Life in the Spirit of Christ is an all–encompassing response, a pilgrimage from birth to death, or more precisely, a marvelous journey from rebirth to eternal life. The risen Christ calls and assists us to live in loving relationships, with purposeful vocations, with joy and satisfactions, with gratitude and unceasing praise to God—individually and in community.

Life in the Spirit of Christ in community brings you into a formal relationship with Christ's Church. This relationship is more than an idea, a single experience or having your name on our membership roll. It is a deep and sincere quest shared by many people that joins you to a tradition and a people where together we seek for a clearer understanding of God and the meaning of human life. Becoming a part of us means that we are traveling together, in song and prayer, in learning and service.

The following pages have been prepared as a broad outline to indicate the nature of our tradition and the individual character of Pine Street Presbyterian Church. We hope it serves as an introduction to life with and among us and encourages informed participation. It may be used as a guide to understand our commitments. Pine Street Church affirms and lives by a distinct historical and theological tradition: we are Reformed. We do our common business together with other churches and governing bodies in a connectional way: we are Presbyterian. We believe and affirm that we have gifts to give and are called to serve in very specific and concrete ways in the community and the world: we are ecumenical in caring.

Corrections, additions, subtractions and deviations to this initial copy of the manual are invited. The blank pages at the end are to encourage personal notes, comments or prayers. What do you think is the most important thing that should be said? What words would you like to share with others who seek to join Pine Street Church? Stimulating and aiding others in community, you must also answer for yourself the searching question which Jesus put to Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" These pages are not an answer—they are part of the quest. We hope they lead you to become a part of a living tradition which you share in and shape.

Russell C. Sullivan, Jr., Pastor
Anne K. Myers, Associate Pastor
Thomas Clark-Jones, Organist and Choirmaster

CONTENTS

PART I THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

A. The Church and Its Mission
B. The Church and Its Faith
C. The Church and Its Membership
D. The Church and Its Government
E. The Church and Its Involvement
F. The Church and Its History

PART II PINE STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

A. Our Mission and Purpose
B. Our Life Together
C. Our Worship
D. Our Expectations for You
E. Our Vision of the Future

PART III WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

A. Our Staff
B. Our Educational Ministry
C. Our Music Ministry
D. Our Mission
E. Our Areas of Service
F. Our Building Grounds & Parking

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

The Presbyterian Church (USA) traces its beginnings from the command of Jesus before his ascension, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)

We are part of the one holy, catholic, and apostolic church. As Protestants, we share with both the Eastern Orthodox tradition and the Roman Catholic Church a common history that brought the Christian Community from a persecuted minority to official recognition and dominance.

Our particular identity was shaped by the Swiss rather than the German Reformation. We are sons and daughters of the preacher, Huldrich Zwingli, and the lawyer turned teacher and administrator, John Calvin. The "Reformed Tradition," as it came to be known, was carried from Calvin's Geneva to Scotland by John Knox. In Scotland the Reformed Tradition was married to Presbyterian government. Presbyterianism became the popular religion of Scotland and had to defend itself against the persecutions of Kings and Bishops.

Presbyterianism was brought to America by Scots and Scots–Irish immigrants. Planted solidly in the Middle Colonies, Presbyterianism became a powerful religious force in the early years of American development. The hills and valleys of Central and Western Pennsylvania that form the watersheds of the Susquehanna and Ohio Rivers were thickly settled by Scots and Scots–Irish. Torn by disputes and differences, the church both survived and prospered.

Presbyterian belief has been characterized by a high regard for the Scriptures. We are REFORMED—a church that has shed the distortion of medieval Christendom gone astray. This reformation was undertaken and sustained by Holy Scripture. We are also EVER REFORMING —a church that again and again goes back to scripture for new insight and direction.

Today a reunited Presbyterian Church (the "Southern" Presbyterians, split off since the Civil War, rejoined the "Northern" Presbyterians in 1983) looks forward to a new century with hope.
 

The mission of the church is given form by God's activity in the world as told by the Bible and understood by faith.

               HOLY SCRIPTURE TEACHES US THAT GOD ...

              CREATED the heavens and the earth and made human beings in God's image, charging them to care for all that lives; God made man and woman to live in community, responding to the Creator with grateful obedience. Even when the human race broke community with its Maker and with one another, God did not forsake it, but out of grace choose one family for the sake of all, to be pilgrims of promise, God's own Israel.

              LIBERATED the people of Israel from oppression; God covenanted with Israel to be their God and they to be God's people, that they might do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord; God confronted Israel with the responsibilities of this covenant, judging the people because of their unfaithfulness while sustaining them by divine grace.

              WAS INCARNATE in Jesus Christ, who announced good news to the poor, proclaimed release for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, let the broken victims go free, and proclaimed the year of the Lord's favor. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost; in his life and death for others God's redeeming love for all people was made visible; and in the resurrection of Jesus Christ there is the assurance of God's victory over sin and death and the promise of God's continuing presence in the world.

God's redeeming and reconciling activity in the world CONTINUES through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, who confronts individuals and societies with Christ's Lordship of life and calls them to repentance and to obedience to the will of God.

              THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST IS THE PROVISIONAL DEMONSTRATION OF WHAT GOD INTENDS FOR ALL OF HUMANITY. As such, the church is called to be a sign in and for the world of the new reality which God has made available to people in Jesus Christ.

The new reality revealed in Jesus Christ is the new humanity, a new creation, a new beginning for human life in the world:

                        Sin is forgiven.
                                Reconciliation is accomplished
                                         The dividing walls of hostility are torn down.

              THE CHURCH IS THE BODY OF CHRIST, both in its corporate life and in the lives of its individual members, and is called to give shape and substance to this truth.

              THE CHURCH IS CALLED TO TELL THE GOOD NEWS of salvation by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and Lord, proclaiming in Word and Sacrament the new age has dawned.

                                         God who creates life, frees those in bondage,
                                                    forgives sin, reconciles brokenness,
                                                              makes all things new, is still at work in the world.

              THE CHURCH IS CALLED TO PRESENT THE CLAIMS OF JESUS CHRIST, leading persons to repentance, acceptance of him as Savior and Lord, and new life as his disciples.

              THE CHURCH IS CALLED TO BE CHRIST'S FAITHFUL EVANGELIST: going into the world, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all he has commanded; demonstrating by the love of its members for one another and by the quality of its common life the new reality in Christ; sharing in worship, fellowship, and nurture, practicing a deepened life of prayer and service under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

              THE CHURCH IS CALLED TO PARTICIPATE IN GOD'S ACTIVITY IN THE WORLD through its life for others by:

healing and reconciling and binding up wounds,
ministering to the needs of the poor, sick, the lonely, and the powerless,
engaging in the struggle to free people from sin, fear, oppression, hunger, and injustice,
giving itself and its substance to the service of those who suffer,
sharing with Christ in the establishing of his just, peaceable, and loving rule in the world.
 

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B. THE CHURCH AND ITS FAITH

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is a confessional church. We have a Book of Confessions that contains nine creeds or statements of faith. These confessions provide our identity, locate us in a particular theological tradition, set the margins for our creative diversity, and help us focus on essentials.

