Editing Presbyterianism (section)

==Characteristics==
Presbyterians distinguish themselves from other denominations by [[doctrine]], institutional organisation (or "church order") and [[worship]], often using a "Book of Order" to regulate common practice and order. The origins of the Presbyterian churches are in [[Calvinism]]. Many branches of Presbyterianism are remnants of previous splits from larger groups. Some of the splits have been due to doctrinal controversy, while some have been caused by disagreement concerning the degree to which those ordained to church office should be required to agree with the [[Westminster Confession of Faith]], which historically serves as an important confessional document – second only to the Bible, yet directing particularities in the standardisation and translation of the Bible – in Presbyterian churches.

Presbyterians place importance on education and lifelong learning, tempered with the belief that no human action can affect [[Salvation (Christianity)|salvation]].

Continuous study of the scriptures, theological writings, and understanding and interpretation of church doctrine are embodied in several statements of faith and [[catechisms]] formally adopted by various branches of the church, often referred to as "[[subordinate standard]]s".

===Government===
{{Main|Presbyterian church governance}}
[[File:Lorimer, Ordination.jpg|thumb|A portrait, now in the [[National Gallery of Scotland]], of [[John Henry Lorimer]] conducting an Ordination of Elders in a Scottish Kirk, in 1891]]
Presbyterian government is by councils (still known as ''courts'' in some countries, as ''boards'' in others) of elders. Teaching and ruling elders are ordained and convene in the lowest council known as a [[Session (Presbyterianism)|''session'']] or ''[[Consistory (Protestantism)#Reformed usage|consistory]]'' responsible for the discipline, nurture, and mission of the local [[Wiktionary:congregation|congregation]]. Teaching elders (pastors or ministers) have responsibility for teaching, worship, and performing sacraments. Pastors or ministers are called by individual congregations. A congregation issues a call for the pastor or minister's service, but this call must be ratified by the local presbytery. The pastor or minister is a teaching elder, and Moderator of the Session, but is not usually a member of the congregation; instead, this person is a member of the Presbytery of which the given church is a member.

Ruling elders are elected by the congregation and ordained to serve with the teaching elders, assuming responsibility for the nurture and leadership of the congregation. Often, especially in larger congregations, the elders delegate the practicalities of buildings, finance, and temporal ministry to the needy in the congregation to a distinct group of officers (sometimes called deacons, which are ordained in some denominations). This group may variously be known as a "Deacon Board", "Board of Deacons" "Diaconate", or "Deacons' Court". These are sometimes known as "presbyters" to the full congregation. Since the 20th century, most denominations allow women to be teaching or ruling elders.

Above the sessions exist presbyteries, which have area responsibilities. These are composed of teaching elders and ruling elders from each of the constituent congregations. The presbytery sends representatives to a broader regional or national assembly, generally known as the [[General Assembly (presbyterian church)|General Assembly]], although an intermediate level of a ''[[synod]]'' sometimes exists. This congregation / [[Presbytery (presbyterian church)|presbytery]] / [[synod]] / [[General Assembly (presbyterian church)|general assembly]] schema is based on the historical structure of the larger Presbyterian churches, such as the [[Church of Scotland]] or the [[Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)]]; some bodies, such as the [[Presbyterian Church in America]] and the [[Presbyterian Church in Ireland]], skip one of the steps between congregation and General Assembly, and usually the step skipped is the Synod. The [[Church of Scotland]] abolished the Synod in 1993.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/about_us/how_we_are_organised/historical_records |title=Church of Scotland – Historical Records |date=22 February 2010 |access-date=31 May 2016 |archive-date=6 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506183027/http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/about_us/how_we_are_organised/historical_records |url-status=live }}</ref>

Presbyterian governance is practiced by Presbyterian denominations and also by many other [[Reformed churches]].<ref>Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA): Part I: The Book of Confessions, p. 267.</ref>

