THE PRESBYTERIAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT

We believe Jesus Christ is the only Head of his Church. It belongs to his Majesty from his throne of glory, to rule and teach the Church, by his Word and Spirit through the ministry of people--both women (Judges 4 and 5; 2 Chronicles 34:21-28; Acts 21:9; Acts 18:24-28; Romans 16:1; Galatians 3:28) and men.

The word presbyterian is from the Greek word presbuteros which means elder. Presbyterian government is government by elders. The office of elder was prominent among God’s people in both the Old Testament (Exodus 12:21; 18:13-26) and the New Testament (Acts 14: 23; 20:17; I Timothy 3:1-7). We believe that the office of bishop and elder are one and the same in the New Testament (Acts 20:17-38; Titus 1:5 and1:7). The elders should be selected, not because of their social status, popularity or worldly wisdom, but because of their love for Christ and his Church, their acceptance of the biblical faith, their gifts of spiritual wisdom and leadership, their godly example, their sense of call to serve the people of God, and their willingness to govern the church by the will of Christ as it is revealed in Scripture (I Timothy 3:1-13; I Timothy 4:7, 5:1; 2 Timothy 2:22-26; Matthew 20:25-28).

Pastors are sometimes called teaching elders (I Timothy 5:17). In addition to those qualifications expected of all elders the pastors, or teaching elders, ought to have gifts of preaching and teaching and have a sense of God’s call to this office. Presbyterian pastors are normally required to fulfill a specified course of education resulting in degrees from both a college or university and a theological seminary.

A second feature of presbyterian government is that the power is always shared among a number of elders--it is never exercised by one elder alone. It seems to us that the New Testament norm is for each congregation to have several elders working together (Acts 14:23; Acts 20:17-38). For this reason our congregations have a plural number of elders who are all of equal rank. One elder may never govern alone, but only in session with the other elders. Thus, the pastors (teaching elders) and the other elders, sometimes called ruling elders, make up the Church Session which is the local church governing body. In this way mutual responsibility and accountability are built into the system. No church officers, including pastors, can be “lone rangers”, but all are in subjection to each other in the Lord. Lord Acton’s political axiom, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely,” is as apt to be as true, we believe, in the church as it is in the world.

Ruling elders do not work full-time for the congregation they serve. They normally make their livings in the same kinds of occupations and professions that the other members of the congregation do. In popular language they are often called laymen and laywomen, although, since they are ordained elders, these terms are not technically correct. The pastors, on the other hand, are almost always employed by the congregation to work full-time in the Ministry of the Word and Prayer (Acts 6:4).

A third feature of presbyterian government is that it is a connectional system. Presbyterian churches are not independent, but are related to each other somewhat as counties are related to states and states to the national government. This allows for congregational individuality while maintaining the unity of the whole denomination. We believe that this connectional system best demonstrates the oneness of the Church of Jesus Christ, often protects congregations from power-plays by pressure groups or individuals, and should help prevent congregations from going off on tangents in matters of both faith and practice. The Council of Jerusalem, recorded in Acts 15, had authority over the churches. Therefore, we believe this arrangement not only sets forth the unity of the whole church of Jesus Christ and provides checks and balances, but that it is biblical.

Presbyterian churches in a local area or district are organized into a presbytery made up of the pastors and elders of the member churches. Several presbyteries in a region are organized into a synod made up of pastors and elders. All the presbyteries of our denomination across our nation are organized into a general assembly, again, made up of pastors and elders.

A fourth feature of presbyterian government is that it is constitutional. Because it is connectional there is one written Constitution for the whole denomination rather than separate constitutions for the individual congregations. 

A fifth feature of presbyterian government is that congregations elect their own officers: pastors, elders and (usually) deacons. This is done in a Congregational Meeting where all active members have voice and vote. Therefore, our government is representative. This is similar to our national government which was greatly influenced in its conception by the presbyterian system. Additionally, the congregation votes on any changes in pastors’ salaries, buying or selling church property, and any major expenditure on existing properties other than routine upkeep.

Deacons (Acts 6:1-6; I Timothy 3:8-13) are elected and ordained by most, though not all, Presbyterian congregations to work under the authority of  the Church Session in ministries of mercy to those with special needs--both within and beyond the congregation. They also carry out other important tasks assigned to them by the elders.

Although pastors are elected by the congregation, they are ordained to the ministry and installed as pastors in the congregation that called them by the presbytery. Thus, three parties must approve the call of a pastor before it can be carried out: the congregation, the pastor himself or herself and the presbytery. Because there are no time limits written into the calls of pastors and no system for moving them on a regular basis, the length of time Presbyterian pastors serve the same congregation varies greatly. Some serve a lifetime in one place. Others move quite frequently. A pastoral relationship with a church can be changed only with the consent of the presbytery. This acts as a check on actions that might otherwise be capricious and/or precipitous.