Our Beliefs

Adapted from “What We Believe” from the Presbyterian Church (USA).

What are Presbyterians?

The name Presbyterian comes from the Greek term in the New Testament for elder, presbuteros, a term used 72 times in the New Testament. The Presbyterian movement began among Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries and centered on what form of church government would be appropriate. Some thought the church should be governed by bishops (Greek: episkopos) and became the Episcopalian party, some by elders and became the Presbyterian party, and some directly by the congregation,  which became the Congregationalist party.

Presbyterian church government emphasizes that the leadership of the church is shared between those called to be ministers and church members called to be elders within the congregation — we use the terms Teaching Elder to refer to Ministers of Word and Sacrament and Ruling Elder to refer to church members called to be elders. This strong emphasis on Presbyterian church government is our heritage from Scottish Presbyterians.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is Reformed in its theology and presbyterian in its church government.

In North America the first presbytery was organized in 1706, the first synod in 1717; the first General Assembly was held in 1789. Today’s PC(USA) was created by the 1983 reunion of the two main branches of Presbyterians in America separated since the Civil War — the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. and the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. The latter had been created by the union of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and the United Presbyterian Church of North America in 1958. For a more detailed history of the Presbyterian Church in the larger context of Christianity, please visit our denominational website.

The PC(USA) is distinctly a confessional and a connectional church, distinguished by the representation of elders in its government. The church has a membership of 1.6 million in all 50 states and Puerto Rico with nearly 10,000 congregations and worshiping communities.

What do we believe?

Some of the principles articulated by John Calvin are still at the core of Presbyterian beliefs. Among these are the sovereignty of God, the authority of Scripture, justification by grace through faith and the priesthood of all believers. What these tenets 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.

Presbyterians confess their beliefs through statements that have been adopted over the years and are contained in The Book of Confessions. 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.

For a list of PC(USA) theological statements on various topics, please visit our denominational website.

How do we engage social issues?

The PC(USA) “affirms its conviction that neither the Church as the body of Christ, nor Christians as individuals, can be neutral or indifferent toward evil in the world; affirms its responsibility to speak on social and moral issues for the encouragement and instruction of the Church and its members, seeking earnestly both to know the mind of Christ and to speak always in humility and love; reminds the churches that their duty is not only to encourage and train their members in daily obedience to God’s will, but corporately to reveal God’s grace in places of suffering and need, to resist the forces that tyrannize, and to support the forces that restore the dignity of all men as the children of God, for only so is the gospel most fully proclaimed; . . .” (1958 Statement – PC(USA), p. 537).

As a local congregation, our witness to Jesus Christ is expressed through four core actions: (1) joyful hospitality and community; (2) welcome and nurturing of all people; (3) selfless care and mission in our local context; and (4) weekly gatherings for worship and prayer where we submit ourselves to Holy Scripture. These core actions discipline us away from turning the good news of Christian faith into a partisan weapon wielded against those who disagree with us. Our church family is eclectic and diverse and represents a varied array of views on certain issues. While we remain unafraid to speak the truth in love, we also remain committed to one another as we seek to follow Jesus Christ and practice the way of God’s kingdom.

For a comprehensive list of how our denomination engages with various social issues in our world, please visit our denominational website.