Presbyterians hold two values in tension. One is freedom of individual conscience; the other is the integrity of the community's standards. The former represents our desire to be always reforming, granting freedom to those who seek to reform us. The latter represents our desire to be Reformed, maintaining a continuity with the past which has shaped our identity. We have been healthiest when we have maintained a balance between these two values. The key to this balance is to know what is "essential."

Our present Book of Order gives significant guidance to essential beliefs. The Book of Order declares that the creeds and confessions of the church identify us as a community, guide us in studying Scripture, and summarize the essence of the Christian tradition. The Book of Order then proceeds to list ten doctrines which we can take to be essential and necessary.

               Two are noted as shared with the church catholic, or universal:

• the mystery of the Trinity,
• the incarnation of the eternal Word of God in Jesus Christ.

               Two are identified with our affirmation of the Protestant Reformation:

• justification by grace through faith,
• Scripture as the final authority for salvation and the life of faith.

               Six are declared to express the faith of the Reformed Tradition:

• God's sovereignty,
• God's choosing (election) of people for salvation and service,
• the covenant life of the church, life in responsible and caring relationship,
• the church ordering itself according to the Word of God,
• a faithful stewardship of God's creation,
• the sin of idolatry, which makes anything created ultimate, rather than
  worshipping the Creator,
• the necessity of obedience to the Word of God, which directs us to
  work for justice in the transformation of society.

This list from the Book of Order is helpful. It demonstrates that not everything in the Book of Confessions is of equal weight. Some things are more important, more characteristic, more useful for today than others. There are central motifs within the Confessions that provide us with a general harmony, a broad consensus, and a functional unity to which we can appeal. Our Confessions:

• pose helpful limits.
• are useful in defining our roots as the Reformed community and the resources
  our community has to offer in the ecumenical mix.
• provide a latitude, even a demand, for us to confess our faith anew in every generation.

The Nicene Creed was the first official doctrinal statement of the whole Christian Church. It developed from the work of the first two ecumenical councils, Nicaea in 325 and Constantinople in 381, and was accepted as a definitive statement by the prestigious Council of Chalcedon in 451 after two centuries of struggle to clarify the relationship of Jesus Christ to God and to humanity. It has been used in worship ever since the sixth century as a part of the communion service.

Jesus Christ is the center of the Christian faith. The Nicene Creed expresses the church's understanding of what Scripture teaches about who Jesus Christ is. The question is Jesus' relationship to God and to us humans. What is at stake, as Athanasius said, is our salvation: How may we as humans be related to God? The creed affirms that whatever God is, Jesus is that, and whatever we humans are, Jesus is that, too—in one whole person. As Augustine says, "Walk with him the man, you come to God."

Having said that Jesus Christ is divine and human, one person with two natures, does not mean that we fully understand him. Jesus will always remain a mystery. What the church has done is protect the mystery. It has said that if we move off at tangent in any one of four ways, denying the deity, humanity, one person, or two natures, we will distort the truth of the biblical witness of who Christ is. The creed affirms that the mystery of God becoming human in Christ is central to the mystery of our becoming one with God.

The Apostles' Creed is the most widely used confessional statement in the Western Church, and by far the most familiar to lay persons.

The Apostles' Creed is actually not the creed of the Apostles but grew out of the Baptismal practice of the early church. The candidates for Baptism were taught the meaning of the solemn vows that they were taking. It became customary at the end of the training period for the initiates to recite a creed or rule of faith that embodied the doctrine they were now going to profess. The first literary witness to the form of the Apostles' Creed as we have it today was in the writings of a Benedictine Monk, Priminius, in the late eighth century. The emperor Charlemagne ordered the creed to be used as a way to test a priest's grasp of the essentials of Christian teaching.

The Apostles' Creed simply states the essential facts of the biblical message. It does not elucidate, elaborate, or explain. The focus is on God's person and God's personal activity in human history. God is one. God is our parent—a caring parent. God is almighty—not an all– powerful but an all–ruling sovereign. This one, caring, and sovereign God is known to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and in the shared life of the church.

The Scots Confession is the first Reformed confession in the English language. It has been called the charter of the Church of Scotland and of world Presbyterianism. The Scots wished to show their continuity with the ancient church. The structure of the confession parallels that of the Apostles' Creed. The confession also recognized and responded positively to the doctrinal standards of the Reformed Churches on the continent. The Scots were applying already known Christian principles, with a Reformed perspective, to their particular national setting.

John Knox and five friends had written the confession in four days. They presented it to Parliament with the hope that the Scottish nation would henceforth fly a Protestant flag, emblazoned with the cross of St. Andrew. The confession begins with the impassioned words, "Long have we thirsted, dear brethren, to make known to the world the sum of doctrine we profess ..."

The most unique and characteristic Reformed emphasis in the Scots Confession is the doctrine of election. Election is the Reformed way of saying "grace alone." Knox and his Reformed predecessors were saying the same thing that Luther was proclaiming in his central affirmation of justification by grace through faith. The confession speaks of salvation "without respect to any merit proceeding from us." Election tells us that what God has done in mercy we cannot undo, even by our worst sins. It is a doctrine of assurance and comfort. The stress is on God's gracious action.

The Scots Confession lays great stress on the church—both visible and invisible. The invisible church is the great universal church, those whom God has graciously touched in all times and all places. The visible church is the "particular Kirks," the church in "Corinth, Galatia, Ephesis, and ... the realm of Scotland" and Harrisburg. It is to these visible churches that the marks of the "true Kirk" are to be applied.

For Reformed Protestantism there are two marks of the true church. If the Word of God is truly preached and the sacraments of Communion and Baptism rightly administered, there is a true church. Knox said that a third mark was "ecclesiastical discipline uprightly administered." In the Presbyterian system we do not turn our judgment over to some individual. Elected representatives of congregations, presbyteries, synods, and the General Assembly from time to time have to take the heavy responsibility of exercising disciplinary judgment, both in matters of doctrine and morals. Without that we would have no system of Presbyterian government, only anarchy of arbitrary activity. Our system of discipline is designed to protect the rights of each individual and to ensure the orderly working of the community.

The Heidelberg Catechism was the first Reformed confession to appear in America. In 1609 Dutch colonists brought it to Manhattan Island. Of all the Reformed Confessions, the Heidelberg Catechism is the most personal. It is directed to the individual and to the individual's needs. The first question asks, "What is your only comfort, in life and in death?" And the believer is enabled by the catechism to answer, "That I belong—body and soul, in life and in death —not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ."

The catechism was written by the preacher Caspar Olevianus and the professor Zacharias Ursinus for Frederick the Elector of the Palatine. The religious settlement brought about by the Augsburg Confession had made a place for the Catholics and Lutherans within the empire but not for the Reformed. Frederick was called before the Emperor Maximilian at Augsburg to defend his position. He brought with him the Heidelberg Catechism. Within its three part framework, Olevianus and Ursinus incorporated questions and answers on the Apostle's Creed, Baptism, Lord's Supper, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's prayer. Frederick's friends feared that he would not return from his meeting with the emperor alive. The Elector was officially accused of heresy. He found strength in the first question of the catechism—Frederick belonged to Jesus Christ. Unexpectedly, the moderate Lutheran princes petitioned the emperor not to censor or punish Frederick. The elector was acquitted. The emperor nicknamed him Frederick the Pious.

