Sunday 10 April 2016

Basics About NJ Presbyterian Churches

By Stephanie Sullivan


The Presbyterian Church, often abbreviated as PC is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination worldwide. In the United States, the PC was established in 1983 following the merger of the PC in the US (PCUS) and the United PC in the USA (UPCUSA). The PC in the US had most of its churches located within the border and southern states while the UPCUSA had congregations in all the states. Today, NJ Presbyterian Churches and other churches are located within the whole of the United States.

At the conclusion of 2014, the PC denomination had an estimated 20, 383 ordained ministers, 1, 667, 767 members, and 9, 829 congregations. Despite that big number, the membership of this church has dropped constantly within the last couple of years. There are over three million PC (USA) adherents. The denominational officers of the church are situated Kentucky in Louisville. PC is one among the members of Christian Churches Together, World Communion of Reformed Churches, and World Council of Churches.

The Protestant Reformation that occurred during the 16th century is the origin of Presbyterians. John Calvin, a Swiss/French lawyer and theologian began the heritage and theology. The reformed thinking that happened prior to emergence of Calvin was highly solidified by his writing.

Calvin had his capital in Geneva, Switzerland and from there the Reformed movement spread throughout Europe. The Scottish Reformation was began by someone named John Knox who as a colleague of Calvin in Geneva. When Knox returned to Scotland, he brought the Reformed thinking with him which was embraced quite eagerly by the people. The movement then spread to the rest of the world and has continued to spread ever since.

A lot of separations by independent denominations from the main church have occurred over the years. One among the earliest separation occurred in 1936 when Orthodox PC broke away from PC in the US. Separations have continued until recently when they have become a threat to the faith itself. Denominations that split claim to be dissatisfied with the direction the church is taking. Separated churches continue with reformed tradition.

In 1973, (PCA) separated from PCUS and is now number two in terms of size in whole of US. PCA split because of disagreements about acceptance of ordained female clergies. Shortly afterwards, EPC split too and by 1981, it had been incorporated. Ordained female clergies are not disallowed or allowed to practice in EPC, but rather the decision has to be made by the local presbyteries.

PC works with a constitution which governs its everyday operations. The constitution is made of two parts. The first part is the Book of Confessions (BoC) while the second part is the Book of Order (BoO). The beliefs of PC are outlined in BoC through a declaration of creeds by which leaders are led and instructed.

The Book of Order acts as a complement for the BoC. The rationale and a concise description of how the church functions and is organized at all levels are found in the Book of Order. The description runs from the lowest levels to the top. Local leaders must keep top leaders informed about issues concerning implementation of constitution.




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