Places of Worship
Presbyterian - Introduction


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            The Presbyterian history is more complex than even the Methodists, although for our purposes we can make it simpler, to at least name the various groups that may have appeared in the Peterborough area.. Believe me, this is simpler!!

            By 1831 a number of groups had coalesced into the United Presbyterian Synod of Upper Canada (UPUC) and another group, through the Church of Scotland, had organized the Synod of the Presbyterian Church in Connection with the Church of Scotland (PCCS).

            In 1834 the Secession Church in Scotland started sending missionaries into Upper Canada. They were organized into the Missionary Presbytery (MPC), which in 1843 became the Missionary Synod of Canada (MSC), which in 1847 became the United Presbyterian Church in Canada (UPCC).

            In 1840 the United Presbyterian Synod of Upper Canada (UPUC) and the Synod of the Presbyterian Church in Connection with the Church of Scotland (PCCS) joined to form the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Canada in Connection with the Church of Scotland (still labelled as PCCS). This can be regarded as the “established” Presbyterian church and was often called “The Kirk”. It remained as a separate group until the Presbyterian union of 1875.

            The Scottish schism of 1843 affected the Canadian churches. In 1844 a group left the “established” church and formed the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Canada (PCOC), known as the Free Church, although they had no formal links with the Free Church in Scotland.

            In 1875 the Presbyterian Church in Canada was created by means of a union of a number of different factions. The two factions from Ontario were the Presbyterian Church in Connection with the Church of Scotland (The Kirk), and the Canada Presbyterian Church (The Free Church).

            In 1925, two thirds of the Presbyterian congregations voted to join the new United Church. There was much hard feeling and much hardship, particularly since more Presbyterian ministers joined the United Church than Presbyterian congregations did. There were squabbles continuing as late as 1950.

            To summarize:

The Kirk                                             to 1875

The Free Church                                 to 1875

The Presbyterian Church in Canada   from 1875

            with 2/3 joining the United Church in 1925


            Much of the information below has come from Michael Millar's Presbyterian Church Index. This assistance is appreciated.