The Book of Order lists, as one of the distinctive tenets, or beliefs of the Reformed Tradition, "A faithful stewardship that shuns ostentation and seeks proper use of the gifts of God's creation." Stewardship in the Reformed Tradition, is not a fancy word for giving money.

It means, as the catechism says, that we are not our own—we belong to Jesus Christ. The catechism is structured to treat in specific order, Sin, Redemption, and Thankfulness. A distinctive characteristic of Reformed faith is revealed in the sequence of these themes. Stewardship of all of life and of God's creation is a Reformed expression of our gratitude—our thankfulness—for our redemption; that we belong to Jesus Christ.

One of the most controversial issues separating Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed was the doctrine of the Lord's Supper. The theory of medieval Catholicism was that, in the mass, the

substance of the bread and wine was changed into the substance of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This was called transubstantiation. Christ was actually resacrificed for people's sins during the medieval mass. It was this resacrificing of Christ to which the Protestant reformers strenuously objected. They were in agreement that Christ's death on the cross paid the price for sin once and for all. But Protestants could not agree among themselves on a theory of the Lord's Supper to replace the explanation of transubstantiation. Luther held to a theory sometimes called "consubstantiation." Luther wanted to assert the physical, bodily presence of Christ in the Supper. Luther affirmed that Christ's body was ubiquitous, or present everywhere at the same time. His view was that Christ's word had to be taken literally, "This is my body."

Zwingli thought Luther wrong both philosophically and linguistically. For Zwingli, the philosophical truth was the locality, not the ubiquity of Christ's body. According to Scripture, Christ's resurrected body was in heaven. Linguistically, Christ's words, "This is my body," were metaphorical. Jesus meant that this, bread and wine, will stand for my body when you do this to remember me. For Zwingli, the Lord's Supper was a memorial, an act of remembering.

Calvin could not agree wholly with either the physical, substantial view of Luther or the memorial, symbolic view of Zwingli. Philosophically and linguistically, Calvin agreed with Zwingli. But Calvin wished to honor and affirm the basic value of the Lutheran and Roman Catholic position—that Christ was really present in the Lord's Supper and believers were united with Christ there. Calvin's view was that Jesus Christ was really present in the Lord's supper not physically but spiritually. In the Reformed rite of the Lord's Supper, the presiding pastor says "Lift up your hearts." The people respond, "We lift them to the Lord." As Reformed Christians, we are lifting up our hearts to commune with the risen Christ—spiritually.

Least well known of our confessional documents is the Second Helvetic Confession. In its own time, the Second Helvetic Confession held the highest authority among the Reformed Confessions. In 1581, The Harmony of Reformed Confessions used the Second Helvetic Confession as the basis with which other Reformed confessions were correlated to show the consensus among them.

The Second Helvetic Confession grows out of the work and faith of two less well known early Reformers, Huldrich Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger. "Before anyone in my neighborhood had even heard Luther's name mentioned," Zwingli wrote, "I began to preach the gospel of Christ in the year 1516." After several pastorates, Zwingli became the "people's priest" or preacher at the Great Munster, in the city of Zurich. Zwingli asserted that "you must drop all and learn God's will directly from his own Word." Heinrich Bullinger was twenty years younger than Zwingli,

but they were close friends. After Zwingli's death at the Battle of Kappel, Bullinger solidified and preserved the reformation in Zurich. Bullinger became chief minister of Zurich in 1531, before Calvin was converted to the Reformation, and continued until his death in 1575, eleven years after Calvin's death. In his life Bullinger saw three generations of Reformers rise up and go their way, many of them martyrs.

The Second Helvetic Confession was Bullinger's personal testimony. He wrote it after surviving the plague in 1561. He intended it to be attached to his will as a gift to the city of Zurich. But he published it in 1566 at the request of the Reformed believers in Heidelberg and in support of their elector, Frederick.

One doctrine that may serve to focus on the distinctively Reformed contribution to ecumenical Christianity is "covenant." The concept of covenant sums up much of what being Reformed is all about. For Reformed Christians there is just one covenant in the Bible. God has not and does not change in character, attitude toward persons, or purpose for the world. Reformed people believe that God has always been a God of grace. The themes of this continuous covenant in scripture are clear. God has established community between God and us, and that community creates a community among us. The purpose is peacemaking; human beings should be reconciled to God and to each other. Finally, we should extend this reconciliation and the results of this reconciling community to all people.

Presbyterians have had our own particular way of working out the consequences of being a covenant community of God's people. We have used the "three C's" to express that understanding: Confession, Constitution, and Connection. Presbyterians are a covenant people who make confession of their faith. We have a Book of Confessions. Presbyterians are, secondly, a covenant people who live out their faith according to a constitution. That is why we have a Book of Order. "Do all things decently and in order" is a Presbyterian slogan we have laughed about, but we value it in practice. Notice that decency precedes order! Further we are a covenant people who believe in an orderly representative process and in corporate decision making. We elect leaders who then act according to their own consciences but who are accountable and responsible. Finally, we are a covenant people who act out their faith connectionally. We believe in mission. We believe in sharing the good news and doing good deeds, not just locally but on a world–wide scale. Being connected with other congregations through our governing bodies allows us to do this in more ways than we could manage by ourselves. The purpose of covenant is to share blessings.

The most obvious covenant we are a part of is our Baptism. In Reformed thinking, Baptism signifies God's gracious act of bringing us into the covenant community rather than our act of responding in faith. Therefore, baptism is received only once. We also recognize that our faithfulness to God needs repeated renewal. Our church affirms that when "baptized children reach an appropriate age, the session shall invite, encourage, and help them make public their personal profession of faith in Jesus Christ and to prepare for assuming responsibility for the governance and decision–making of the congregation."

The doctrine of covenant in Reformed thinking affirms that the covenant was not created by the contracting parties but by God. All participants in the covenant are chosen by God and

thus become part of an organic unity, the body of Christ. The needs of the body hold focus rather than the rights of the individuals. Authority and responsibility reside not just in the local congregation, but in the whole body, or denomination.

The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms are the best known of the Reformation era creeds among Presbyterians. For over three centuries they were the sole doctrinal standards of Scottish and American Presbyterianism. These documents have had a pervasive influence on the theology of early America. Presbyterians, in the Adopting Act of 1729, required ministers to subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith "as being in all the essential and necessary articles, good forms of sound words and systems of Christian doctrine."

The Westminster Confession and Catechisms were produced at the request of Parliament in the midst of great civil turmoil. The Westminster Assembly first met in July 1643. The Assembly was composed of 121 Puritan ministers of the Church of England, most of whom were Presbyterian in their sentiments, but with some Congregationalists and a few favoring Episcopal church government. In addition here were 30 lay members of Parliament and six Scottish advisors. In calling the Assembly, Parliament envisioned a national church, embracing all people, with a simple liturgy, presbyteries rather than bishops, and a Reformed creed. Their vision did not include religious toleration. When the Assembly finished drafting in 1647, it had produced the Westminster Confession of Faith as its guide in doctrine, a Shorter Catechism for teaching youth, a Larger Catechism as an aid for preaching, a Directory for Worship, a form of Presbyterian church government, and a Psalter to provide biblical psalms to be sung in worship.

