Presbyterian Mission Agency

Presbyterian Distinctives

“In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks and to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth praying, ‘Come, Lord Jesus.’” —From “A Brief Statement of Faith”

Presbuteros, the Greek word meaning “elder,” is used 72 times in the New Testament. It provided the name for the Presbyterian family of churches, which includes the Reformed churches of the world. Both Presbyterian and Reformed are synonymous with churches of the Calvinist tradition.

In America the first presbytery was organized in …

Why Word and Sacrament?

John Calvin is representative of a significant Reformation tradition that places Word and Sacrament at the heart of the church's life: "Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered according to Christ's institution, there, it is not to be doubted, a church of God exists" (Institutes, 4.1.9). Calvin's marks of the church center on lived faith within congregations. He does not speak in the first instance about a church's orthodox doctrine or its sacramental theology, but about the faithfulness of proclamation and reception and about the faithfulness of broad …