- Denomination
- A distinct church body with its own government, such as the PCEA or the Uniting Church.
- Church court
- A ruling body of ministers and elders. From local to national: session, presbytery, synod, General Assembly. A court is not a separate denomination.
- Congregation
- A local church community, governed by its kirk session (minister and elders).
- Presbytery
- The court over a district’s congregations. “Presbyterian” comes from the Greek presbuteros, elder.
- Synod / General Assembly
- Higher courts covering several presbyteries. The General Assembly is usually the highest court of a church.
- Moderator
- The minister or elder who presides over a church court for a term.
- Patronage
- The legal right of a patron (often a landowner) to nominate a parish minister, sometimes against the congregation’s wishes. Central to the 1733, 1761 and 1843 separations.
- Established church
- A church formally recognised by the state as the national church, as the Church of Scotland was.
- Spiritual independence
- The conviction that Christ alone is head of the church, so civil courts cannot overrule its spiritual decisions. The heart of the 1843 Disruption.
- Voluntaryism
- The view that churches should be supported by their members rather than by the state. Strong in the United Presbyterian tradition.
- Disruption, Secession, Relief
- Names for separations from the Church of Scotland in 1843, 1733 and 1761. Each produced its own church tradition.
- Subordinate standard
- A confession that sits under Scripture and summarises the church’s reading of it. Usually the Westminster Confession of Faith.
- Declaratory Statement
- The PCA’s explanatory articles on how the Westminster Confession is to be read, including on God’s love and the civil magistrate.
- Federal union
- A union in which member churches form a national body but keep their own identity and responsibilities, as the state churches did in 1901.
- Continuing church
- A church that carries on when others leave for a union. It keeps its original history; it is not newly founded.
- Basis of Union
- The founding agreement of a union. The PCA (1901) and the Uniting Church (1977) each have one; they are different documents.
- Incorporation
- A legal step that lets a church hold property as a body. It does not create a new church (e.g. Queensland, 1876).
- Well-meant offer
- A doctrinal question about how God’s sincere offer of the gospel to all relates to election. Debated in the EPC in 1964.
- PCA (Australia) and PCA (America)
- The Presbyterian Church of Australia (1901) and the Presbyterian Church in America (a US denomination) are unrelated bodies that share initials. On this site, “PCA” always means Australia.
