The Presbyterian Church does not have many ceremonies and rituals. We believe these are the only two ceremonies, which we call sacraments, which Christ instituted for the church throughout the ages.
Baptism is administered only once as a sign of our forgiveness from sin and our entrance into the family of God. Our congregation celebrates it on the first Sunday of every month. This ceremony reminds us, over and over, that we need the spiritual nourishment Christ brings to us and that Christ, our living Savior, is present with us, now and in the future. History and Beliefs of the Presbyterian Church.
Reformed and always reforming. We try to always reform our life and practice, both individually and corporately, according to the teachings of scriptures. However, this election is not primarily for privilege, but rather for service. It leads us to gratitude and assurance in our faith, and is best recognized in retrospect. Saved to share the good news with the world around us. Missions have always been a strong emphasis of our denomination. Bible centered. The scriptures of the Old and New Testament are our only authoritative guide for faith and life.
It means working for peace and justice. We seek to change unjust social structures where they exist. Thinkers of our faith.
We believe that God has given us minds to use for his service. We believe that the life of the mind is a service to God. Therefore, we study our faith in order to love God with our mind, as well as our heart and soul. The cross represents the incarnate love of God in Jesus Christ and his passion and resurrection. Because of its association with Presbyterian history, the Celtic cross was chosen as a model for this contemporary rendering of the ancient symbol.
The two center lines of the cross became the representation of an open book. This integration of the horizontal dimensions of the cross with the book motif highlights the emphasis which the Reformed tradition has placed on the role of Scripture as a means of knowing God's word. The slightly-flared shape of the Celtic cross also makes possible the transforming of the uppermost section into the shape of a descending dove.
As a symbol of the Holy Spirit, the dove is intimately tied to the representation of the Bible, affirming the role of the Spirit in both inspiring and interpreting Scripture in the life of the church. Beneath the image of the book is the suggestion of a lectern or pulpit, which captures the important role of preaching in the history of Presbyterian worship. Integrated into the lower part of the design are flames which form an implied triangle, a traditional symbol of the Trinity.
Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox, Methodist and Episcopal churches believe it is carried in the office of the bishop. Bishops receive their authority from previous bishops, all of whom received their authority from still earlier bishops.
Catholics and some Anglicans trace this authority back to the apostles themselves. Presbyterians believe church authority is not carried in individuals this way; rather, church leaders can declare the will of God only on the authority of Scripture.
When you have problems, you may ask your friends to pray for you. But why restrict yourself to present-day friends? Why not also ask radiant Christians from previous centuries to offer up their intercessions on your behalf? This is perhaps the most positive way to think of praying to the saints. Yet there is a problem here. Asking Saint Joan to pray for you becomes praying to Saint Joan.
But praying is an act of worship and devotion, and this can be offered only to God. In Roman Catholic thinking when you die you are carrying the guilt of all the sins you have committed since your last confession.
If your sins are venial relatively slight , you will now work them off in purgatory. A mortal sin, in contrast, cannot be resolved in purgatory; an unconfessed mortal sin means you are damned to hell. Presbyterians do not believe that sins can be graded this way. Sin is sin. Confession and assurance of pardon are not what enables God to forgive us, but rather what enables us to recognize or feel or experience that we are forgiven.
Presbyterians have always had a very strong doctrine of biblical authority, but historically most have shied away from calling that doctrine inerrancy. Inerrancy is a word that points to complete factual accuracy. It is easy to assume this must be the right word to describe Scripture since it is the Word of God and therefore must not have any mistakes in it. This entails adopting the role of a student toward my sisters and brothers in the church.
It means I must exhibit a willingness to try to see an issue through their eyes, rather than treating them with hostility because what they are saying contradicts my present understanding.
As the Constitution expresses it, being Presbyterian means we exercise forbearance toward each other. As a minister I am often asked what I believe in. The fact is, what I believe in has changed drastically in my 48 years. Some positions I once took a stand against, I now embrace; others I at one time accepted, I now reject. As they have shown themselves willing to listen to each other on issues such as the ordination of women, a great many Presbyterians have changed their understanding quite drastically over the course of their spiritual journey.
The more grounded I become in the Protestant watchwords grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone, the more I question the validity of a question concerning what I believe. I find significance in the order of those good Protestant words: grace first, then faith, then Scripture.
What I believe in has become less important to me over the years than belief. More appropriate, it seems to me, is the question of in whom I believe. My faith is not something I have to defend, as if it were a set of doctrines to which I must cling for dear life.
That is the glorious message of grace. Because I am secure in my confidence in God, I can now turn to Scripture with an open mind that is ready to be challenged, eager to question, keen to investigate. So there is nothing to be afraid of anymore. We Presbyterians believe in ongoing dialogue concerning the Bible because, to people of faith, no idea should be so shocking that it cannot be given a hearing.
If our faith is genuine, we have nothing to fear from any quarter.
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