Presbyterian?

The word "Presbyterian" comes from a Greek word for "elders". As a description of our church government, it means that we are ruled by elders. That is, our Session is a group of men who meet the Bible's qualifications for elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9). They seek to lead our church in a biblical manner, and they are especially responsible to make sure that the teaching and preaching of our church fits with the Bible--that it is doctrinally sound and taught or preached with compassion, conviction, humility, and boldness.

Presbyterian also means that our congregation is not just off in a corner with no connection to other churches. We believe that the pattern in the Bible is that of accountability to other churches, so that the entire church is able to work together and hold others accountable to the Bible. Acts 15 records the story of the Jerusalem council, where the leaders of the early church met to discuss a theological problem, and after coming to agreement they made a ruling and sent out a letter to the churches in Antioch telling them what they ought to do. The example of the Jerusalem council is one reason why we are Presbyterian, because we see that churches need to be accountable to each other. That means that our church is part of a regional grouping of churches called a presbytery, and then our presbytery is in turn a part of the national gathering of presbyteries, called the general assembly.

All the official details of how our church, presbytery, and general assembly work together are in the Book of Church Order on the PCA website.