The House of Commons accepted the Confession of Faith on June 20, 1648. However the political situation worsened. In December, Cromwell's army took over the House of Commons. Then, in 1649 King Charles was beheaded. Presbyterians who had hoped to remain loyal to their King and their Puritan convictions were devastated. The work of the Assembly had

been accepted but there was not a political force left to implement it. After a protracted period of confusion the monarchy was again established on April 25, 1660. King Charles II returned and the Episcopal church was reestablished. In 1662 the Act of Uniformity was passed, demanding complete conformity to a pre–1640 version of Episcopacy. On Sunday, August 24, 1662, about two thousand ministers, over one fifth of the Clergy of the Church of England, were ejected for nonconformity. The confession lived on in the life of the Scottish Church.

The Westminster Divines had a philosophy of history. God was in charge. They reflected their confidence in God's sovereign power and care in all they said and did. The sovereignty of God in the Westminster Confession of Faith is a doctrine concerning confidence, not one of

dictatorial determining. We would not express our faith in God's providential care in their way, but they clearly affirm that God is Lord!

The meaning of the sovereignty of God is, at root, that all human beings are, at every moment, in relationship to the living God. The thrust of Reformed theology is that we glorify God by living lives of obedient activity.

On May 29–31, 1934, representatives from eighteen German provincial churches— Lutheran, Reformed, and United (Lutheran and Reformed)—met in the city of Barmen– Wuppertal as the First Confessing Synod of the German Evangelical Church. They were protesting the interference in the life of the churches by the Nazi government and the Nazi inspired "German Christian" movement. They clarified their faith on the basis of the ancient and Reformation confessions and reconfessed in a new declaration of faith in the face of the concrete errors of the time. The idolatry of the "German Christians" in giving an ultimate commitment to the state rather than God was recognized as error. They confessed that Jesus Christ, as attested to in Scripture, was proclaimed as the one Word of God and Lord of all life. The Declaration provided the theological basis for the Confessional Church in its stand against the Hitler regime throughout the war. Karl Barth, the chief author of the document, while acknowledging the limits of the Declaration, noted that the church alone offered significant resistance to Hitler.

In Reformed theology, atheism is not the problem. Idolatry is. People choose not to acknowledge God as their creator, so they create idols. An idol is any humanly created thing to which people give their ultimate allegiance. When human beings attempt to fulfill their deepest desires for meaning in anything other than God the Creator, they commit idolatry.

The evangelical affirmations of the Barman Declaration all center on the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The church lives and wants to live solely from Jesus' "comfort and his direction in the expectation of his appearance." Reformed theology declares that there is no comfort in conforming to the world. Only in reliance on the Lordship of Jesus Christ is there strength.

To members of the former United Presbyterian Church in the USA, the Confession of 1967 is perhaps the best known and most widely used. The Confession of 1967 represented a confirm-ation of the lasting values of the New Reformation in theology initiated in Europe by Karl Barth and others and further developed in America beginning in the 1930's. The Confession of 1967

represents a theological consensus made just before the working agreements on theological methodology in America began to fragment in the 1960's and the present era of theological pluralism began.

The Preface to the Confession reads: "God's reconciling work in Jesus Christ and the mission of reconciliation to which he has called his church are the heart of the gospel in any age. Our generation stands in peculiar need of reconciliation in Christ. Accordingly this Confession of 1967 is built upon that theme." The Confession of 1967 broke new ground in Reformed confessional history by explicitly addressing four contemporary social problems: racial discrimination, peace among nations, enslaving poverty in a world of abundance, and relationships between men and women. In using reconciliation as a theme the Confession went beyond the resources available in Barth and neo–orthodoxy. It opened Presbyterians to the new insights of the theologies of liberation present in the 1970's.

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Soon after the Confession of 1967 was adopted, rapid changes in our culture and in theology itself eroded the neo-orthodox theological consensus that C'67 embodied. No one theological position was recognized as normative. C'67 had bravely identified social issues that needed to be addressed. Then in the late 1960's theology became issue oriented—Black theology, liberation theology, feminist theology, etc. Distinctive Presbyterian church school curricula, youth groups, and campus ministries were abandoned in favor of collaborative, ecumenical approaches. Within denominations groups formed around single issues. Typically this was acted out in terms of the division between those who favored personal piety and those who favored social action. In the mid–70's the media began to give attention to the evangelicals who were present in all denominations, and by the 80's the more conservative "Religious Right" was the center of attention.

During this period the Presbyterian Church lost approximately 25% of its members. This loss was accompanied by increasing financial strains. The sense of strain and frustration was further heightened by attacks upon the church leadership by a vocal conservative group in the church represented by the Presbyterian Layman.

Religion in the last decades of the 20th Century took a very individualistic turn for most Americans. Those who still attended church had little denominational awareness or loyalty. Approximately 60% of all those who joined Presbyterian churches had not been Presbyterians before. For the first time since the decision of 1927, which decentralized theological decision making and left it in the hands of the presbyteries, the church began to ponder the need as a national body to identify again some central beliefs.

In 1983, as a part of the merger agreement between the United Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church US, a new brief statement of Reformed faith was to be adopted for use in worship and instruction. A special committee was formed, the document was formulated and then circulated throughout the church for comment. After a positive response by the presbyteries the new BRIEF STATEMENT OF FAITH was submitted to the 203rd General Assembly and ratified in June 1991.

1 In life and in death we belong to God.
2 Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
3 the love of God,
4 and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
5 we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel,
6 whom alone we worship and serve.
7 We trust in Jesus Christ,
8 fully human, fully God.
9 Jesus proclaimed the reign of God:
10 preaching good news to the poor
11 and release to the captives,
12 teaching by word and deed
13 and blessing the children,
14 healing the sick
15 and binding up the brokenhearted,
16 eating with outcasts,
17 forgiving sinners,
18 and calling all to repent and believe the gospel.
19 Unjustly condemned for blasphemy and sedition,
20 Jesus was crucified,
21 suffering the depths of human pain
22 and giving his life for the sins of the world.
23 God raised this Jesus from the dead,
24 vindicating his sinless life,
25 breaking the power of sin and evil,
26 delivering us from death to eternal life.
27 We trust in God,
28 whom Jesus called Abba, Father.
29 In sovereign love God created the world good
30 and makes everyone equally in God's image,
31 male and female, of every race and people,
32 to live as one community.
33 But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator.
34 Ignoring God's commandments,
35 we violate the image of God in others and ourselves,
36 accept lies as truth,
37 exploit neighbor and nature,
38 and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care.
39 We deserve God's condemnation.
40 Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation.
41 In everlasting love,
42 the God of Abraham and Sarah chose a covenant people
43 to bless all families of the earth.
44 Hearing their cry,
45 God delivered the children of Israel
46 from the house of bondage.
47 Loving us still,
48 God makes us heirs with Christ of the covenant.
49 Like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child,
50 like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home,
51 God is faithful still.
52 We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
53 everywhere the giver and renewer of life.
54 The Spirit justifies us by grace though faith,
55 sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor,
56 and binds us together with all believers
57 in the one body of Christ, the church.
58 The same Spirit
59 who inspired the prophets and apostles
60 rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture,
61 engages us through the Word proclaimed,
62 claims us in the waters of baptism,
63 feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation,
64 and calls women and men to all ministries of the church.
65 In a broken and fearful world
66 the Spirit gives us courage
67 to pray without ceasing,
68 to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
69 to unmask idolatries in church and culture,
70 to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
71 and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.
72 In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit,
73 we strive to serve Christ in our daily lives,
74 and to live holy and joyful lives,
75 even as we watch for God's new heaven and new earth,
76 praying, "Come, Lord Jesus!"
77 With believers in every time and place,
78 we rejoice that nothing in life or death
79 can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
80 Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What are the basics of the faith according to A Brief Statement of Faith? The Brief Statement (BSF) reaches back to Question 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism to begin, we belong to God. The statement is personal and not abstract, an affirmation of the most deeply felt commitments of a person's life. The BSF affirms the essentials of the Christian faith; the structure of the statement is Trinitarian (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) and it affirms that God comes to us and redeems us in Jesus crucified and risen. The BSF embraces the faith of the Protestant Reformation in its affirmation of justification, "the Spirit justifies us by grace through faith," and the centrality of scripture which "rules our faith and life." The BSF also bears witness to the Reformed tradition: the sovereignty of God, "in sovereign love God created the world for good;" election, "in everlasting love, the God of Abraham and Sarah chose [elected] a covenant people;" covenant, "God make us heirs with Christ of the covenant"; faithful stewardship of God's creation, it warns that we "exploit neighbor and nature"; idolatry, the Spirit give us courage "to unmask idolatries in church and culture."

