Presbyterian Church of Pakistan
Presbyterian Church of Pakistan is a major Protestant denomination of Pakistan. The Church of Pakistan is another Christian denomination. The Presbyterian Church of Pakistan has a membership of around 400,000 in 340 congregations served by 330 pastors.[1] It was constituted in 1993.[1] It belongs to the World Communion of Reformed Churches as well as to the World Council of Churches, among others.[2] It has schools.[2]
History
The Presbyterian Church of Pakistan was constituted in 1993. It has a long history rooted in the establishment of the Lahore Church Council of the United Church in Pakistan and the Synod of the United Presbyterian Church of Pakistan. Presbyterian Mission in the area was started in 1854 by the United Presbyterian Church of North America. The first Presbytery was formed in 1859 and the synod of Punjab in 1893, which was declared autonomous in 1961 with the name of United Presbyterian Church of Pakistan.In 1968 as a result of the McIntyre movement the church split. The Sialkot Conventions were held since 1904, this helped to deeding fait in Pakistan. Presbyterian Church of Pakistan belongs to a family of Reformed Churches.[3] The church is organized in sessions (the basic unit which comprises a pastor and a few elders), presbyteries (which consists of at least ten sessions) and the general assembly, which is the highest body and meets annually. General assembly is represented by the ¼ delegates of all the presbyteries. The Presbyteries have the central position in the whole system of the Church. Presbyterian Church consists of 22 Presbyteries. The church consists of the people at large, the total estimated number is more than 300,000. It contains over 300 congregations and 260 pastors. These numbers are rapidly increasing by the vision of Church Planting by the Presbyterians.
The Synod of the United Presbyterian Church of Pakistan was not split in l968 because of McIntire movement, as your article claims; it was split over the Confession of 1967 of the Presbyterian Church (USA). When the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) met and approved and adopted the confession of 1967 Rev. Bashir S. Mamudin, Pastor of the Nuba Road Presbyterian Church in Lahore, Pakistan was representing the Synod of the United Presbyterian Church of Pakistan at the General Assembly and was there when the confession of 1967 was adopted. Upon his return to Pakistan Rev. Amamudin reported to the Synod of the United Presbyterian Church regarding the adoption of the Confession of 1967. The problem with the confession is that it challenges the authority of the Christian Scriptures and lowers the standards of ordination in the Presbyterian Church. About 80 percent of the pastors in UPCP refused to accept the confession of 1967 and broke away from the Presbyterian Church (USA). Only the missionary employees, such Head Masters and Head of mission hospitals remained with the people who were still loyal to the Presbyterian Church (USA) because of personal interests and financial help. Rev. Carl McIntire did not come to Pakistan till June of 1968, and that was only on the invitation of the Synod pastors who broke the relationship with PCUSA. By the way there has never been such a thing as McIntire movement, McIntire was a Presbyterian Pastor who left the denomination because of its liberal stands on number of things. How do I know this? because I was there and my father the late Rev. Dr. K.L. Nasir was the moderator of the Synod of United Presbyterian Church of Pakistan at that time, and later on I served as the Director of Asia with the International Council of Christian Churches where Rev. Dr. Carl McIntire was the President.
Theology
- Apostles Creed
- Athanasian Creed
- Nicene Creed
- Heidelberg Catechism
- Westminster Confession of Faith[3]
The Gujranwala Theological Seminary serves the church to train pasters and ministers.[4]