International Presbyterian Church

The International Presbyterian Church is a Reformed church in Europe, that holds to the Presbyterian confession of faith, with common commitments, purpose and accountability and government.

Origin

The church was founded by Francis Schaeffer as a missionary of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States. Schaeffer and his wife began L'Abri ("the Shelter") and then started the International Presbyterian Church. They moved from Switzerland to England, bringing the church with them. The first congregation started in Ealing in 1969.[1] They also created congregations among Korean-speaking people, including the London Korean Church.[2][3][4]

Missionaries for the church worked in Timișoara, Tirgiu Jui, Verona, Italy, Ghent, Belgium and Baku, Azerbaijan.[5][6]

Recently dissatisfied evangelical groups from the Church of Scotland have joined the church, with former ministers, elders and members creating the four new Scottish congregations out of existing Church of Scotland congregations.

Organization

The IPC has four presbyteries, namely a British Presbytery, a European Proto-Presbytery, Korean Presbytery and a South-Korean Proto-Presbytery.[7]

The British Presbytery comprises thirteen English-speaking congregations in the United Kingdom. They are:

England
  • Derby
  • Ealing
  • Liss
  • Shepherd's Bush
  • Southall
  • Leeds
  • Ilford
  • Brentford
  • York

Scotland
  • Aberdeen, Trinity Church[8]
  • Inverness, Highland International Church[9]
  • Kyle of Lochalsh: Grace Community Church[10]
  • Larbert: Grace Church[11]

These Presbyteries form a synod.[12]

Theology

The five statements of the Reformed doctrine:

  • Scripture Alone
  • Grace Alone
  • Faith Alone
  • Christ Alone
  • the Glory of God Alone[12]

References
  1. "IPC, founded by Francis Schaeffer, London congregation seeks to expand – The Aquila Report". 12 November 2012.
  2. Johannes a Lasco Library. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions". Reformiert-online.net. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  3. "International Presbyterian Church". Ipc-ealing.co.uk. 2012-04-19. Archived from the original on 2012-04-22. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  4. Fasse, Christoph. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions". www.reformiert-online.net.
  5. "International Presbyterian Church". Ipc-ealing.co.uk. 2012-11-23. Archived from the original on 2013-06-14. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  6. "St Peters International Presbyterian Church – Presbytery". Ipc-liss.com. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  7. IPC, The (6 April 2016). "Our Churches". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  8. "Trinity Church Aberdeen". Trinity Aberdeen. Retrieved 2019-11-11.
  9. "Home". Highland International Church. Retrieved 2019-11-11.
  10. "Grace Community Church". Retrieved 2019-11-11.
  11. "Grace Church Larbert | welcome". gracechurchlarbert.org. Retrieved 2019-11-11.
  12. "What is the International Presbyterian Church?".
  13. "International Presbyterian Church". International Presbyterian Church. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
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