyterian Church in Western Australia. Provided nevertheless that if any alteration is made in the said subordinate standard, any person, being a Minister or office-bearer of the said Presbyterian Church in Western Australia at the time of the making of such alteration, may continue to be a Minister or officebearer of such Church, and to retain all his rights and privileges so long as he adheres to the standards of religious belief and ecclesiastical government set forth in the Scheme of Union, either without alteration or with such part of the alteration or alterations so made as he may approve of. In the name and on behalf of the King I hereby assent to this Act. ARTHUR LAWLEY, Governor. THE SCHEDULE. Presbyterian Church of Australia. THE SCHEDULE. Preamble. THE SCHEME OF UNION. PREAMBLE. The Presbyterian Church of New South Wales, the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, the Presbyterian Church of Queensland, the Presbyterian Church of South Australia, the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania, and the Presbyterian Church in Western Australia holding the same doctrine, government, discipline, and form of worship, believing that it would be for the glory of God and the advancement of His Kingdom that they should form one Presbyterian Church as hereinafter provided, to be called the Presbyterian Church of Australia, and under authority to Christ alone, the Head of the Church and Head over all things to His Church, agree to unite on the following basis, and subject to the following articles, to be subscribed by the Moderators of the respective Churches in their name and on their behalf : BASIS OF UNION. I. The supreme standard of the United Church shall be the Word of God contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. are II. The subordinate standard of the United Church shall be the Westminster Confession of Faith read in the light of the following declaratory statement:(1.) That in regard to the doctrine of redemption as taught in the subordinate standard, and in consistency therewith, the love of God to all mankind, His gift of His Son to be the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, and the free offer of salvation to men without distinction, on the ground of Christ's all-sufficient sacrifice, regarded by this Church as vital to the Christian faith. And inasmuch as the Christian faith rests upon, and the Christian consciousness takes hold of certain objective supernatural historic facts, especially the incarnation, the atoning life and death, and the resurrection and ascension of our Lord, and His bestowment of His Holy Spirit, this Church regards those whom it admits to the office of the holy ministry as pledged to give a chief place in their teaching to these cardinal facts, and to the message of redemption and reconciliation implied and manifested in them. (2.) That the doctrine of God's eternal decree, including the doctrine of election to eternal life, is held as defined in the Confession of Faith, chapter III., section I., where it is expressly stated that according to this doctrine "neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established," and further, that the said doctrine is held in connection and harmony with the truth that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, that He has provided a salvation sufficient for all and adapted to all and offered to all in the Gospel, and that every hearer of the Gospel is responsible for his dealing with the free and unrestricted offer of eternal life. (3.) That while none are saved except through the mediation of Christ and by the grace of the Holy Spirit, Who worketh when and where and how it pleaseth Him, while the duty of sending the Gospel to the heathen who are sunk in ignorance, sin, and misery is imperative, and Presbyterian Church of Australia. and while the outward and ordinary means of salvation for those capable of being called by the Word are the ordinances of the Gospel, in accepting the subordinate standard it is not required to be held that any who die in infancy are lost, or that God may not extend His grace to any who are without the pale of ordinary means as it may seem good in His sight. (4.) That in holding and teaching according to the Confession of Faith, the corruption of man's nature as fallen, this Church also maintains that there remain tokens of man's greatness as created in the image of God, that he possesses a knowledge of God and of duty, that he is responsible for compliance with the moral law and the call of the Gospel, and that although unable without the aid of the Holy Spirit to return to God unto salvation, he is yet capable of affections and actions which of themselves are virtuous and praiseworthy. (5.) That liberty of opinion is allowed on matters in the subordinate standard not essential to the doctrine therein taught, the Church guarding against the abuse of this liberty to the injury of its unity and peace. (6.) That with regard to the doctrine of the civil magistrate and his authority and duty in the sphere of religion as taught in the subordinate standard, the Church holds that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only King and Head of the Church "and Head over all things to the Church, which is His body." It disclaims accordingly intolerant or persecuting principles, and does not consider its officebearers in subscribing the Confession as committed to any principles inconsistent with the liberty of conscience and the right of private judgment, declaring in the words of the Confession that "God alone is Lord of the conscience." III. Any proposed revision or abridgment of the subordinate standard of the Church or restatement of its doctrine or change of the formula shall, before being adopted, be remitted to the local Assemblies and through them to the Presbyteries, and no change shall be made without the consent of a majority of the local Assemblies, three-fifths of the Presbyteries of the whole Church, and a majority of three-fifths of the members present when the final vote of the General Assembly is taken. IV. On any change being made in the basis of union in accordance with section III., if any congregation thereupon refuses to acquiesce in the change, and determines to adhere to the original basis of union, the General Assembly is empowered (1.) to allow such congregation to retain all its congregational property, or (2.) to deal in such other way with the said property as to the Assembly may seem just and equitable. V. Any proposed change in either of the two preceding sections, III. and IV., shall be made only under the provisions contained in section III. VI. Formula to be signed by ministers and elders at their ordination or induction, and by probationers on receiving license:— I own and accept the subordinate standard of this Church, with the explanations given in the articles contained in the declaratory statement, as an exhibition of the sense in which I understand the Holy Scriptures, and as a confession of my faith. I further own the purity of worship practised in this Church, and the Presbyterian government thereof, to be founded on the Word of God, and agreeable thereto, and I promise that through the grace of God I shall firmly and constantly adhere to the same, and to the utmost of my power shall in my station assert, maintain, and defend the doctrine, worship, and government of this Church. ARTICLES Presbyterian Church of Australia. ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT. I. There shall be a supreme court of the Church, which shall be called the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. II. The General Assembly shall meet in such places as it shall itself determine, and it shall endeavour to arrange the business so as to meet only once in two years, but shall have power to meet oftener if found necessary; the place and time of the first meeting to be fixed by the Federal Assembly. III. The General Assembly shall be representative, and shall consist of an equal number of ministers and elders; each local assembly shall be represented by one-fourth of its members, to be elected-three-fourths by the Presbyteries and one-fourth by the local Assembly itself. IV. The General Assembly shall have functions legislative, administrative, and judicial, supreme with regard to the doctrine, worship, and discipline of the Church, the missions to the heathen, the training of students, the admission of candidates to the ministry, and the reception of ministers from other Churches. V. The judicial functions of the General Assembly, in the case hereafter stated, shall be delegated to a commission to be appointed at each ordinary meeting of the General Assembly, and which shall be called the Judicial Commission of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, and hereinafter is called the Judicial Commission. (1.) The Judicial Commission shall hear and finally decide, first, all appeals (2.) The decisions of the Judicial Commission being final are not subject to VI. The General Assembly at each ordinary meeting shall appoint a body of assessors, whose members shall be other than the members of the Judicial Commission, to assist any Presbytery or local Assembly which may seek their aid in conducting any case involving a question of life or doctrine. VII. The General Assembly at each ordinary meeting shall appoint a board for the management and administration of the missions to the heathen, which shall be called the Board of Missions. (1.) The Board of Missions shall consist of nineteen members (ministers and elders), thirteen of whom shall be appointed on the nomination of the local Assemblies: six by Victoria (two of whom shall represent the J. G. Paton Fund), four by New South Wales, and one each by Queensland, Tasmania, and South Australia-and six by the General Assembly itself. Should a local Assembly fail to nominate, the General Assembly shall appoint in its stead. (2.) |