The Brief Statement of Faith is the first creed to include a narrative of Jesus' life and ministry. Jesus is at the center of what we believe and hope. The BSF tells us something significant about ourselves, that God "makes everyone equally in God's image." At the most fundamental level, male and female, races and people are equal, and are called "to live in one community." The BSF uses language about God that agrees with scripture. Isaiah speaks of God as both mother and father. Jesus speaks of God as Abba, Father. The BSF touches our contemporary pain most clearly when it says the Spirit who justifies us by grace "sets us free to accept ourselves" and empowers us "to love God and neighbor."

For further reading see:

Harry W. Eberts, Jr., We Believe: A Study of the Book of Confessions for Church Officers, Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press 1994

John H. Lieth, Creeds of the Churches: A Reader in Christian Doctrine from the Bible to the Present, Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1981

Jack Rogers, Presbyterian Creeds: A Guide To The Book Of Confessions, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1985

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The incarnation of God in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ gives to the church not only its mission, its fundamental doctrinal commitments, but also its understanding of membership. You become an active member of the church through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and acceptance of his Lordship in all of life. Baptism and a public profession of faith in Jesus as Lord are the visible signs of entrance into active membership of the church.

A faithful member accepts Christ's call to be involved in the ministry of his church. Such involvement includes:

• proclaiming the good news.
• taking part in the common life and worship of a particular Church.
• praying and studying Scripture and the faith of the Christian church.
• supporting the work of the church through the giving of money, time, and talents.
• participating in the governing responsibilities of the church.
• demonstrating a new quality of life within and through the church.
• responding to God's activity in the world through service to others.
• living responsibly in the personal, family, vocational, political, cultural, and social relationships of life.
• working for peace, justice, freedom, and human fulfillment.

As a part of our mutual commitment to Jesus Christ and the covenantal and connectional nature of the church, each individual congregation of the Presbyterian Church shall welcome all persons who respond in trust and obedience to God's grace in Jesus Christ and desire to become a part of the membership and ministry of his church. No persons shall be denied membership because of race, ethnic origin, worldly condition, or any other reason not related to profession of faith. Each member must seek the grace of openness in extending the fellowship of Christ to all persons. Failure to do so constitutes a rejection of Christ himself and causes scandal to the gospel.

All that is necessary for you to become a part of a Presbyterian congregation is to answer in the affirmative the following questions.

               DO YOU TURN TO JESUS CHRIST AND ACCEPT HIM AS YOU LORD AND SAVIOR?

               DO YOU INTEND TO BE CHRIST'S FAITHFUL DISCIPLE, OBEYING HIS WORD, AND
                        SHOWING HIS LOVE TO YOUR LIFE'S END?

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The membership of a particular church (Pine Street Presbyterian Church, for instance) of the Presbyterian Church (USA) includes baptized members, active members, inactive members, and affiliate members.

A BAPTIZED MEMBER of a particular church is a person who has received the Sacrament of Baptism and who has been enrolled as a baptized member by the session but who has not made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Such baptized members are entitled to the pastoral care and instruction of the church and to participate in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

Most "baptized members" are children and youth. Pine Street Church urges our baptized members to participate in the Lord's Supper.

Periodically the Christian Education and Nurture Committee offers Sacrament Education for parents and children. This experience, usually several hours on a Saturday, helps children appreciate the mystery of the Lord's Supper or Baptism and equips parents to deal with the questions the inevitably arise.

An ACTIVE MEMBER of a particular church is a person who has made a profession of faith in Christ, has been baptized and has been received into membership of the church, has voluntarily submitted to the government of this church, and is active in the church's work and worship. An active member is entitled to all the rights and privileges of the church, including the right to participate in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, to present children for baptism, to take part in meetings of the congregation, and to vote and hold office.

• BY MAKING A PUBLIC PROFESSION OF FAITH.

Pine Street Church conducts a yearly Commissioning Class to prepare our baptized young people to make their public profession of faith. The class deals with the faith and life of the church so that each young person can responsibly assume his or her life as a full and active member of the community.

We welcome all who love the Lord Jesus and wish to confess him as Lord and Savior. Adults who desire to become an active member of Pine Street Presbyterian Church and who are

not baptized enter the fellowship of the church with the public profession of their faith and baptism. Adults who are baptized but have not been a part of the church make a public profession of faith in which they take responsibility for the baptismal vows made on their behalf.

• BY REAFFIRMATION OF FAITH.

We welcome all who have been a part of the church but for a variety of reasons have fallen away from the life and worship of the church. We ask them to publicly reaffirm their faith and renew their commitment to Christ by active involvement in the people of God.

• BY LETTER OF TRANSFER FROM ANOTHER CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

We welcome anyone who is an active participant of another church and wishes to become a part of the Pine Street family. Most churches dismiss members from their fellowship by letter of transfer. These letters are testimony to a person's active participation in a sister congregation.

Pine Street Church offers an INQUIRER'S CLASS on a regular basis for those wishing to explore membership in this congregation. The class, generally meeting on four successive Sunday mornings, helps prospective members look at the life and mission of Pine Street Church and examines how each person may become an active and involved participant in this faith community. Periodically, a class will be offered for new members of Pine Street, introducing them to the principles of Reformed worship, with special emphasis on the meaning of Pine Street's service of worship.

An INACTIVE MEMBER of a particular church is a member who does not participate actively in the church's work and worship. An inactive member is entitled to all the rights and privileges of an active member except the right to speak in the meetings of the congregation and to vote or hold office.

When a person has intentionally absented himself or herself from the worship and life of the church for at least one year, the session, after careful effort to bring the person back into active participation, shall place a person's name on the inactive roll.

