Historic Documents in American Presbyterian History

WHAT IS A PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ANYWAY?
A sermon preached in Crestwood Presbyterian Church,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,
during the Sunday evening service, 21 May 1967.
by Rev. Jonas E.C. Shepherd, M.M., Th.M.

One of the first Protestant services in Canada was held during the visit of Frobisher in 1578, when a chaplain aboard Frobisher’s ship conducted divine worship. Two parties had been ashore and believed each other to be lost. When they were reunited, their rejoicing was celebrated in their giving of thanks to God in a service at the close of which the Lord’s Supper was observed.

In 1583Sir Humphrey Gilbert proclaimed chaplains on each ship. This of course affected what we know as Newfoundland, and the chaplains were Church of England clergymen.

The first Presbyterians in Canada were the French Huguenots released from restrictions by the Proclamation of Nantes, which granted privileges previously denied them. They were allowed to travel and trade in the New World, and to colonize North America. One of the first of note was Chauvin, who with another merchant received a charter for the privilege to trade providing he brought 500 colonists each year to the new land. A colony was attempted at Tadoussac, and two trips were made from France with settlers. This failed in 1601, at the death of Chauvin, when disease and cold wiped out the new colony.

In 1603 De Mont became the Lieutenant-Governor of Batavia (from Philadelphia to Montreal). De Mont sailed from Le Havre, accompanied by Champlain, both Protestant and Catholic settlers, accompanied by priests of both orders. Settlements were established at St. Croix and Pt. Royale. Settlers were granted freedom to worship as they desired, but only Roman Catholics were able to evangelize the Indians. The Huguenots did not long hold their privileges. When the French king died, his successor recalled De Mont and another Huguenot, De Caun became the head of trade in New France.

Roman Catholics, through their spokesmen, the Jesuits, protested concerning freedoms granted Huguenots, as a threat to their work. This was heard 1670. De Caun opposed the Jesuits and his trade charter was evoked. “The Company of The Hundred”, headed by Richelieu, now received the charter in 1672 to settle the new world. The terms stipulated that “none but the French and Roman Catholics were to settle. Under the leadership of David, Louie and Thomas Kerk, an expedition was formed against France and her possessions, and their fighting forces were largely made up of refugees from Old and New France, because of their reformed faith and practice. Acadia (Fort Royal) and Canada (Quebec) were overcome and occupied by the English. Champlain was taken back to England. Peace was established and Huguenots were permitted to re-settle.

In 1685 the rights of the French Protestants were again revoked and no more is heard of reformed
religion or worship until the Fall of Quebec in 1759. With the invasion of Upper Canada (Ontario), came the troops from Britain who had their own Protestant chaplains. When Montcalm was defeated on the Plains of Abraham by Wolfe’s troops, the highland regiments were accompanied by reformed chaplains from Scotland.

A chaplain of one of the regiments was MacPherson, who remained to serve the troops married to
Canadian girls and remained in the new land. MacPherson served, not in the capacity of a minister to the
people of a community or parish, but more as a chaplain of the men and their families. His work never did bring about the organizing of a congregation. It was a hard path for the sturdy sons of sturdy reformers from the old lands, and growth was slow and hard, but eventually resulted in the union of several synods to produce The Presbyterian Church in Canada, in 1875.

Presbyterianism traces its origins to the doctrines of the Word of God. Without sound doctrine there can be no solid faith or practice. The Bible is a doctrinal book containing the “whole counsel of God.” The Westminster Confession says: “The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for His Own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or the traditions of men.” This was a return to Paul’s theology, which had become well nigh lost with the rubbish of Romanist medieval dogma. Calvin quoted the church fathers wherever they taught scripture truth. He followed Paul closely on justification by faith alone, sufficiency of the work of the cross and election. Augustine had previously taught these doctrines in the fourth century, but they had been permitted to lapse into decline because of a mass of false doctrine brought in and sponsored by prominent leaders. Calvin closely adhered to Augustine, but better, to Paul and the word of God. His printed work contains commentaries or lectures on practically all the books of the Bible. Knox was a close student of the Bible and followed the Calvinistic system of doctrine. He admired Calvin greatly and had fellowship with him in Geneva. Knox promoted the Reformation in Scotland and through his efforts the church in Scotland became a Calvinistic reformed church. Presbyterianism in Canada finds its roots largely in the mother churches in Scotland and Ireland.

