Friday 15 April 2016

What One Should Know About NJ Presbyterian Churches

By Stephanie Sullivan


The Presbyterian Church refers to a global mainline Protestant Christian denomination. The abbreviation PC is often used to stand for Presbyterian Church. The establishment of the church within the United States occurred in 1983 when the United PC in the USA (UPCUSA) and the PC in the USA (PCUS) merged. The border and southern states housed most of the PC in US churches while congregations of the United PCUS were located all over the country. Today, NJ Presbyterian Churches are among PC churches that can be found anywhere within the United States of America.

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 origin of Presbyterians can be traced back to the Protestant Reformation that took during the sixteenth century. The theology and heritage of the church was started by Swiss/French theologian and lawyer named John Calvin. The writing of Calvin played a big role in solidifying much of Reformed thinking that appeared before him.

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.

Many separate and independent denominations have been separated from the main PC church. For instance the Orthodox PC split from PC in 1936. In the recent times, the church has come under a great threat where modern congregations are splitting away because of dissatisfaction with the direction of the church. Denominations that split form their own PC churches to continue with the reformed tradition.

The PC in America (PCA) broke from PCUS in 1973 and has become the second largest Presbyterian in the United States. PCA broke away because the main church was allowing ordained female clergies. The Evangelical PC (EPC) also broke away and became incorporated in 1981. EPC, unlike PC within the US and PCA, gives local presbyteries the power to decide if they want ordained female clergies.

The everyday operations of PC are governed by a constitution. The constitution has two sections. The Book of Confessions (BoC) and Book of Order are the first and second sections respectively. The Book of Confessions outlines all beliefs of the PC through declaring creeds that lead and instruct leaders.

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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