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Priority of the Word
We are not content to call ourselves a Bible church and assume that makes us one. We are self-consciously a Bible centered church where the scriptures are the final and binding authority in all that we do publicly and in our personal lives. The scriptures are God breathed and preserved by God for His people. God’s word is a means of grace necessary for conversion, spiritual growth, and the norm of the Christian life and the Christian church. The church is subject to the scriptures, but the scriptures do not replace the church.
Priority of Community
There are too many cowboy Christians wandering around with Bibles in their holsters and who proclaim themselves as their own personal Pope. This is impossible to reconcile with the Christian life the Bible describes as living in community and under authority. There are also many so called churches led by men not called by God nor men, who attest to their own authority (Paul described such men-2 Timothy 4).
Our Deep Roots and Larger Connection
The scriptures speak of local congregations but also the church universal. Our church does not arbitrarily abide by what the pastor teaches in any given moment or season, or popular trends. Our church does not simply call itself a bible church as if that actually made us a biblical church. All that we do and subscribe to is part of our commitment to the proper expressions of biblical apostolic Christianity. Our primary standards are the Holy Scriptures. Our secondary standards, the Westminster Standards express the correct reclamation of gospel teachings during the Reformation. Our confessional standards and practices have protected our confessing Presbyterians from worldly, secular, liberal and other influences for 400 years. We are the confessing Presbyterians that have built our nations and institutions. We belong to the evangelical, Missional and growing denomination called the Presbyterian Church in
America. You may recognize R.C. Sproul as one of our great teachers and the Rev. Tim Keller in
New York City as one of our great church planters and evangelists. We are one of the fastest growing denominations with a commitment to evangelism, church planting and world missions. Our Presbyterian form of government (rule by elders) follows the biblical model of church government (Hebrews 13:7, I Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9).
Marks of the Church
The Protestant Reformers identified three marks of Christ’s Church:
- Faithful preaching of the Word of God
- Proper administration of the Sacraments
- Church discipline-correctly exercised
(Do you know where your church has been?)
A Church in the Apostolic Tradition:
The Apostle’s Creed is the oldest and must universally recognized Creed of the Christian church-going back to the second century (and earlier to the apostles and their disciples):
APOSTLES CREED
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
and born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
who was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell.
and on the third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of the Father.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen
A Church Committed to Faithful Evangelical (Protestant) Theology and Practice in a Secular Post-Christian Age:
The following is a summary of our denominations (
PCA-Presbyterian
Church in
America’s) evangelical beliefs:
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Presbyterian Church in
America
We believe the Bible is the written word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the revelation of God’s truth and is infallible and authoritative in all matters of faith and practice.
We believe in the Holy Trinity. There is one God, who exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We believe that all are sinners and totally unable to save themselves from God’s displeasure, except by His mercy.
We believe that salvation is by God alone as He sovereignly chooses those He will save. We believe His choice is based on His grace, not on any human individual merit, or foreseen faith.
We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who through His perfect life and sacrificial death atoned for the sins of all who will trust in Him, alone, for salvation.
We believe that God is gracious and faithful to His people not simply as individuals but as families in successive generations according to His Covenant promises.
We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells God’s people and gives them the strength and wisdom to trust Christ and follow Him.
We believe that Jesus will return, bodily and visibly, to judge all mankind and to receive His people to Himself.
We believe that all aspects of our lives are to be lived to the glory of God under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
More can be learned about our church polity, practices and beliefs (Westminster Standards) at the following links including our PCA –Presbyterian Church in
America link:
Westminster Standards (our 400 year old theological commitments):
http://www.creeds.net/Westminster/contents.htm
Denominational Link:
www.pcanet.org
Here is a brief summary of our history:
A
BRIEF
HISTORY
PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH IN
AMERICA
The Presbyterian Church in
America has a strong commitment to evangelism, missionary work at home and abroad, and to Christian education. From its inception, the church has determined its purpose to be “faithful to the Scriptures, true to the reformed faith, and obedient to the Great Commission.”
Organized at a constitutional assembly in December 1973, this church was first known as the National Presbyterian Church but changed its name in 1974 to Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). It separated from the Presbyterian Church in the
United States (Southern) in opposition to the long-developing theological liberalism which denied the deity of Jesus Christ and the inerrancy and authority of Scripture. Additionally, the PCA held to the traditional position on the role of women in church offices.
In December 1973, delegates, representing some 260 congregations with a combined communicant membership of over 41,000 that had left the PCUS, gathered at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and organized the National Presbyterian Church, which later became the Presbyterian Church in America.
