Historical Vignettes:
Scottish Roots of The Presbyterian Church in Canada
The Presbyterian Church in Canada has its historical roots within the Church in Scotland, following closely its doctrine, church government and forms of worship. The structure of the Church of Scotland itself, stems largely from the work and thought of John Calvin (1509-1564). Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, published in 1536, along with the form of Church government and discipline he established while in Geneva, appealed strongly to those leading the movement towards church reform in Scotland. Most notable of these leaders was John Knox (1515-1572). Knox admired the pattern of church life he saw in Calvin's Geneva, and through his influence, a Calvinistic pattern was imposed upon the Church. Following the death of Knox in 1572, the movement towards a Presbyterian style of church government within the Church of Scotland was consolidated by Andrew Melville (1545-1622), and later confirmed by King James VI of Scotland in 1595. Through the settlement of Eastern Canada by Scots Highlanders beginning in the 1700s, and through the migration of Loyalists into Upper and Lower Canada in the late 1700s and early 1800s, Presbyterianism was brought to the "New World".
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