Information 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.

In sixteenth century, a Protestant Reformation occurred from which Presbyterians were birthed. The heritage and theology was begun by John Calvin who was a Swiss/French attorney as well as a theologian. Solidification of reformed thinking before Calvin was highly as a result of his writing.

The rest of Europe had the Reformed movement spread to it from Geneva where Calvin was located. John Knox, a colleague of Calvin started the Scottish Reformation. Knox brought the reformation back home from Geneva. The Reformation moved to America and later the entire world. It is continuing to spread even today.

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.

In 1973, the PC in America (PCA) split from PC in the US and has grown to become the second biggest PC in this country. The acceptance of ordained female clergies was the main reason PCA broke off. Afterwards, the Evangelical PC (EPC) split away and in 1981, it was incorporated. EPC does not allow or disallow ordained female priests. Instead, it lets local presbyteries choose on their own.

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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