Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria
| Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Calvinist |
| Polity | Presbyterian |
| Associations | Joined with the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia in 1953 |
| Founder | James Forbes |
| Origin | 1846 Melbourne, Victoria |
| Separated from | Church of Scotland |
| Separations | 1859 Majority joined Presbyterian Church of Victoria |
The Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria, also known as the Free Church of Australia Felix, was an Australian Presbyterian denomination founded in Melbourne, Victoria in 1846 as a result of the Disruption of 1843 in the Church of Scotland.
The first Presbyterian minister in Melbourne, Victoria, James Forbes and one of his three elders at Scots' Church, Melbourne adhered to the position also adopted by those who withdrew from the 'Synod of Australian in connection with the Established Church of Scotland' and formed the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia in New South Wales on 10 October 1846. Forbes and his elder withdrew from the Presbytery of Melbourne of the Synod and organised a distinct body on similar lines to the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia, although spelling out the constitution afresh rather than simply adhering to the existing constitution. There was no difference of principle between the two bodies.
Forbes gave up his handsome stipend (£200 from the government plus £150 from the congregation), the church, school and manse he had erected, and commenced afresh. He issued his Protest on 29 October 1846 and submitted it to the Presbytery of Melbourne on 17 November, the date of the organising meeting of what the minutes call The Free Presbyterian Church of Australia Felix. The first service was held in the Mechanics' Hall (where the Athenaeum now stands) on 22 November 1846 with about 200 people crowding the building.
The building of John Knox Free Presbyterian Church, Swanston Street was opened 8 May 1848 on the corner with Little Lonsdale Street and with frontage to that street. The John Knox School began in the building on 3 July 1848 with T.J. Everist as teacher. Within a year there were 120 students and an adjoining brick building came into use in August 1850. The congregation erected a two-storey manse next door to the church in Swanston Street late in 1850. The Rev William Miller was inducted as the next minister 1851-1865 (not to be confused with a contemporary Rev William B. Miller). The church was reconstructed in 1863 and re-opened by Rev William McIntyre 26 July of that year. Since 1879 it has housed the Church of Christ congregation.
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