How do we describe a church? What is Presbyterianism? What kinds of maps do we need?

Where we have come from, the stories from foundational years and about key people, (see links left) are an important part of the story, but we also need to think about who we are today and the way in which the past informs our present and future.

Knowing who we are and how we do things around here[1] is about understanding the present and planning for the future as well as about seeking guidance and inspiration from the past.

• Who we are helps us know where we want to go.
• How we do things around here helps us know how to work with difference and make decisions.
• We need to address these things theologically as people who seek to know and follow Jesus Christ
• We need to understand ourselves as people with a human history. I
• Our identity is social as well as personal.  Christianity is not only about "I believe therefore I am" but also about "I belong therefore I am."

Dimensions of our identity as a particular church within the wider Christian family include story, belief, and organisation. We can talk about these things in relation to our most obvious characteristics, in relation to things that are common to most Christians, but also by focus on our differences from others (for centuries the major agenda of theology and church history). We can talk about both our ideals, and our "warts and all" realities. When we compare ourselves to other parts of the Christian family we will avoid describing ourselves at our best with others at their worst. We need  straightforward ways of saying how things are normally, and to indicate the range of diversity that is fairly allowable within a particular tradition. We remember that the Bible describes as well as teaches and that the early church is a story of diversity as well as a story of things in common.[2]

Since we are a church we need to talk about our Worship, our Community Life (organisation, leadership) and our Mission. We will have our heroes and villains, though sometimes these change places. Since Presbyterianism is about leadership by elders as well as by ministers, we will want to try and do justice to lay leadership and the lives of "ordinary" Christians. Because all our histories have a male bias, we will want to recover the story of women in defining what Presbyterianism is about.

A lot depends on who we are talking to and what their questions and ideas are. It is often a good idea to start with personal experience of a particular congregation, and then put that in the context of churches regionally and nationally working together; to work from where things are now and where we are going, before talking about where we have come from.

• The story relates to Presbyterians, Puritans and Congregationalists in Britain, the Commonwealth, and North America, and Reformed Churches in Europe, and churches which developed through migration and mission around the world particularly in Asia and Africa.
• Common beliefs and assumptions derive from the Western and Reformation theological traditions. These have cultural as well as historical roots. Presbyterians have a lot in common with Lutherans and Anglicans, but some differences.
• Distinctive beliefs, including emphases on the Word of God and the Sovereignty of God, are found in evangelical traditions in a range of denominations.
• Presbyterianism is also defined by its organisation or "polity", its rule by lay as well as ordained, and by its culture, particularly its emphasis on the value of education.

Quick overviews and information from outside perspectives can be found in Believe - Religious Information, Adherents.com and in  Fact Monster

Congregational Studies and Planning for Change

Social history and cultural studies have not only influenced our understanding of church history (as in the books by Cashdollar, Todd and Benedict) they have also influenced how we we think about our congregations in the here and now and how we plan for change. They are also relevant in dealing with conflict and for understanding particular ministries (see Becker and the Religion and Family Project).

A number of research projects focussing on congregational studies are based at Hartford Seminary, Connecticut, USA. Ways of thinking about Church can be found in their online research project,  Faith Communities Today. You may wish to look at this site, ask how much the questions and material for North American churches apply to your situation, and try some of the surveys.

Previously based at Hartford and now at Boston is Nancy Ammerman who was an editor of Studying Congregations. A new handbook, Abingdon, 1998, which has chapters on Theology,  Ecology, Culture, Process  and Leadership. See also Carl Dudley and Nancy Ammerman, Congregations in Transition. A guide for analyzing, assessing and adapting in changing communities, Jossey-Bass, 2002, which talks about maps of place people and institution, and about buildings, leadership, resources, worship, and music. 

References and Links:

• Nancy T Ammerman, et al, eds., Studying Congregations. A new handbook, Abingdon, 1998.

• David Fergusson, "The Reformed Churches", in Paul Avis, ed. The Christian Church. An Introduction to the Major Traditions, SPCK, 2002, 18-48. (Recommended Reading for School of Ministry students)

• Dennis McEldowney, ed., Presbyterians in Aotearoa, 1840 -1990, Wellington: Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, 1990.

• About Being Presbyterian (Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand)

• Presbyterian 101 (PCUSA)

• Presbyterian Church (USA) Book of Order

• Presbyterian Church (USA) Parliamentary Procedures, Marianne L. Wolfe. (pdf file)

[1] Penny Edgell Becker, Congregations in Conflict: Cultural Models of Local Religious Life, Cambridge University Press, 1999, 1-25.

[2] Arthur G Patzia, The Emergence of the Church. Context, Growth, Leadership and Worship, InterVarsity Press, 2001.