Who Are We Presbyterians?

In America, the first presbytery was organized in 1706, the first synod in 1717; the first General Assembly was held in 1789.

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 2,560,201 in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Presently there are 11,216 congregations, 20,988 ordained ministers, 1104 candidates for ministry, and 108,207 elders.

What does It Mean to be Reformed?

We say we are Presbyterian and Reformed. What are the unique characteristics of the Reformed faith? Generally speaking

The essentials of our faith are acquired through the study of the Bible, the Creeds and Confessions, the history and tradition of the church, as well as through reflection upon our personal experience with God, with other human beings and those informal learning experiences in the family, neighborhood groups and personal relationships.

The essential presuppositions of the Reformed faith are that it is a tradition that is biblically grounded, historically informed, communally nurtured, ecumenically involved and socially engaged.

To Be Reformed is to be Biblically Grounded

To be Presbyterian and Reformed means that scripture is authoritative for our lives. It is affirming that the Holy Spirit works through the words of Scripture and brings the Word to us and guides us in faithful living. The Bible is a story of a people on a pilgrimage. This makes it our story too; therefore, we join the pilgrimage. God’s word is communicated to us through the entire Bible. Therefore, in understanding our biblical grounding, we study all the story. Lastly, we search for the Word of God together as the community of faith by reading, interpreting and listening for God’s Word.

The one sufficient revelation of God is Jesus Christ, the Word of God Incarnate, to whom the Holy Spirit bears unique and authoritative witness through the Holy Scriptures, which are received and obeyed on the Word of God written.

Confession of 1967 (l.27)

To Be Reformed is to be Historically informed

Our story begins with God’s covenant with the Hebrew people, and continues through God’s re-affirmation of the covenant in the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The church today is not an island but rather we are one with the communion of saints. Our future is shaped by our past which informs what is yet to be.

We are historically informed when we are informed by our historical church tradition and historical past.

To be historically informed is to be formed by our confessions. It does not mean being historically bound. Our creedal statements were conditioned by time and place.

They were often a reaction to what was happening in society at the time.

As a confessional church we show a sensitivity to issues and concerns that create, in our own day, the necessity to confess that God is indeed Lord of all life.

To Be Reformed is to be Ecumenically Nurtured

The church is strengthened through its whole life as a community in its worship, nurture, fellowship and service. These four are one ministry to which all Christians are called and in which they grow in faithfulness to Christ. We cannot be Christian alone. God in Christ calls us into community, which forms and reforms who we are and gives us our identity.

The visible church, which is also catholic or universal under the gospel (not continued to one nation as before the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion, together with their children; and is the (realm) of the Lord Jesus Christ; the house and family of God, through which )people) are ordinarily saved and union with which is essential to their best growth and service.

The Westminster Confession

of Faith (6.126)

To be Reformed is to be Ecumenically Involved

There is much disunity of the church. The Holy Spirit charges us to learn from one another and callus us all to live toward a visible unity as the body of Christ on earth. Baptism is the sacrament where God engrafts us into the universal church of Jesus Christ. The sacrament of communion affirms and celebrates how God’s people everywhere are made one by God as they remember what Christ has done for them.

Only One Church for All Times

And since there is always but one God, and there is one mediator between God and (humankind), Jesus the Messiah, and one Shepard of the whole flock, one head of this body, and to conclude, one spirit, one salvation, one faith, one testament or covenant, it necessarily follows that there is only one church.

Second Helvetic Confession

(5.126)

To Be Reformed is to be Socially Minded

God’s continuing creation, the church, is given the mandate and power to participate in the transformation of the lives of persons and institutions in society. The biblical basis for the church’s social involvement is clear. God’s mighty acts in history renew both persons and social orders. It is our responsibility to move with God into the troubled spots of our society and world as witnesses in word and deed to God’s reconciling love in Jesus Christ.