=== Doctrine ===<!-- This section is linked from [[Conscience]] -->
{{see also|Reformed theology}}
[[File:Celtic cross draped for Easter.jpg|thumb|A Celtic cross draped for [[Easter]] at a Presbyterian church in [[Virginia]]]]
[[File:USVA headstone emb-04.svg|thumb|A Presbyterian Cross, used by the [[United States National Cemetery Administration|National Cemetery Administration]], a division of the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Available Emblems of Belief for Placement on Government Headstones and Markers|url=http://www.cem.va.gov/hmm/emblems.asp|publisher=[[United States Department of Veterans Affairs]]|access-date=22 March 2015|archive-date=4 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504164426/https://www.cem.va.gov/hmm/emblems.asp|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

Presbyterianism is historically a confessional tradition. Confessional churches express their faith in the form of "confessions of faith", which have some level of authoritative status. In confessional churches, theology is not solely an individual matter. While individuals are encouraged to understand Scripture, and may challenge the current institutional understanding, theology is carried out by the community as a whole. It is this community understanding of theology that is expressed in confessions.<ref name="lostsoul">D. G. Hart, "The Lost Soul of American Protestantism." Rowman and Littlefield, 2004.{{page needed|date=June 2013}}</ref>

There is a spectrum of approaches to [[confessionalism (religion)|confessionalism]]. The manner of [[Confessional subscription|subscription]], or the degree to which the official standards establish the actual doctrine of the church, is a practical matter leading to the decisions rendered in ordination and in the courts of the church to largely determine what the church means, representing the whole, by its adherence to the doctrinal standard.

Some Presbyterian traditions adopt only the [[Westminster Confession of Faith]] as the doctrinal standard to which teaching elders are required to subscribe, in contrast to the [[Westminster Larger Catechism|Larger]] and [[Westminster Shorter Catechism|Shorter]] catechisms, which are approved for use in instruction. Many Presbyterian denominations, especially in North America, have adopted all of the [[Westminster Standards]] as their standard of doctrine which is subordinate to the Bible. These documents are [[Calvinist]] in their doctrinal orientation. The [[Presbyterian Church in Canada]] retains the Westminster Confession of Faith in its original form, while admitting the historical period in which it was written should be understood when it is read.

The Westminster Confession is "The principal [[subordinate standard]] of the [[Church of Scotland]]" but "with due regard to liberty of opinion in points which do not enter into the substance of the Faith" (V).{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} This formulation represents many years of struggle over the extent to which the confession reflects the Word of God and the struggle of conscience of those who came to believe it did not fully do so (e.g. [[William Robertson Smith]]). Some Presbyterian churches, such as the [[Free Church of Scotland (post 1900)|Free Church of Scotland]], have no such "[[conscience]] clause".

The [[Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)]] has adopted the ''[[Book of Confessions]]'', which reflects the inclusion of other [[Reformed confessions]] in addition to the Westminster Standards. These other documents include ancient creedal statements (the [[Nicene Creed]], the [[Apostles' Creed]]), 16th-century Reformed confessions (the [[Scots Confession]], the [[Heidelberg Catechism]], the [[Second Helvetic Confession]]), and 20th century documents ([[Barmen Declaration|The Theological Declaration of Barmen]], [[Confession of 1967]] and [[A Brief Statement of Faith]]).

The Presbyterian Church in Canada developed the confessional document ''Living Faith'' (1984) and retains it as a subordinate standard of the denomination. It is confessional in format, yet like the Westminster Confession, draws attention to original Bible text.

Presbyterians in Ireland who rejected Calvinism and the Westminster Confessions formed the [[Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland]].

[[J. Gresham Machen|John Gresham Machen]], the prominent Presbyterian theologian and Professor of [[New Testament]] at [[Princeton Seminary]] between 1906 and 1929, led a revolt against modernist doctrine in his ''Christianity and Liberalism'' (1923) that critiqued theological modernism. He argued that modernism and liberal theology was a false religion, a pretender that cloaks itself in Christian language – "Liberalism". This religion, he claimed, is a marriage of naturalism, humanism, secularism, and sentimentalism all rolled into one.