In 1982, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, joined the Presbyterian Church in
America. The Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, had been formed in 1965 by a merger of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in
North America, General Synod.
The PCA has made a firm commitment on the doctrinal standards which had been significant in presbyterianism since 1645, namely the
Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. These doctrinal standards express the distinctives of the Calvinistic or Reformed tradition.
Among the distinctive doctrines of the Westminster Standards and of Reformed tradition is the unique authority of the Bible. The reformers based all of their claims on “sola scriptura,” the Scriptures alone. This included the doctrine of their inspiration which is a special act of the Holy Spirit by which He guided the writers of the books of Scriptures (in their original autographs) so that their words should convey the thoughts He wished conveyed, bear a proper relation to the thoughts of other inspired books, and be kept free from error of fact, of doctrine, and of judgment -- all of which were to be an infallible rule of faith and life. Historically, the concept of infallibility has included the idea of inerrancy.
Other distinctives are the doctrines of grace, which depict what God has done for mankind’s salvation: (1) Total depravity of man. Man is completely incapable within himself to reach out towards God. Man is totally at enmity with God, cf. Romans 3:10-23. (2) Unconditional election by the grace of God. There is absolutely no condition in any person for which God would save him. As a matter of fact, long before man was created, God chose or predestined some to everlasting life. He did this out of His mere good pleasure, cf. Ephesians 1:4 and 5. (3) Particular atonement. God in His infinite mercy, in order to accomplish the planned redemption, sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to die as a substitute for the sins of a large but specific number of people, cf. Romans 8:29 and 30. (4) The irresistible grace of God. This is the effectual work of the Holy Spirit moving upon a particular person whom He has called, applying the work of redemption, cf. John 3:5 and 6. (5) The perseverance of the saints. This is that gracious work of God’s sanctification whereby He enables a saved person to persevere to the end. Even though the process of sanctification is not complete in this life, from God’s perspective it is as good as accomplished, cf. Romans 8:30, 38, and 39, and Philippians 1:6.
The PCA maintains the historic polity of Presbyterian governance set forth in The Book of Church Order, namely rule by presbyters (or elders) and the graded assemblies or courts. These courts are the session, governing the local church; the presbytery, for regional matters; and the general assembly, at the national level. It has taken seriously the position of the parity of elders, making a distinction between the two classes of elders, teaching and ruling. It has self-consciously taken a more democratic position (rule from the grass roots up) on presbyterian governance in contrast to a more prelatical form (rule from the top assemblies down).
The PCA Ministry Buildings in Lawrenceville is the location from which most of the ministries of the denomination are coordinated. These ministries are carried on by four Program committees --
Mission to the World,
Mission to
North America, Christian Education and Publication, Reformed University Ministries, and one service committee, the Administrative Committee, responsible for the administration of the General Assembly. Additionally, there are five agencies which also minister to the denomination: PCA Foundation, PCA Retirement & Benefits, Inc. (both located in Lawrenceville), Ridge Haven, (the PCA conference center located close to Rosman, North Carolina), Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, (the national educational institutions of the PCA).
The PCA is one of the faster growing denominations in the
United States, with over 1700 churches and missions throughout the
USA and
Canada. There were over 335,000 communicant and non-communicant members as of December 2000.
The influence of the PCA extends far beyond the walls of the local church.
Mission to the World has 519 career missionaries in almost 60 nations of the world, 169 two-year missionaries, and over 6500 short term missionaries. Because of the unique relationship between
Mission to the World with over thirty mission organizations with whom some of our missionaries are working, some consider that the influence is far greater than our size might indicate. Indeed, PCA churches support an additional 690 career missionaries, covering over 130 nations. Further, with more than 100 chaplains in the military, Veterans Administration, prisons, and hospitals, and 45 college and university campus ministers, the Gospel is proclaimed to a rather large audience around the world not reached through usual outreach channels. Because of the emphasis on education, there are many members of the PCA who are teachers and professors at all levels, including a significant number of large universities and theological seminaries.
In this new century, the Presbyterian Church in
America continues its commitment to evangelism world-wide and the building up of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Bibliography:
James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith, Intervarsity Press, IL, 1986
John Edwards Richards, The Historical Birth of the Presbyterian Church in
America,
Liberty Press, SC, 1986
Frank Joseph Smith, The History of the Presbyterian Church in
America, Reformation Education Foundation,
Manassas,
VA 1985
Morton H. Smith, How is the Gold Become Dim,
Jackson,
MS, 1973
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