Approved by the PCV General Assembly 1997, Minute 50.
As part of the redeemed people of God, having been brought out of darkness into God’s light through faith in Jesus Christ, the Presbyterian Church of Victoria seeks to glorify and enjoy God – as Father, Son and Holy Spirit – serving, loving and obeying him, in the light of his revealed Word, the Bible.
The Presbyterian Church of Victoria holds the Bible to be the inspired and inerrant revelation of God, a book fully trustworthy to guide the Church in all matters of faith and practice. Embracing this particular view of inspiration of Scripture means that our work and witness has distinctive guiding values, these being expressed in what is known as:
- reformed doctrines and church practice
- the confessional position of the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647).
We seek to serve and obey God by:
- worshipping God in Spirit and truth;
- edifying God’s people, by teaching God’s Word, in order that they become mature in Christ, living a holy life;
- evangelising the lost through proclaiming and living the gospel;
- engaging in social witness, demonstrating God’s love and righteousness in both word and deed.
By being faithful in these things it is our passionate prayer that, by God’s grace:
- lives will be changed according to the pattern of Christ’s life;
- there will be growth and maturity in existing churches;
- the unsaved will come to faith in Christ;
- new churches will be planted;
- and in all this, churches will have an effect in changing society’s values for good.
In pursuing this mission we seek to:
- depend at all times on God’s leading,
- be aware of the culture in which we minister,
- be prepared to take bold steps to fulfil this mission in the State of Victoria, throughout Australia and toward all parts of the world.