An AFFILIATE MEMBER of a particular church is an active member of another church of this denomination or of another denomination or Christian body, who has temporarily moved

from the community where the church of active membership is situated, has presented a certificate of good standing from the appropriate governing body of that church, and has been received by the session as a affiliate member. An affiliate member is entitled to all the rights and privileges of an active member except the right to vote and hold office.

Since Pine Street is located across the street from the capitol, we encourage those who are temporarily in Harrisburg with the state government to relate to Pine Street as affiliate members.

The Reformed idea of covenant looms large in the Presbyterian understanding of church membership. When you become a part of a particular church you are making a voluntary choice, but you are also entering into a covenant between yourself, the particular expression of the body of Christ and Christ himself, the great head of the church. You alone cannot dissolve that covenant. To dissolve the covenant takes your request and the action of the proper governing body, in this case the session of a local church. The session may:

• issue you a letter of transfer to another church.
• terminate your membership at your request, after having made a diligent effort to persuade the member to retain membership.
• place you on a nonresident roll if you move beyond the geographic area of a
• local church's life and ministry.

The only way to end your membership in a particular church that does not take session action is to transfer your membership to the Church Triumphant who lives before the throne of God.

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The Book of Order says that "the Presbyterian Church (USA) shall be governed by representative bodies composed of presbyters, both elders and ministers of the Word. These governing bodies shall be called: session, presbytery, synod, and General Assembly."

The Presbyterian Church gets its name from the Greek word PRESBUTEROUS, meaning elder. The word "elder" occurs about sixty times in the New Testament and about a hundred times in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. In some instances the term is use to indicate older members of the community. In other instances, however, the word is used in a more specialized fashion to designate a particular office of leadership in the Old Testament congregation and in the New Testament church. In the Pastoral Epistles (I and II Timothy and Titus), we find mention of the basic qualities of life which are expected of church officers, including those who have been chosen to serve as "elders." In a quite literal sense a Presbyterian church is a church governed by "elders" or to expand the definition a bit, a church with a representative form of government by elders elected by the people.

Some of our over–zealous forbears claimed that the Presbyterian form of church government was the only form for which there was a scriptural warrant and thus a divinely ordained system. Today we wouldn't claim exclusive scriptural authority for our way of doing business, but clearly we are on biblical ground.

The Presbyterian Church is unique in that it is governed by "ordained persons:" ministers of the Word and elders. Each member of a Presbyterian church has two distinct and inalienable rights: (1) the right to elect their own minister, (2) and the right to elect elders to govern them. The Book of Order says: "Elders are chosen by the people. Together with ministers of the Word, they exercise leadership, government, and discipline and have responsibilities for the life of a particular church as well as the church-at-large." (G 6.0302) Both ministers of the Word and elders are ordained—that is officially admitted to the exercise of their office. Except for one question the affirmations that are expected from both ministers of the Word and elders at the time of their ordination are the same. Ordination is for life. A person may be an active elder— currently serving—or an inactive elder—not currently serving on the session. There is no clergy– lay division in leadership in the Presbyterian church but rather a mutuality of ordained persons.

A particular church (local church) is governed by the SESSION. "The session of a particular church consists of the pastor, or co-pastors, associate pastors, and the elders in active service." (G 10.0100). The session of Pine Street Church is composed of 18 elders of three classes of six elders each. We elect six elders every year for a term of three years. The session is responsible for the mission and government of a particular church.

The session has the power:

• to receive members into the church.
• to lead the congregation in participation in the mission of the whole church.
• to provide for the worship of the people of God.
• to provide for the growth of its members and for their equipment for ministry.
• to develop and supervise the church school.
• to lead the congregation in ministries of personal and social healing.
• to challenge the people of God with the privilege of responsible Christian stewardship.
• to establish an annual budget and determine the distribution of the church's
• benevolences.
• to lead the congregation in discovering what God is doing in the world.
• to engage in a process of education and mutual growth.
• to instruct, examine, ordain, install and welcome in common ministry newly elected elders and deacons.
• to delegate and supervise the work of the deacons.
• to provide for the administration of the program of the church, including employment of non–ordained staff.
• to provide for the management of the property of the church.
• to establish and maintain ecumenical relationships.
• to serve in judicial matters in accordance with the Rules of Discipline.
• and finally - to keep an accurate roll of the membership.

The session is at the center of the life and mission of a Presbyterian church.

In one sense, all the new and continuing programs of Pine Street are under Session leadership and approval. The Session, which is the official body of the church, must make all major decisions in the life of the church. Session must approve actions and plans of all other church groups and boards, and this group of dedicated men and women must take the ultimate responsibility for all church programs and church property.

Much of the work of Session is carried out by committees which include elders, persons from other boards, and members of the congregation at large. These committees are concerned with issues such as Christian education, mission, evangelism, fellowship, nominations, personnel, finance, membership care and worship. Each committee plans appropriate activities and events, proposes a budget to cover these plans, and submits plans and budget to Session for action.

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What do the Trustees do? The nine men and women elected in classes of three for a three year term are entrusted with oversight of the physical plant and financial affairs of the church. Building maintenance, improvements, care and administration are their responsibility, subject to approval of Session.

The Trustees are busy overseeing a building made far more useful by the building renovations included in the Million for Ministry Campaign. They also carry out the day to day responsibilities of routine maintenance and repair, financial management, support staff supervision, and anticipation of future needs. Church facilities and equipment continue to be modified and adapted to increase our effectiveness for ministry.

We are accustomed to seeing a smiling face greeting us at Sunday morning worship services. Men and women seat us, accept our offerings, help serve communion, and generally add to our comfort; these are our Deacons. At Pine Street the BOARD OF DEACONS is composed of thirty deacons serving three year terms with ten elected annually. The office of deacon as set forth in Scripture is one of sympathy, witness, and service. The deacons are the caring heart and arms of Pine Street Presbyterian Church. They are ordained, like ministers of the Word and elders, and serve on the various committees of the church. But this is merely a small piece of what they do.

In their ministry of care and compassion, they make provisions of food and clothing for the needy, welcome the stranger, visit the sick, hospitalized or shut-in, and provide needed care for members within the parish.

Among their other services are arranging for the Bloodmobile and membership in the Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank, which makes blood available to any member of Pine Street needing it (including his or her children and parents), and an emergency response fund to handle unplanned needs.

You can help by your gifts at Christmas to the White Gift Christmas Offering and by volunteering when requests for help are made known. You can also help by letting the Deacons know when their special kind of ministry is needed.

All the churches in a designated area are organized into a PRESBYTERY. The Presbytery is the corporate expression of the church, consisting of all the churches and ministers of the Word within a certain district. Pine Street Presbyterian Church is a part of the

PRESBYTERY OF CARLISLE, composed of all the Presbyterian churches in Lebanon, Dauphin, Perry, Juniata, Cumberland, Adams, Franklin & Fulton Counties (and one church in Maryland!).

The ministers of Pine Street Church are not members of Pine Street but rather members of the Presbytery. Pine Street is also represented at Presbytery by two elders elected to attend each

regular meeting of the Presbytery. The Presbytery of Carlisle meets in regular meeting five times a year on the fourth Tuesday of January, April, June, September and November in various churches throughout the Presbytery. The work of the Presbytery is carried on by committees, task forces, and commissions.

