What is a Presbyterian Church?

Understanding Names

Many churches across America have certain words connected to their name to communicate something about their affiliations and commitments. There are Reformed churches, Baptist churches, Presbyterian churches, Methodist churches, non-denominational churches – the list goes on. Yet for the average person, it can sometimes be a mystery what it actually means to belong in one of these categories.

Fellowship Reformed Church is both a Reformed and Presbyterian church in Mount Pleasant, MI, so I want to take time to explain what a Presbyterian church is. But as I take time here to explain what it means to be Presbyterian, it’s important to note that there are multiple strands of Presbyterianism in America today. The Presbyterian Church (USA) is currently the largest of these strands in terms of American membership. However, the PCUSA has departed from the historical positions held by Presbyterianism and the Christian church in general. As such, I’ll be articulating historical Presbyterian positions here, which are those that are still faithfully maintained in North America’s second-largest Presbyterian denomination – the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) – as well as in similar sister denominations.

Presbyterian Church Leadership

The word Presbyterian is derived from the Greek word presbuteros. It’s a Biblical word that means elder, and it appears many times in Greek manuscripts of the New Testament to refer to an official leadership position in a church. The New Testament prescribes that the church in each town should be led by the shared oversight of multiple elders (Titus 1:5). It’s important for the health of the church that these men meet basic qualifications regarding their character and ability to teach (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:6-9). A certain man or subset of men from the elders are then especially tasked with laboring in preaching and teaching (1 Timothy 5:17) – those that we commonly refer to as pastors to distinguish them from the other elders.

At the time of the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic church had deviated from these principles of church governance. The Roman Catholic church adopted a hierarchical form of church governance that was similar to the organizational structure of the former Roman Empire. The bishop/elder of Rome was curiously elevated to a position of ecclesiastical supremacy (the papacy) with subsequent tiers of bureaucracy underneath.

Those involved in the Protestant Reformation, after studying the Scriptures and the early church Fathers, recognized this and other errors in the Roman Catholic church. Protestant Churches in Scotland became known as Presbyterian churches because they insisted on a Biblical model of elder-leadership that was distinct from the hierarchical structures of the papacy.

Presbyterian Commitment to the Historical Christian Faith

In the early 1600s, Presbyterianism became a dominant movement in England. And in the 1640s, leading pastors and scholars in the English and Scottish Protestant churches joined together to write out a clear, rigorous summary of the Christian faith that became known as the Westminster Standards.

Many Presbyterian churches today make use of the Westminster Standards as a teaching tool and to evaluate whether or not elder candidates are in agreement with historical Christianity as handed down to us by our fathers and mothers in the faith. A church that utilizes the Westminster Standards in this way is often called a “confessional church,” because the church endeavors to maintain genuine solidarity with the historical Church by confessing the same Biblical truths.

Presbyterianism and God’s Covenant

In addition to these distinctives, bible-believing Presbyterian churches emphasize the continuity that exists between the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Some Christian groups suggest that the Old Testament records various ways that God tried to deal with people, but that the failures of those strategies prompted the necessity of a new strategy – namely, Jesus.

Presbyterians recognize, however, that this is a tragic misrepresentation of God’s wisdom and power. Rather, they understand that God’s plan from the very beginning was to send His Son into the world to redeem His people. Jesus himself is on record for saying that the Old Testament is about him (Luke 24:25-27, Luke 24:44-48, John 5:39, John 5:45-46). Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament expectations – not a new innovation to compensate for God’s poor foresight (Matthew 5:17).

And throughout the Old Testament, God shows that he is a God who draws near to people and relates to them by making covenants. Examples of this include a covenant with Noah in Genesis 9:8-17, with Abraham in Genesis 15, with Moses and the nation of Israel in Exodus 24:6-8, and with David in 2 Samuel 7. Presbyterians recognize that understanding this covenant idea is important for understanding the storyline of God’s redemptive plan, and for rightly understanding the signs of the new covenant (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper).

Important Things to Consider

Presbyterians in the PCA share many commonalities with healthy, gospel-centered churches that belong to other denominations. They affirm the inerrancy of Scripture, are concerned with leading a life of genuine Christian vitality and holiness, and are deeply concerned about declaring the good news of God’s grace to other sinners. Many Presbyterians are likewise passionate and active in church planting, community service, and Christian education.

But Presbyterians have several distinct features. Presbyterian churches have multiple elders that share real accountability and responsibility for the spiritual oversight of each local church. They also are deeply committed to a robust understanding of the Bible and the historical Christian faith. Presbyterians also affirm the unity of the Bible as all belonging to one gracious plan of God to redeem lost sinners according to his covenant love and loyalty. These distinctions are important to think about, and we do well when we understand the differences between various denominational bodies that are present in America today.