"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 provides 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 1706, the first synod in 1717; the first General Assembly was held in 1789. Today's Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was created by the 1983 reunion of the two main branches of Presbyterians in America, separated since the Civil War: the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. and the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. The latter had been created by the union of the Presbyterian U.S.A. and the United Presbyterian Church of North America in 1958.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is distinctly a confessional and connectional church, distinguished by the representation of elders -- laymen and laywomen -- in its government. The church today has a membership of 2,780,406 in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, with 20,527 ordained ministers, 1,205 candidates for ministry, and 117,788 elders. The average presbytery consists of 118 ministers and 67 churches.

Taken from PCUSA document number DMS 70-350-94-950

According to our BOOK OF ORDER, "The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) states its faith and bears witness to God’s grace in Jesus Christ in the creeds and confessions in the BOOK OF CONFESSIONS. In these confessional statements the church declares to its members and to the world who and what it is, what it believes, what it resolves to do. These confessional statements are subordinate standards in the church, subject to the authority of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, as the Scriptures bear witness to him.

In its confessions, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) expresses the faith of the Reformed tradition. Central to this tradition is the affirmation of the majesty, holiness, and providence of God who creates, sustains, rules, and redeems the world in the freedom of sovereign righteousness and love. Related to this central affirmation of God's sovereignty are other great themes of Reformed tradition:

1. The election of the people of God for service as well as for salvation;
2. Covenant life marked by a disciplined concerned for order in the church according to the Word of God;
3. A faithful stewardship that shuns ostentation and seeks proper use of the gifts of God's creation;
4. The recognition of the human tendency to idolatry and tyranny, which calls the people of God to work for the transformation of society by seeking justice and living in obedience to the Word of God.

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