We are Presbyterian because..

We have a form of government that encourages us to be the "Priesthood of all Believers." We are a representative democracy, electing our leaders in administration, spirituality, and service on a regular basis. In fact, the form of government of the United States of America is based so heavily on the Presbyterian form of government that at the time of the Revolutionary War, the King of England was known to have called it the "Presbyterian rebellion." 

We are the only Christian body that ordains lay people, thus placing our clergy and our laity on an absolutely equal footing. We ordain people to the office of Elder (or Presbyter, from the Greek) to be leaders in spirituality and administration. We ordain people to the office of Deacon to be leaders in service. We ordain people to the office of Pastor to be preachers, teachers, and administrators of the sacraments. All our ordinations are equal and all are, of course, for life. 

We govern ourselves by a constitution, based on our theology and giving us direction for doing things "decently and in order." This constitution contains the historic confessions of faith of the church from earliest days. It also contains rules for the day to day business of being the church, called "The Book of Order." This can be changed by overture to an annual elected assembly and then ratification of the change by a majority of the regional elected bodies (called Presbyteries). 

We do not try to be the church all on our own, but are connected together in a web of relationships. A collection of churches in a region are joined together as a Presbytery. Each congregation in the region sends its pastors and elects Elders to represent it at Presbytery meetings. We are part of Seattle Presbytery. A collection of Presbyteries in a region are joined together as a Synod. Each Presbytery sends elected pastors and Elders to represent it at Synod assemblies. Annually there is a nationwide General Assembly to which each Presbytery sends elected pastors and Elders to represent it. We have support, encouragement, aid, and council in abundance. 

We have a system that provides the means of accountability at all levels. There is always in place an approved method of dealing with disputes, complaints, unhappiness and inappropriate behavior by officers and/or members. 

We have a theology that places all of life in the hands of God. God's absolute sovereignty is the cornerstone of Reformed Theology. We believe that God is intimately involved in the details of daily human life. We recognize how easy it is for people to place idols of all kinds in the place of God, to worship many things before the worship of God. We know that humanity has a predilection to sinful behavior. Yet, at the same time we know ourselves to be loved and forgiven by God in ways that are inexplicable, undeserved and utterly surprising. God's grace, we know, is the cause of our daily renewal. We are, as Luther described himself, "justus et peccator", "made righteous and yet a sinner." 

We hold as one of our bedrock statements in our “Book of Order” the following: God alone is the Lord of the conscience. That is, people, being prone to error, are going to be wrong a good portion of the time. Conscience cannot be coerced by any human agency, but only persuaded by God. All power in a Christian body, we believe, is persuasive. 

We worship together using new music and old music, new prayers and old prayers, new ways and old ways, using the freedom given to us by our "Book of Order." We place a high value on preaching that stimulates our minds and moves our hearts, instructs as well as inspires. 

We hold (as our system gives us the freedom to hold) a variety of views on scriptural authority and theology, yet we are one community, united around the grace and love of God demonstrated in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

More information on what the Presbyterian Church, USA, can be found at their website, http://www.pcusa.org.