The Presbytery is responsible for the mission and government throughout its geographical district and therefore has responsibility for:

• developing strategy for the mission of the church.
• coordinating the work of the churches.
• organizing new churches.
• taking oversight of churches without pastors.
• entering into a covenant relationship with those preparing to become ministers of the Word.
• ordaining, receiving, dismissing, installing, removing and disciplining ministers.
• establishing pastoral relationships and dissolving them.

The ministers of Pine Street Church exercise their ministry of the Word within a three way covenant. (1) Pine Street Presbyterian Church has elected them (by secret ballot) to serve as pastor or associate pastor. (2) The person has agreed to serve. (3) The Presbytery has voted to establish the pastoral relationship and installs the person as pastor or associate pastor. This relationship can be dissolved at the request of any of the first two parties with the concurrence of the Presbytery.

The office of the Presbytery is located in Camp Hill. The Presbytery employs a Presbytery executive, associate executive, administrative associate, bookkeeper, resource center director, and shares an associate for education with the Synod. The hours are 8 A.M. to 4 P.M. Monday through Friday. The Resource Center is open on Mondays and Thursdays.

Their address is:

THE PRESBYTERY OF CARLISLE
50 Utley Drive, Suite 200
Camp Hill, PA 17011
(717) 737–6821

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THE SYNOD

The SYNOD is a unit of the church's mission and life which consists of no fewer than three presbyteries within a specific geographic location. Pine Street Church is a part of the SYNOD OF THE TRINITY. The Synod of the Trinity is composed of all the Presbyterian churches in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, eastern Ohio, and one church in Maryland! Trinity is the heartland of Presbyterianism and represents the largest concentration of Presbyterians in the Church. One joker proudly announced that Presbyterians are denser in Trinity than anywhere else.

The synod is responsible for developing a broad strategy in conjunction with its presbyteries for the mission of the church.

The Synod restructured itself at its 1993 meeting. This changed both the term of service and the role of commissioners. Synod Commissioners are elected for a two-year term and will be eligible for a second term. In addition, each Commissioner will serve on one of four ministry units, the Finance and Budget Committee, or the Planning, Evaluation and Review Committee. There will be three meetings a year, which will include time for work in units and committees as well as business sessions of the Synod as a whole.

Four ministry units are planned in place of the present five. The Evangelism and Church Development Unit, Communication and Stewardship Unit, and Social and Racial Justice Unit will carry most of the same responsibilities they have in the past few years. The Vocations Unit and the Nurture Unit will be combined into the Education, Vocations, and Nurture Unit, carrying most of the responsibilities of both former units.

Presbyteries elect Synod Commissioners specifically to serve on a particular unit or committee, on a rotating basis.

The office of Synod of The Trinity is located in Camp Hill. The synod employs a number of persons. Many of the staff work in cooperation with the various presbyteries in the area of stewardship, evangelism, church development, and education.

Their address is:

THE SYNOD OF THE TRINITY
3040 Market Street
Camp Hill, PA 17011-4599|
(717) 737-0421

The GENERAL ASSEMBLY is the highest governing body of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The Assembly is composed of commissioners, divided equally between ministers and elders, elected by each presbytery. The number of commissioners from each presbytery is based on the number of communicant members. The assembly meets annually in various cities throughout the Untied States for approximately twelve days each summer. The first business of the assembly is to elect a Moderator. The assembly then breaks up into committees to handle the business of the church. The body reconvenes to hear the reports and recommendations of the various committees. The General Assembly offices are located at 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY. The ongoing work of the assembly, which is primarily ecclesiastical in nature, is handled by the Office of the General Assembly under the Stated Clerk. The programmatic activity of the General Assembly is the responsibility of the General Assembly Council.

Composed of elected members from across the church, the work of the council is carried out through a series of major committees and task forces as needed.

In the spring of 1993 the General Assembly adopted a new structural design proposed by the Shape and Form Task Group. Under the new design, the General Assembly Council will organize its work through three divisions, rather than the nine Ministry Units that have been in operation.

The DIVISION OF CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRIES will work in the areas of Christian Education, Stewardship, and Christian Faith and Life. The Division's goal is to resource congregations, giving priority to the vibrant worship of God, compassionate service to neighbors, faithful stewardship of God's gifts, educational and spiritual growth of members, evangelistic outreach to one's community, and fellowship within the body of Christ.

The DIVISION OF NATIONAL MINISTRIES will assist congregations to participate in common ministries of concern to the nation and church, as well as ministries having local interest and possibilities. Work will be in the areas of evangelism and church development; racial, ethnic and women's ministries; social justice; theological and ethical discernment; and the cultivation and nurture of volunteer and professional leadership for the church.

The DIVISION OF WORLDWIDE MINISTRIES will be concerned with priorities, programs, and strategies regarding the worldwide ministries of the church, stressing partnership and mutuality with the worldwide body of Christ.

There is also an office of CORPORATE AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES which provides treasury services; personnel services, including human resource management and equal employment opportunity/affirmative action; management services including information services, and property management; and communication, including news services and public relations.

Their address is:

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA)
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202–1396
(502) 569–5000

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The apostle Paul wrote one of his most personal letters to the church at Philippi.
He begins the letter with a prayer of thanksgiving for that congregation:
"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine
for you all making my prayer with joy, thankful for your partnership in the gospel
from the first day until now." (Phil. 1:3-5)

The word "partnership" translates the Greek word koinonia. Koinonia means partnership, fellowship, participation, solidarity, and involvement. To be the church is to be involved—but in what? The Form of Government spells out for Presbyterians the areas of the church's participation and involvement through the GREAT ENDS OF THE CHURCH. This statement is from the United Presbyterian Church of North America and was adopted by that church in 1910.

The six great ends of the church are:

• the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind;
• the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God;
• the maintenance of divine worship;
• the preservation of truth;
• the promotion of social righteousness;
• the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.

As a church doing a busy ministry in downtown Harrisburg, why should we send a substantial piece of our mission money each year to General Mission (Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly mission projects)? The first and general answer to that question is that our Lord commanded us to go and teach the gospel in all the world—not just our own backyard. The second reason is our connectional nature as Presbyterians. We are not an independent entity, but share mission causes and the responsibilities for them all over the world, remembering that many Presbyterian mission causes get money ONLY from Presbyterian Churches. If we don't give for these missions, they will not happen.

           1. Mission giving to the General Assembly includes support for overseas missionaries,
               social ministries, and evangelism projects, as well as a program that provides services for churches
               seeking  pastors.

            2. Pine Street will also be supporting mission programs on the Synod and Presbytery levels,
                including funding for church related colleges, summer camps and conference programs,
                teacher training and study opportunities.

  3.Locally, we will continue to sponsor mission trips for church members, and special emphasis
     will be placed on providing additional funds for Downtown Daily Bread. We will continue our
     support of Christian Churches United and Contact Ministries.

 

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F. THE CHURCH AND ITS HISTORY

NEW ENGLAND ...

1620 the Puritans landed at Plymouth; by 1640 there were approximately 4000 persons in New England holding Presbyterian government.

THE SOUTH ...

