About Presbyterians
"In
gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve
Christ in our daily tasks and to live holy and joyful lives,
even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth praying,
‘Come Lord Jesus.’"
—From
a Brief Statement of Faith of the Presbyterian Church (
USA
)
Christianity
While
we are Presbyterians—a denominational designation—we are,
above all, Christians. As
Christians we believe in one God who is expressed in three
different persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and who is
revealed to us in the pages of the book we commonly called the
Holy Bible. The Bible contains both the Hebrew or Jewish
experience of God (the Old Testament), and the Christian
experience of God (the New Testament).
The
writers of the Old Testament tell the story of God, who
created everything good; and human beings, who were to be the
caretakers of God’s marvelous creation. Despite God’s clear direction about what they were to
do, the first humans were disobedient to God allowing sin (a
separation or turning from God) to enter the world. From that point forward, the Old Testament relates the
story of God's never-ending efforts to restore and rebuild a
relationship with humanity through a special relationship with
the Jewish people. It is the story of God's faithfulness,
humanity's rebellion, and God's continuous offer of saving
love.
In
the New Testament, we find the story of the fulfillment of
God's desire to establish a relationship of saving love
through Jesus of Nazareth, whom we believe is the Christ (from
the Greek word meaning "chosen one," the Messiah of
the Old Testament). Jesus
lived a sinless life (that is, no separation from God). He was executed by the Roman government because he
claimed to be King of the Jews, and this was a threat both to
Rome
and to the religious
leaders of Judaism. While he was sinless, he accepted the sins
of humanity in his death.
Christians
believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, overcoming our
separation from God once and for all. Those who accept Jesus as their savior are reunited
with God through His life, death and resurrection. After Jesus
was raised from the dead, he assured his followers that their
relationship with God would be sustained by the Holy Spirit,
which is the presence of God with us now.
--Adapted from First Presbyterian
Church on
Orange Street
( Lancaster,
PA
)
History
Presbyterians trace their history to the 16th century
and the Protestant Reformation. Our heritage, and much of what
we believe, began with the French lawyer John Calvin
(1509-1564), whose writings crystallized much of the Reformed
thinking that came before him.
Calvin
did much of his writing from
Geneva,
Switzerland. From there, the Reformed movement spread to other part of
Europe
and the
British Isles. Many of the early
Presbyterians in
America
came from
England,
Scotland
and
Ireland. The first American Presbytery was organized at
Philadelphia
in 1706. The first General Assembly was held in the same city
in 1789. The first Assembly was convened by the Rev. John
Witherspoon, the only minister to sign the Declaration of
Independence
.
Our
Name
The word “Presbyterian” comes from the Greek word
presbuteros,
meaning elder, a term used many times in the New
Testament. Elders
were those persons identified and given responsibility to
govern the early church, so Presbyterian refers to our form
of government. Each
Presbyterian congregation elects elders—persons with gifts
for leadership—to help the pastors guide and direct the
spiritual life of the congregation. Presbuteros
also provided the name for the Presbyterian family of
churches, which includes the Reformed churches of the world.
Both Presbyterian and Reformed are synonymous
with churches of the Calvinist tradition.
What
is distinctive about the Presbyterian Church?
Presbyterians
are distinctive in two major ways: we adhere to a pattern of
religious thought known as Reformed theology and a form of
government that stresses the active, representational
leadership of both ministers and church members.
In
the Reformed tradition, the church:
…is open to the
reform of its standards of doctrine as well as of governance.
The church affirms “Ecclesia reformata, semper
reformanda,” that is, “The church reformed, always
reforming,” according to the Word of God and the call of the
Spirit. (Book
of Order, G-2.0200)
Our
Theology and Confessions
Some of the principles articulated by John Calvin
remain at the core of Presbyterian beliefs. Among these are the sovereignty of God, the authority
of the scripture, justification by grace through faith and the
priesthood of all believers. What they mean is that God is the supreme authority
throughout the universe. Our
knowledge of God and God's purpose for humanity comes from the
Bible, particularly what is revealed in the New Testament
through the life of Jesus Christ. Our salvation (justification) through Jesus is God's
generous gift to us and not the result of our own
accomplishments. It
is everyone's job—ministers and lay people alike—to share
this Good News with the whole world. That is also why the Presbyterian church is governed at
all levels by a combination of clergy and laity, men and women
alike.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) is
distinctly a confessional church. Our Book of
Confessions includes seven different expressions of Christian
faith from eleven different periods of history. We encompass a wide range of beliefs and opinions.
These
statements reflect our understanding of God and what God
expects of us at different times in history, but all are
faithful to the fundamental beliefs described above. Even though we share these common beliefs,
Presbyterians understand that God alone is lord of the
conscience, and it is up to each individual to understand what
these principles mean in his or her life. We move forward in the creative tension that Jesus
Christ is Lord and reveals His will for our lives through our
inquiry into the Bible and our dialogue with each other.
Our Government
The PC(USA) is also a connectional church. While each congregation elects elders to govern through
a body called the Session at the local church, all
congregations are connected through a system of governing
bodies to the church at the national level. According to our
Book of Order, “The
nature of Presbyterian order is such that it shares power and
responsibility. The
system of governing bodies, whether they have authority over
one or many churches, sustains such mutual relationships
within the structures as to express the unity of the church”
(G-4.0302).
