Presbyterians << `prehz` buh TIHR ee uhnz >> form a large group of Protestant denominations in English-speaking countries. Outside these countries, many churches of this tradition are called Reformed. More than 225 churches belong to the World Communion of Reformed Churches.
The term presbyterian refers to a distinctive pattern of church government. Presbyter is the New Testament term for elder. Presbyterian congregations are governed by boards, called sessions or consistories, composed of the minister and lay elders. The sessions send representatives to church councils, called presbyteries or classes, which oversee the congregations of the district. The presbyteries are represented in regional synods or assemblies. Representative government operates at all levels, with lay elders participating equally with ministers. All the ministers have equal rank.
Teaching and worship.
The Presbyterian and Reformed tradition has always referred to the Bible as the final religious authority. The churches have produced a series of official statements expressing their understanding of Biblical truth. Of these basic documents of Reformed theology, the two best-loved and most influential are the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) and the Shorter Westminster Catechism (1647). The earlier catechism is widely used in Europe, and the later one is more popular in English-speaking countries. The American Presbyterian Confession of 1967 is another official statement.
The most influential theologian in the developing years of the Reformed tradition was John Calvin. He was more a commentator on the Bible than a systematic thinker, and scholars debate whether Calvin’s thought can be summed up under any single theme. One central point in Calvin’s thinking is the conviction that God is the actual present ruler over all creation. This belief is basic to the Reformed tradition generally.
Predestination is another important theme. It is less central in Calvin but more important in the thought of some later Reformed theologians. Predestination is a doctrine which states that God determines the eternal destiny of humanity. The conception is illustrated by Jesus’s saying “You did not choose me but I chose you” (John 15:16). Predestination is no longer a characteristic theme of Reformed teaching.
In worship, the Reformed churches have always stressed preaching, along with the Biblical sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The Reformed churches have produced many great preachers. Congregational worship was once characterized by the singing of psalms translated into the vernacular (local languages) and arranged in meter. Within the last 100 or 200 years, hymns have generally replaced psalms. The formal liturgies (church services) during the Reformation of the 1500’s were largely replaced by free prayer beginning in the 1600’s. The Reformed churches have partially returned to set forms of worship.
History.
The Reformed tradition has always been the most international of the main Protestant bodies. Unlike Anglicanism and Lutheranism, Reformed churches often had to organize without government support, and sometimes under persecution. Many of their leaders, including Calvin and John Knox, were exiles or refugees from France, England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Poland, or Hungary.
Geneva, Switzerland, was a notable international refugee center. From Geneva, Reformed ideas and leaders spread throughout Europe. Reformed churches were organized in nearly all European countries, each with its statement of faith, liturgy, and form of government.
The term presbyterian was not generally used for Reformed churches until the English Civil War of the 1640’s. During the war, Parliament summoned the Westminster Assembly, a council of clergymen, to advise the government on church affairs. The assembly devised a plan of presbyterian organization for the Churches of England, of Scotland, and of Ireland. It also drafted the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), the Larger Westminster Catechism and Shorter Westminster Catechism (both 1647), and a worship manual. This program did not survive the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. But the theology of the assembly documents remained influential for Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and most Baptists throughout the English-speaking world.
The Presbyterian and Reformed churches played an important part in the great missionary movement of the 1800’s. Today, the World Communion of Reformed Churches includes churches in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and the Pacific. In several cases, the Presbyterian and Reformed churches have played an important role in forming united churches with other denominations. This has been the case in China, Japan, southern India, and the Philippines.
In 1983, the northern United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and the southern Presbyterian Church in the United States voted to reunite. They formed the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In 2015, the united church voted to allow its clergy to perform same-sex marriages where legal. The nation’s second largest Presbyterian church is the Presbyterian Church in America, with about 400,000 members.
