Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in Canada

The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland has maintained a presence in Canada, at various times, for over 100 years. The locations included Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. At present we have a well-established congregation in Chesley, Ontario.

The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland is the constitutional heir of the historic Church of Scotland. Moreover we descend directly from that church first established through the God-owned labours of John Knox and others in 1560. The Church of Scotland (along with the Church of Calvin’s Geneva) was the most Scriptural of the Reformation churches. The principles of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland today go back to the Apostolic Church. The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland endeavours to preserve, in Canada as well as Scotland, faithfully the doctrine, worship and practice of the Scottish Reformation. Therefore our claim to be Reformed in Doctrine, Worship and Practice is grounded in holding Scripture as our only supreme standard. Also, the entire Westminster Confession of Faith is our subordinate standard.

Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland Testimony

Though unworthy and weak in ourselves, yet in dependence upon the God of all grace the testimony the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland seeks to uphold, in Canada as well as Scotland, is:

1. Entirely Biblical including unreserved belief in the whole Bible as the inspired, inerrant and infallible Word of God.

2. Thoroughly Reformed (not merely “Evangelical”) with a hearty attachment to the foundational principles of the Reformation, and a vigorous Protestant witness against Roman Catholicism

3. Reformed in Doctrine including an unreserved acceptance of the doctrines of sovereign grace, as summarised in the Five Points of Calvinism, along with full acknowledgment of man’s total inability, his responsibility to believe and repent, and the necessity of preaching the free offer of the Gospel.

4. Reformed in Worship with consistent implementation of the regulative principle of worship: so that we sing Psalms only, and exclude musical instruments and ‘festivals’

5. Reformed in Church Practice with adherence to presbyterian church government and the faithful administration of church discipline.

6. Reformed in Godliness including insistence on the necessity of regeneration to produce real experimental acquaintance with Christ, the necessity of practical godliness, the abiding requirement of Sabbath-keeping, family worship, and a testimony against worldliness.

Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Psalm 60:4

Further information

Here is more on why the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland is unique, and distinct from other denominations.

Here is more on the witness of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland: Our Free Presbyterian Heritage by Rev. D. Beaton

To contact the church in Canada: [email protected]

You can find the main website of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland here.

There is a direct historical link between the present day Free Presbyterian witness in Canada with that of the original Free Church of Scotland of 1843 in Ontario.