Church Government

Caring,

Learning,

Giving

 as a Family

In Christ

Calendar

Comments/Questions about

FPC Today contact

johnbullock7@embarqmail.com

Last Update: 04/02/2008

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. It is part of the Reformed family of Protestantism, descending from the branch of the Protestant Reformation begun by John Calvin. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the USA.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) was established by the 1983 merger of the former Presbyterian Church in the United States, a southern branch of American Presbyterianism, and the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, a northern branch. The unified body currently has approximately 2.4 million members, 11,100 congregations, and 14,000 ordained ministers.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) has a representative form of government with four levels of government and administration, as outlined in the Book of Order, the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The governing bodies (as they are referred to) are as follows:

1. Session - Congregation elects, from its own body, members to serve as Elders on the Session. The Session is the governing body for each individual church making decisions on its behalf.

2. Presbytery - FPC is represented on this body by its Pastor and Commissioners appointed by the Session. FPC is in the Presbytery of Newton.

3. Synod - FPC and the Presbytery of Newton are in the Synod     of the Northeast with representitives appointed by the Presbytery.

4. General Assembly - The G.A. meets at least once every two years with representatives appointed by each Presbytery.

At the congregational level, the governing body is called the session. The session is made up of the pastor of the church and all elders in active service (selected by the congregation through a nominating committee). Session meetings are moderated by the pastor, who is aided by an elected clerk. This body takes care of the basic administration of the local church. The session also oversees the work of the deacons, a congregational-level group whose duty is to "to minister to those who are in need, to the sick, to the friendless, and to any who may be in distress both within and beyond the community of faith."

This church is incorporated under the laws of New Jersey with members of the session serving as trustees of the corporation.  “the power and duties of such trustees shall not infringe upon the powers and duties of the Session or of the board of deacons.” The Session is, however governed by the Constitution and Bylaws of this church.

These Bylaws may be viewed by clicking here. Acrobat Reader is necessary to view this document. Acrobat Reader may be downloaded without charge by clicking here.

The next level is the presbytery formed by all the ministers in a geographic area together with elders selected (proportional to congregation size) from each of the congregations. The PCUSA also has one non-geographic presbytery in each Synod (see below) for Korean Presbyterian Churches. The presbytery has responsibility for ordaining and installing ministers in congregations and also acts as a court of appeal from sessions in individual congregations. While the members of the congregation generally choose their own pastor, the presbytery must approve the choice and officially install the pastor in the position. Additionally, the presbytery must consent if the congregation wants to remove their pastor from office. The presbytery has authority over many affairs of its local congregations. The moderator of the presbytery, as well as a stated clerk, is elected annually. All pastors of congregations in a presbytery are members of the presbytery, not of their own congregation. Additionally, an executive presbyter is often appointed as an administrative staff member to care for the day-to-day duties of the presbytery. Presbyteries meet at least twice a year, but they have the discretion to meet more often.

Several presbyteries join together to form a synod. Each synod contains at least three presbyteries, and its membership includes both Ministers of the Word and Sacrament (that is, pastors) and elders. The synod is an intermediate level of government between the presbytery and General Assembly levels. Although the synod has many duties, they are primarily responsible for: developing and implementing the mission of the church throughout the region, facilitating communication between presbyteries and the General Assembly, and mediating conflicts between the churches and presbyteries. Synods are required to meet at least biennially, and meetings are moderated with the help of an elected Moderator and Stated Clerk.

The General Assembly is the highest governing body of the PC(USA). It consists of commissioners elected by presbyteries and is evenly divided between pastors and elders. There are many important responsibilities of the General Assembly. Among them, the Book of Order lists these four:

1. to set priorities for the work of the church in keeping with the church’'s mission under Christ,

2. to develop overall objectives for mission and a comprehensive strategy to guide the church at every level of its life,
3. to provide the essential program functions that are appropriate for overall balance and diversity within the mission of the church, and
4. to establish and administer national and worldwide ministries of witness, service, growth, and development.

Meeting at least once every two years, the General Assembly appoints a moderator at each assembly who chairs the rest of the sessions. A stated clerk is appointed to serve for a longer term and is responsible for the Office of the General Assembly which conducts the ecclesiastical work of the church. The Office of the General Assembly carries out most of the ecumenical functions and all of the constitutional functions at the Assembly. The General Assembly also elects a General Assembly Council (GAC) consisting of 72 ministers and elders responsible for advising the General Assembly on priorities, programs and strategies and implementing its decisions. The GAC meets three times a year.