Does the Westminster Confession of Faith equate the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, with the word of God? Paragraph I of the Chapter, “Of the Holy Scriptures” tells us that God has committed “the truth. . . wholly unto writing.” Of course, the first paragraph has a lot more to say than that, but one point is that the Confession says that God has committed the truth “wholly unto writing”. Surely, we recognize the truth of God as inerrant! God’s truth is not erroneous! But we are told in Chapter I, Paragraph I that God’s truth is wholly committed to writing.

Paragraph II says: “Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written” (in other words
Holy Scripture is the Word of God written) “are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are these ...” and then there follows the enumeration of the 66 books of the Bible.
Paragraph IV says: that "the Holy Scripture ... is to be received, because it is the Word of God."
In other words, the Bible, 66 books of it, the whole of it, every word of it, is the Word of God ! That is
emphatically clear!

Paragraph V again refers to the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God and. states that it is “the infallible truth”. How anyone can state his acceptance of the Westminster Confession, and say he has reservations about the inspiration of scripture is either ignorant of what the Confession states or is lying! Reject the plenary, verbal inspiration of the Scriptures; deny biblical inerrancy, and you cease to be Presbyterian. This must be the base from which the Presbyterian must proceed, in the very nature of the church down through its history.

This is true of Presbyterianism in the old lands. It is true of Presbyterianism in Canada. It is also historically true in the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. This church has been, throughout its history, a staunch upholder of the teachings of the Bible. In 1893 its General Assembly had declared its belief “that the Bible as we now have it, in its various translations and versions, when freed from errors and mistakes of translators, copyists and printers, is the very Word of God, and consequently without error.” In the same year it suspended from the ministry one of its most renowned seminary professors, Dr. Charles A. Briggs of Union Theological Seminary, for denying the verbal inspiration of the Bible. The General Assembly of 1899 declared the full truthfulness of the Bible to be a fundamental doctrine of the Presbyterian Church, and this pronouncement was repeated by a number of subsequent assemblies.

Based upon this fact, Presbyterians historically rejoice in the sovereignty, divinity, deity and Saviourhood of Jesus Christ. To the Presbyterian Christ has been and is ever incomparable, invincible and certainly indispensable. Like Thomas, they have, for centuries bowed before Him saying, “My Lord and my God!”

Understanding this, then, we must proceed to answer our own question : What is a Presbyterian Church?
I. Under the authority of Scripture and the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the High Priest, a truly Presbyterian Church is

A CHURCH OF INDOCTRINATED EDUCATION, as seen in the practice of the early church (Acts 2;41) “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and breaking of bread from house to house, and prayers.” It became a church of scholars, but committed scholars, reveling in their sovereign Lord who had committed to them the care of souls. They applied themselves to the word of God, continuing generation after generation in the tradition of Calvin and the other reformers. As Luther they rejoiced in “Thus saith the Lord.” The thirty-nine Articles and the Westminster Confession together upheld this. The Confession said “We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church to an high reverend esteem of the holy scripture and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole, (which is to give glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God.”

Presbyterianism by its very name means government of the church by elders as the scripturally appointed way. Episcopacy means government by bishops. The office of elder and bishop in the Bible are one and the same (Acts 20:2?). Peter exhorted the elders as an elder himself (I Peter 5:1-2). The original verb used here for “taking the oversight” comes from the same root as “overseer”, from which comes the word “bishop”. Peter applied it to elders, showing that elders are the overseers. Presbyterians have always been suspicious of the episcopacy, and they have had good reason to be, as their stormy history shows, but primarily because a people skilful and knowledgeable in the word knew there could be no such thing.

II. Under the authority of Scripture and the Lordship of Jesus Christ the King, a truly Presbyterian Church is

A CHURCH OF INVINCIBLE EXPANSION, as seen in the history of the apostolic church, which strode triumphantly through Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the “uttermost parts” (Acts 1:8). A Presbyterian Church is a militant church in defence of the faith. It cannot permit the issues which gave it birth to die, and it takes an active role in the ongoing struggle as it advances from stage to stage, and age to age. Almost wherever the church has spread there will be seen the testimony of Presbyterianism. By its very nature Presbyterianism believes it must preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations. This is the command of her great Head, and to be true to her Lord, and to her own name, she must expand.

III. Under the authority of Scripture and the Lordship of Christ, the great Prophet, a truly Presbyterian Church is

A CHURCH OF INSPIRING EXPECTATION, as seen in the aggressive upword look of the early church (Acts 1:11).

