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
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,