===Worship and sacraments===
====Worship====
{{Main|Presbyterian worship}}
[[File:Presbyterian Catechising.jpg|thumb|Presbyterian [[Catechesis|catechising]] in the 19th century]]
[[File:A Scottish Sacrament.jpg|thumb|''A Scottish Sacrament'', a portrait by Henry John Dobson]]
Presbyterian denominations that trace their heritage to the British Isles usually organise their church services inspired by the principles in the [[Directory of Public Worship]], developed by the [[Westminster Assembly]] in the 1640s. This directory documented [[Reformed worship]] practices and theology adopted and developed over the preceding century by British [[Puritan]]s, initially guided by John Calvin and John Knox. It was enacted as law by the [[Parliament of Scotland]], and became one of the foundational documents of Presbyterian church legislation elsewhere.

Historically, the driving principle in the development of the standards of Presbyterian worship is the [[Regulative principle of worship]], which specifies that (in worship), what is not commanded is forbidden.<ref>[[Westminster Confession of Faith]], Chapter XXI, paragraph I.</ref>

Over subsequent centuries, many Presbyterian churches modified these prescriptions by introducing hymnody, instrumental accompaniment, and ceremonial [[vestment]]s into worship. However, there is not one fixed "Presbyterian" worship style. Although there are set services for the [[Lord's Day]] in keeping with [[first-day Sabbatarianism]],<ref name="Wigley1980">{{cite book|last=Wigley|first=John|title=The Rise and Fall of the Victorian Sunday|year=1980|publisher=Manchester University Press|language=en|isbn=978-0-7190-0794-1|page=800|quote=Following the formulation of the Westminster Confession, fully fledged Sabbatarianism quickly took root too, being embodied in an Act of 1661, then spreading northwards and westwards as the Highlands were opened up after the '45, during which time the doctrine lost its original force and vigour in the Lowlands.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/risefallofvictor0000wigl}}</ref> one can find a service to be evangelical and even revivalist in tone (especially in some conservative denominations), or strongly liturgical, approximating the practices of [[Lutheranism]] or more of [[Anglicanism]],{{Clarify|date=January 2010}} or semi-formal, allowing for a balance of hymns, preaching, and congregational participation (favored by many American Presbyterians). Most Presbyterian churches follow the traditional liturgical year and observe the traditional holidays, holy seasons, such as [[Advent]], Christmas, [[Ash Wednesday]], [[Holy Week]], Easter, [[Pentecost]], etc. They also make use of the appropriate [[Liturgical colours#Reformed churches|seasonal liturgical colors]], etc. Many incorporate ancient liturgical prayers and responses into the communion services and follow a daily, seasonal, and festival lectionary. Other Presbyterians, however, such as the [[Reformed Presbyterian churches|Reformed Presbyterians]], would practice [[a cappella]] [[exclusive psalmody]], as well as eschew the celebration of holy days.
[[File:First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh.png|thumb|[[First Presbyterian Church (Pittsburgh)|First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh]] (Conservative PCUSA Church)]]
Among the [[Paleo-orthodoxy|paleo-orthodox]] and [[emerging church]] movements in Protestant and evangelical churches, in which some Presbyterians are involved, clergy are moving away from the traditional black [[Geneva gown]] to such vestments as the [[alb]] and [[chasuble]], but also [[cassock]] and [[surplice]] (typically a full-length Old English style surplice which resembles the [[Celts|Celtic]] alb, an ungirdled liturgical tunic of the old [[Gallican Rite]]), which some, particularly those identifying with the Liturgical Renewal Movement, hold to be more ancient and representative of a more ecumenical past.

====Sacraments====
{{see also|Reformed baptismal theology|Lord's Supper in Reformed theology}}
[[File:Presbyterian Church Communion Table.jpg|thumb|Presbyterian Church Communion Table]]
Presbyterians traditionally have held the Worship position that there are only two [[sacraments]]:
* [[Baptism]], in which they [[Infant baptism|baptize infants]], as well as unbaptized adults by the [[Aspersion]] (sprinkling) or [[Affusion]] (pouring) method in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, rather than the [[Baptism#Immersion|Immersion]] method.
* The [[Eucharist|Lord's Supper]] (also known as Communion), in which Presbyterians believe in the Real Presence of Christ (pneumatic presence) in the spiritual sense, in the bread and wine through the Holy Spirit, as opposed to being locally present as in [[transubstantiation]].