Information About NJ Presbyterian Churches

By Stephanie Sullivan


The Presbyterian Church refers to a global mainline Protestant Christian denomination. The abbreviation PC is often used to stand for Presbyterian Church. The establishment of the church within the United States occurred in 1983 when the United PC in the USA (UPCUSA) and the PC in the USA (PCUS) merged. The border and southern states housed most of the PC in US churches while congregations of the United PCUS were located all over the country. Today, NJ Presbyterian Churches are among PC churches that can be found anywhere within the United States of America.

The PC as a denomination was estimated to have 20, 383 ordained ministers, 9, 829 congregations, and 1, 667, 767 members at the end of 2014. Even with that population, the church has experienced some sharp decline in its membership within the past few years. PC (USA) has about three million adherents and its denominational officers are situated in Louisville in the state of Kentucky. PC is a member of World Council of Churches, Christian Churches Together, and World Communion of Reformed Churches.

The Protestant Reformation that occurred during the 16th century is the origin of Presbyterians. John Calvin, a Swiss/French lawyer and theologian began the heritage and theology. The reformed thinking that happened prior to emergence of Calvin was highly solidified by his writing.

The rest of Europe had the Reformed movement spread to it from Geneva where Calvin was located. John Knox, a colleague of Calvin started the Scottish Reformation. Knox brought the reformation back home from Geneva. The Reformation moved to America and later the entire world. It is continuing to spread even today.

Over the years, many separations from the mother church by independent denominations have occurred. Orthodox PC was one among the earliest breakaways in 1936. Today, splitting has become a major issue in this church. Congregations that break away cite dissatisfaction with the direction taken by the church as the cause for splitting. The reformed tradition is usually maintained in congregations that split.

In 1973, (PCA) separated from PCUS and is now number two in terms of size in whole of US. PCA split because of disagreements about acceptance of ordained female clergies. Shortly afterwards, EPC split too and by 1981, it had been incorporated. Ordained female clergies are not disallowed or allowed to practice in EPC, but rather the decision has to be made by the local presbyteries.

The everyday operations of PC are governed by a constitution. The constitution has two sections. The Book of Confessions (BoC) and Book of Order are the first and second sections respectively. The Book of Confessions outlines all beliefs of the PC through declaring creeds that lead and instruct leaders.

The Book of Confessions is complemented by Book of Order. The rationale and a description of functions and organization of this church at all levels is given in Book of Order. This description covers all levels in the denomination.




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