Again we must say that a Presbyterian Church historically true to its name, is a confessional church. It accepts the historic Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, including the Larger and Shorter
Catechisms. It seeks to present the whole counsel of God as revealed in the Scriptures, and it rejoices in
the blessed Hope of Jesus Christ Who will one day return in like manner as He was seen going into heaven.

A Presbyterian Church is a church that recognizes the covenant privileges presented in the Scriptures and honours the children of its believing parents. The anticipatory faith of believing parents in the light of a covenant-keeping Head becomes savingly precious to the believing child in its years of understanding.

The Presbyterian Church has not historically embraced the dispensational emphasis represented in
the “Schofield Bible”, but does indeed rejoice in the promise of a literally returning Saviour and Lord,
Scripturally and historically a Presbyterian Church believes that what some have insisted are separate
phases of things to come, are actually different aspects of the one glorious event. As surely as the Presbyterian Church believed in a literal virgin birth, the actual miracles recorded in Christ’s earthly ministry, the vicarious atonement, the death and literal resurrection of its Lord, just as surely has it historically believed that Christ will return, literally, bodily and personally to reveal His wrath, to rapture His church and to reward His saints.

So we can recapitulate by saying that, following the pattern in the Acts of the Apostles, a Presbyterian Church is one of indoctrinated education, of invincible expansion, of inspiring expectation, and one more thought:

IV. Under the authority of Scripture and the Lordship of Christ the Saviour; a truly Presbyterian Church is

A CHURCH OF INTENSIVE EVANGELISM, as seen in the example of the early church after Pentecost. In a few weeks they had “filled Jerusalem” with their emphasis; they had, their enemies said, “turned Jerusalem upside down.”

An interesting study may be seen in Acts 8. We could take time to note the motivation for evangelism (8:4), the manner of evangelism (8:12-15) and also the multiplication by evangelism (8:17).

There have been times in the history of Scotland when the Spirit of God has so accompanied faithful evangelistic preaching that the movement has been lifted to the plain of revival, where for a period over a large area, the concerns of the soul and eternity have been overwhelming and the sense of God has been a pervasive reality. The first and second reformations in the Church of Scotland, in the time of Knox, and then of the National Covenant, were days of extensive revival affecting the face of the Kirk and the life of the entire nation. Indeed it would be extremely difficult to trace Scottish history and fail to recognize this. On the more restricted parish level the Scottish Church can never forget the ministry of John Livingstone at the Kirk o’ Shotts in 1630, the Cambuslang “wark” of 1742, and Kilsyth and St. Peter’s, Dundee in 1839. The instrument of God in those latter two days of refreshing was the young licentiate of the Church of Scotland, later a famous missionary in China, after two remarkable years as evangelist in Canada, whose name was William C. Burns.

Burns had been a colleague of the Bonars, McCheyne and Moody Stuart (blessed giants in the Lord!)
men described as “apostolic men” by Alexander Whyte. A spiritual giant of later years, Hudson Taylor, acknowledged, “Never have I had such a spiritual father as Mr. Burns.” Burns was assisting his father in the communion season in the parish of Kilsyth. Tuesday, July 23rd, l839, young Burns preached a farewell sermon. “I was led,” he said, “to plead with the unconverted before me, instantly, to close in with God’s offers of mercy ...” As he entreated Pentecost lived again! Nightly meetings continued for months, and after twenty years his father could still see marks of that work of grace in his parish.

In August Burns went to Dundee, supplying the pulpit of Robert Murray McCheyne, whilst that pastor was in the Near East connected with Jewish missions, a task assigned by General Assembly. Similar signs were seen at St. Peter’s, and Burns described “the crowded and solemnized assemblies in the church from night to night for months together, the eager throngs of inquirers, sometimes so numerous as to form themselves a congregation . . .the numberless prayer meetings of old and young . . . the nightly journey of hungry souls from far distances . . . the general sensation and spirit of enquiry ...” How hungry this repetition of history makes me feel!

In 1843 the Disruption came to Scotland, and the Free Church began to send its deputies to the colonies explaining their position and urging similar action here. Among the earliest arriving in Canada was Dr. Robert Burns of Paisley, soon to become the second minister of Knox Church, Toronto, and professor in Knox College. As soon as he arrived he was asked: “Have you brought your nephew, W. C. Burns?” This does not mean that the church in Canada was eager and ready for revival. We suggest the opposite was the case. There was evidence of spiritual deadness and formalism.

