The Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu was initially formed as a result of missionary activity by British and Samoan Islander missionaries of the London Missionary Society (LMS) between 1837 and 1848. They prepared the way for Presb from Nova Scotia (Canada), Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand. Among them the two most prominent figures were John Geddie from Nova Scotia, who arrived in 1948, and J. G. Paton, from Scotland. Paton�s relatives and descendants later figured as an almost legendary �missionary succession.� Expansion of the church from origins in the southern island of Aneityum proceeded in a broadly northern direction and featured the training and local employment of indigenous teachers and pastors who worked under exclusively white mission control until the local church became autonomous in 1948 as the Presbyterian Church in the New Hebrides. The presence of a minority of French Prot in the old condominium and the work of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society in neighboring New Caledonia to the south led to tentative cooperation with a minority of French-speaking people of Ref background, especially during World War II, mainly in the north of the country, where French RCath Marist missionaries were active. Missionary personnel and material aid have come largely by way of Australia and New Zealand, though the church�s Scots origins have not been forgotten. In the postwar period the church contributed national political leadership and helped to promote the adoption of Bislama, a flexible neo-Melanesian pidgin, as the national language by using it in worship, Bible translation, and internal church business. Vanuatu�s Presb leaders have also contributed to ecumenical developments in the Pacific Island.
17 Nov. 1839 was the first arrival of Rev. John William on the Island of Fortuna. From Fortuna John William went to Port Reselution Tanna where two teachers were placed. The strip Camden continued on to Erromango where Rev. John William was martyred. The following year in 1841 Apela and Samuele were placed on fortuna. But they were martyred. There was a period of 13 years before an open door was opened at Anlityum.
The church was declared an independent church in 1948. In 1998 the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu celebrated it's Golden Jubilee.
The Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu claims 38% of the population - which is 200.000 people.
The Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu has it's own confessions.
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