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Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session (or consistory ), though other terms, such as church board , may apply.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) is currently the only Presbyterian denomination in the United States that allows same-sex marriage, and ordains self-affirmed LGBT members in committed relationships as teaching elders (clergy), and ruling elders (elders elected to serve on the Session).
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States.It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the country, known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and members of the LGBT community as elders and ministers.
The lowest level council governs a single local church and is called the session or consistory; [10] its members are called elders. The minister of the church (sometimes referred to as a teaching elder) is a member of and presides over the session; lay representatives (ruling elders or
The Confession of 1967 is a confession of faith of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), abbreviated PC (USA).It was written as a modern statement of the faith for the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA), the "northern church", to supplement the Westminster Confession and the other statements of faith in its then new Book of Confessions.
The Reformed Presbyterian churches are presbyterian in polity; members of each congregation elect elders who must be male, as they believe the Bible requires, and who must also be members of the congregation. These elders, along with a minister or pastor, make up the "session" governing a congregation. Ministers are known as "teaching elders ...
The PCA holds to a quasi-parity of pastors and elders (named Ruling and Teaching Elders; REs and TEs for short), where Ruling and Teaching Elders have the same voting rights in the courts of the church and can participate in each other's examinations and ordinations, [97] yet there are certain and definite ways that TEs and REs are distinct.
The Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO) ordains women as both Teaching Elders (pastors) and Ruling Elders. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) allows individual congregations to determine whether or not they ordain women. The Presbyterian Church in Canada began ordaining women as elders and as ministers in 1966. [77] [78]