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great australian presbyterians

On Tuesday, July 24, 2001, the Presbyterian Church of Australia will celebrate its Centenary.

The first meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia occurred on this date. The General Assembly in 1901 began the movement that was to lead to the Uniting Church in Australia — formed on 22 June, 1977, as a union of three churches: the Congregational Union of Australia, the Methodist Church of Australasia and the Presbyterian Church of Australia.

In uniting, the members of those bodies testified to “that unity which is both Christ's gift and will for the Church”.

To mark the Centenary of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, Insights, the magazine of the New South Wales Synod of the Uniting Church, has organised the following colloquium to discuss the contribution of the Presbyterian Church to Australia and to the Uniting Church.

Initial contributions will be made by:

Dr Susan Emilsen, lecturer in church history at the United Theological College, Sydney, and author of A Whiff of Heresy and several monographs on Australian educational history.

Dr Andrew Dutney, Director of the Centre for Theology, Science and Culture, and teacher of Historical and Systematic Theology and Ethics in The School of Theology in the Flinders University of South Australia.

Associate Professor Malcolm Prentis, who teaches history at Australian Catholic University, Sydney, is Vice-President of the NSW Synod Uniting Church Records and Historical Society, and author of The Scots in Australia (1983).

Dr Peter Barnes, minister at the Bankstown Presbyterian Church, lecturer in Church history at the Presbyterian Theological Centre and member of the Historical Records and Library Committee of the NSW General Assembly.

Interested readers are welcome to contribute to a moderated discussion by emailing Stephen Webb, stephenw@uca.org.au.