Presbyterianism

B

Confessions

Although Presbyterian and Reformed churches regard the Bible as the supreme authority for the church and the individual believer, they are also known as “confessional” churches because of their effort to write confessions that define and guide the theology and practice of the church. Many Reformed confessions have been written in different countries at different times, from the 16th to the 20th century. The most important early confessions were the First Helvetic Confession (1536), the Scots Confession (1560), the Belgic Confession (1561), the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), the Second Helvetic Confession (1566), the Canons of the Synod of Dort (1619), and the Westminster Confession and Shorter Catechism (1647). Two examples of recent confessional statements are the Theological Declaration of Barmen, issued by the German Evangelical Church in 1934, and the Confession of 1967, adopted by the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. The most influential of all these confessions, particularly for Anglo-American Presbyterian churches, has been the Westminster Confession.

C

Forms of Worship

Presbyterian worship has always allowed for considerable flexibility in forms and practices, but it is based on Calvin's definition of the essential characteristics of the church being the faithful proclamation of the gospel and the celebration of the sacraments. In the United States, the influence of Puritanism and revivalism (see Revivals, Religious) contributed to a growing emphasis on the sermon as the center of worship; liturgy was practically absent, and the Lord's Supper was celebrated only occasionally. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, however, a renewal of the Reformed understanding of worship and the ecumenical movement brought greater richness to Presbyterian worship. The sermon is still important, but services are also characterized by a greater use of liturgy and a more regular celebration of the Lord's Supper.

D

Ecumenism

The churches in the Presbyterian tradition have usually been organized according to national boundaries, although within each country they have often suffered divisions. As a group, however, they have been known for their ecumenical spirit. They are associated within their own tradition in the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and they provided leadership in the founding of the World Council of Churches. In the United States they cooperate with other denominations in the work of the National Council of Churches and the Consultation on Church Union. Similar ecumenism within Presbyterianism has been shown in the establishment of the United Church of Canada, the Church of South India, and united churches in other countries.

E

Presbyterianism in the United States

Presbyterian churches in the United States draw their members from many different ethnic groups, but their early history was heavily influenced by English and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. The First American Presbyterian churches were founded by English colonists on Long Island, New York, and in New England during the 1640s; a later wave of Scottish and Scotch-Irish immigrants established churches as they settled along the eastern shore of Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware, as well as in the middle colonies of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Some interpreters point to an English current in American Presbyterianism emphasizing piety, experience, and experimentation, and a Scotch-Irish influence of rationalism, order, and clearly defined authority. These two impulses have characterized much of American Presbyterian history.

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Francis Makemie, a Scots-Irish Presbyterian minister who came to the colonies in 1683, is generally considered the father of American Presbyterianism. Under his leadership, the first presbytery was organized in 1706. The first synod was established in 1716, and the first general assembly met in 1789.

E

1

Divisions

Four major divisions have occurred in American Presbyterianism. The first arose during the 1740s over the revivalism of the first Great Awakening; the second occurred during the 1830s due to slavery, theological issues, and the conduct of missionary work; the third took place in 1861 because of the American Civil War; and the fourth was during the 1920s and 1930s at the peak of the controversy between Fundamentalism and modernism.

The division that occurred during the Civil War produced the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (2.5 million members in 1980), popularly known as the “northern” Presbyterian church, and the Presbyterian Church in the United States (860,000 members in 1980), commonly called the “southern” Presbyterians. In 1983 these two bodies were formally reunited as the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); it had nearly 3.6 million members in the late 1990s.

Other Presbyterian churches include the Presbyterian Church in America, merged in 1982 with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod; the Associate Presbyterian Church of North America; the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church; the Bible Presbyterian Church; the Cumberland Presbyterian Church; the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of America; the Orthodox Presbyterian Church; the Reformed Presbyterian Church; the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America; and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

The American Reformed churches with presbyterian government are the Reformed Church in America, the Christian Reformed Church, the Hungarian Reformed Church in America, the Netherlands Reformed Congregations, the Protestant Reformed Churches of America, and the Reformed Church in the United States.

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