The Church in Scotland, prior to 1843 had experienced a remarkable surge of spiritual vigour and
evangelical fervour, but many in Canada had migrated previous to that time and knew nothing of the workings of God.

W. C. Burns came to Montreal and wielded a powerful influence among soldiers and civilians in urging them to “be reconciled to God”. But he found parish and chaplain’s work too restrictive. He began his famous open-air meetings in the downtown areas and market-places, where he was pelted, stoned and molested. Nothing could move him! Whenever he returned to Montreal, in spite of friends’ advice, he recommenced his New Testament activity. With the blazing evangelistic heart that was his, he sought other doors of opportunity. In his versatility he quickly learned the French language to reach “les Canadiene”. A Knox College student wrote: “The apostolic labours of W. C. Burns were eminently owned of God in breaking up many parts of the stony waste.”

Glengarry was a striking distance from this, within two years of Burns’ visit revival broke out under the ministry of Rev. Daniel Clark in Kenyon, then spread to the other three townships. “Blessed be God”,
wrote Rev. J. Frazer, “a change has come. . . In every day of the week the people held conventions for prayer, and the reading of the word among themselves. The awakening is chiefly among the young. . .” Rev. Alexander Cameron, who arrived in Glengarry at this time wrote; “I found the people in a very interesting state of mind, many of them cherishing a tenderness of conscience and brokenness of spirit, and a thirsting eagerly for the Word of Life. Some of all ages were in this condition, but especially young men and women. The crowds that congregated on the Sabbaths at Lochiel, the most central station at which I preached, were sometimes very great ... In one sense it was easy to preach to these thirsty souls, for the word of God was precious in those days.”

As one would expect, gospel triumph brought moral reformation. “The face of things began gradually but steadily to change”. Cameron wrote, “Old customs, and inveterate habits were one by one abandoned. Balls and merrymakings and New Year’s festivals, so frequent in that country, were fast disappearing.” And for one who had been raised under the ministry of the great Dr. Macdonald, the “apostle of the north”, it was a particular matter of joy to relate that “communion seasons were now more like those in old Ferintosh than the former scant gatherings in the ‘backwoods’.” Though he paid just tribute to the works of others, Cameron stated that “this state of things I ascribe chiefly under God to the labours of Mr. Burns.” When revival came to Kirkhill, twenty years later, as described by Ralph Connor in “The Man from Glengarry”, the first thought that crossed the mind of the minister was that the days of W. C. Burns were here again.

Unblushingly I have stolen this account from the pen of Dr. Ian Rennie of Vancouver as printed in
“Presbyterian Comment”, but confess: how my heart yearns for a recurrence of this revival warmth and
spiritual renewal throughout our land. I feel so hungry I could cry. This is the note that has been all too absent from the Presbyterian emphasis of recent generations. For several of these, we have not seen revival, as much as we preach and sing about it!

The emphasis on the sovereignty of God, the grandeur of worship, in the repetition and singing of the great psalms have always been the mark of this denomination, but when spiritual fuel was low, this did become cold and musty. No wonder hungry hearts have looked elsewhere and have been deceived and absorbed by ultra-spiritual cults and isms.

We endeavour here to maintain the heritage God has committed to us and by which we have been wondrously blessed. It is our purpose here in an uncompromising fashion, to "contend earnestly for the faith.

We are a confessional church, believing we must continually confess our faith.

We are a Bible-believing church, contending for the Scriptures as the inerrant, authoritative and infallible word of God.

We are a Christ-centred church, believing that a church must be judged according to the place it gives to its only Head.

We are not an independent, ultra-separatist church, believing God has called us to labour with others who work as we do, and fellowship with others who believe as we do.

We are a missionary church, believing the gospel must be preached to all men as the unique revelation of God.

We are an expanding, militant church, believing we are called to promote, proclaim and defend the faith.

We are a Presbyterian Church, believing the Old and New Testament order of church government is by the "presbuteroi"—the elders.

We are an evangelistic church, because we believe God has called us to the soul-winning task.

We invite you to fellowship with us, and share the task under the banner of our Lord and Saviour.

[excerpted from What Is A Dedicated Presbyterian?, by the Rev. Jonas E.C. Shepherd, M.M., Th.M. [22 Feb. 1914-10 Sept. 2004], pastor of Crestwood Presbyterian Church, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada from 1947-1967].