What Is Presbyterian?
Trinity Church invites you to explore the roots of the Presbyterian tradition and what it means to be part of this historic branch of the Christian family.
Roots and Growth of the Presbyterian Tradition
During the 1500s, the Protestant Reformation swept across many nations as people began to claim three freedoms: the freedom to read and respond to the Bible for themselves; the freedom to enjoy a direct relationship with God without a priest or church authority standing in between; and the freedom to follow their own consciences even when religious institutions demanded otherwise.
The work of Martin Luther in Germany, and especially John Calvin's theological and church reforms in Geneva, Switzerland, laid the groundwork for the Scottish Reformation led by John Knox. Through the 1600s the Presbyterian system of church governance took shape, and early immigrants carried it to the American colonies.
Today, through worship, mission, and its congregations, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) strives to live out the reformers' words: "Reformed, and always being Reformed."
What Does "Presbyterian" Mean?
Presbyterian refers to the way the church is governed. Oversight of a local congregation does not rest with individuals appointed by a distant authority, nor with the congregation deciding by majority vote. Instead, responsibility belongs to elected bodies at the congregational, regional, and national levels.
Each congregation's ruling council is called the Session, made up of women and men known as elders who have been set apart through election and ordination for a supervisory role. The word "elder" translates the Greek New Testament term presbuteros, the source of the name Presbyterian.
What Do Presbyterians Believe?
In life and in death we belong to God. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve.
Adapted from the Brief Statement of Faith (1991) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).