Filed under: 16-Who We Are
Who are We?
“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
Presbuteros, the Greek word meaning elder, is used 72 times in the New Testament. It 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.
In America, the first presbytery was organized in 1706, the first synod in 1717; the first General Assembly was held in 1789. Today’s Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 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.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is distinctly a confessional and a connectional church, distinguished by the representation of elders — laymen and laywomen — in its government. The church has a membership of 2.3 million in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Currently there are nearly 11 thousand congregations, over 21,000 ordained ministers, 1,100 candidates for ministry and more than 94,000 elders.
Presbyterians are BELIEVERS and DOERS
WE BELIEVE - in the Great Ends of the Church, as set forth in our Book of Order: “the proclamation of the Gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.”
WE BELIEVE – in a theology of mission, as expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith: “… Christ hath commissioned his Church to go into all the world and to make disciples of all nations. All believers are therefore under obligation … to contribute by their prayers, gifts, and personal efforts to the extension of the Kingdom of Christ throughout the whole earth.”
WE DO - mission and its related functions in “good Presbyterian order” through the structures of our General Assembly, synods, presbyteries and local churches, which provide accountability in a connectional system. The chief agencies of the General Assembly are the Office of the General Assembly, General Assembly Council, Board of Pensions, Presbyterian Foundation, Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program and Presbyterian Publishing Corporation.
WE DO - mission in partnership locally, nationally and globally by prioritizing our available resources, guided by the emphases given by our General Assembly, the biannual meeting of clergy and lay commissioners who represent the presbyteries of the church. Through the General Assembly, all Presbyterians have a voice in setting directions for mission and through their General Mission Giving, have a vital responsibility in carrying out what the General Assembly has mandated.
Presbyterians are ATTUNED to the TIMES
Our style for doing mission is biblically based and historically appropriate. It builds solidly on our past commitments and mission experience, but it also adapts to newly emerging needs and to changing relationships in a sensitive manner. Mission in the United States is decentralized as much as possible, determined by and administered at the appropriate level of the 16 regional synods, the 173 presbyteries, and the more than 11,000 congregations. Beyond our borders, we engage in mission and relations in partnership with churches and ecumenical bodies in more than 70 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Europe, Central, South, and Southeast Asia and East Asia and the Pacific.
Our witness, corporately and individually, is rooted in the gospel ministries of preaching, teaching, and healing, and in Christ’s example of advocacy for the poor, the hungry and the oppressed. We are Christ’s hands extended to a hurting and broken world!