1562 A Huguenot Congregation (French Reformed) was formed in Florida; it was exterminated by the Spaniards.

1692 A Presbyterian Congregation was formed near Norfolk, VA.

1772 A Presbytery was organized in South Carolina (ended during the Revolutionary War).

MIDDLE COLONIES ... Congregations were formed at Southold and Southampton, Long Island; a Congregation formed at Newark, NJ; a Huguenot Congregation was formed on Staten Island; a Congregation was formed at Elizabeth, NJ.

1680 The Presbytery of Laggen (Ireland) sent Francis Makemie to Maryland and Virginia.

1683 Churches at Rehoboth and Snow Hill, MD were formed.

1706 Presbytery formed (MD, DE and PA)—7 ministers.

1716 General Synod formed: Presbyteries of Long Island (NY and NJ), Philadelphia (PA), New Castle (DE),
         and Snow   Hill (MD).

1717 First meeting of the General Synod - supported financially by the Synod of Glasgow (Scotland).

1729 ADOPTING ACT: The Westminster Confession was accepted "in all the essential and necessary
         articles, good forms of sound words and doctrines." If a minister disagrees, "he" may state his scruples.

1732 The Synod of Philadelphia formed the Presbytery of Donegal in May. The presbytery embraced
         the entire State of Pennsylvania with the exception of a few counties in the east.

1741 Old Side (Synod of Philadelphia) and New Side (Synod of New York) split. The issue was the
         Great Awakening, order vs. ardor.

1746 The College of New Jersey (Princeton) was founded.

1755 Samuel Davis, evangelist and educator, helped organize the Presbytery of Hanover (VA) and
         prepared the way for substantial Presbyterian church growth in the Upper South.

1758 Reunion of Old Side/New Side—ministers were to be examined as to regard to experimental
         acquaintance with religion.

1786 Carlisle Presbytery organized at a meeting of the Synod of New York & Philadelphia.
         Donegal presbytery was divided into the presbyteries of Baltimore and Carlisle.

1788 General Assembly organized—Synods of NY, NJ, Phila. and VA & Carolinas: 16 Presbyteries,
         177 Ministers, 111 Probationers, and 419 Churches.

1789 First General Assembly met in Philadelphia., May 21.

1801 The Plan of Union between the Presbyterian & Congregational Churches established to plant new
          churches in New York and the Western Reserve.

1802 Standing Committee on Missions formed.

1807 First African Presbyterian Church was organized in Philadelphia, the first African–American Presbyterian
         church in the U.S.

1810 The American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions was organized (interdenominational).

1812 The Theological Seminary at Princeton was established by the General Assembly as its first
          national school for ministers.

1816 The Standing Committee changed to the Board of Missions.

1837 Old School/New School split. The Old School disapproved of the Plan of Union and the New England
        Theology; the General Assembly controlled by the Old School abrogated the Plan of Union and
        expelled the Synods of Western Reserve, Utica, Geneva and Genesee. The New School formed their own Assembly.

1838 Presbyterian Board of Publication formed.

1842 Henry Highland Garnet, a freed slave, was ordained by the Troy (NY) Presbytery. Editor, preacher
          and abolitionist, Garnet eventually preached before Congress and become U.S. ambassador to Liberia.

1858 Members of the English Presbyterian Church at Harrisburg (Market Square Presbyterian Church) with
        Old School sympathies leave to form The Presbyterian Church of Harrisburg (Pine Street).
        The Old School Presbytery of Carlisle meeting at Greencastle (April 4, 1858) heard a group from
        Harrisburg who wished to be connected with the Old School and adopted a resolution to organize
       a church in Harrisburg. On May 22nd the presbytery convened at Harrisburg and after devotional
       exercises, 52 persons presented certificates of good standing from their respective churches and were
       organized into a church.

1859 Pine Street erected a "lecture and Sabbath school building" beginning on January 30, 1859 and their
         Sunday school room on January 5, 1860. The corner stone of the main building was laid on May 12, 1859.

1860 The sanctuary of Pine Street Church was dedicated to the worship of God on July 22nd.

1861 Old School separated into North and South; Southerners formed the Presbyterian Church in the
         Confederate States of America.

1864 Old School/New School reunited in the South.

1865 Northern Old School voted to readmit southern ministers, but they had first to confess the sin of secession.

1866 A number of churches in Kentucky and Missouri protested the General Assembly action. The
         General Assembly condemned their petition. Kentucky and Missouri withdrew into the Southern Church.

1869 Northern Old School/New School united.

1870 Woman's Foreign missionary Society, the oldest and largest of the woman's boards dedicated to
         the cause of foreign missions, organized in Philadelphia.

1875 Pine Street begins the Bethany Mission on Cameron Street near Herr Street.

1892 The General Assembly affirms the doctrine of the Inerrancy of the Bible—"The Portland Deliverance."

1895 The Hymnal, edited by Louis Benson, is published as an official hymn book for the PCUSA. It becomes
         a model for subsequent hymn books.

1903 The Confession of Faith revised, six amendments added.

1906 The Book of Common Worship published.

1906 The majority of the Cumberland Presbyterian Churches reunite with the Presbyterian Church
         in the USA, ending a division of nearly 100 years.

1910 The General Assembly adopted five essentials of fundamentalism as "Essential Doctrines"- the
         inerrancy of the Scriptures, the virgin birth of Jesus, the death of Jesus as a satisfaction of divine
         justice, the physical resurrection of Jesus, and Jesus performance of miracles.

1927 Report of the Special Commission: the General Assembly has an undoubted right to interpret the
        Constitution in declaratory deliverances—but—the risk of such action is great. The judicial decisions
       of the General Assembly cannot be made to rest properly upon a merely declaratory deliverance of a
       former Assembly. The General Assembly voted that the Assembly may not single out particular
       doctrines as essential without presbytery consent.

1930 The PCUSA's constitution is amended to allow women to be ordained as elders.

1936 J. Greshem Machen, minister, scholar, and author of Christianity and Liberalism, leads a
        secession from the PCUSA which become the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

1948 Christian Faith and Action materials introduced.

1954 The first attempt to unite the Northern & Southern Churches. Defeated by the PCUS presbyteries 43–32.

1958 Union of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Presbyterian Church of North America.

1960 A new Directory of Worship adopted.

1963 Committee on Religion and Race established. Reorganization—Regional Synods.

1967 The Confession of 1967 and a Book of Confessions adopted.

1969 Union Presbyteries established UPCUSA/PCUS

1972 Westminster Presbyterian Church (organized 1872) merged with Pine Street.

1983 Reunion of the United Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Presbyterian Church in the United States.

1986 The General Assembly adopted the Structural Design for Mission.

1991 The General Assembly adopted a "Brief Statement of Reformed Faith."

1993 The General Assembly restructures itself into three divisions rather than nine ministry units.

1994 Amid a conservative backlash, the Assembly achieves a moment of peace and harmony that
         forestalls a split in the church.

Walter L. Lingle and John W. Kuykendall, Presbyterians: Their History and Beliefs, (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1978)

Lefferts A. Loetscher, The Broadening Church, (Philadelphia: University of Penna. Press, 1954)

Bradley J. Longfield, The Presbyterian Controversy: Fundamentalists, Modernists & Moderates,
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1991)

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We are created in the image of God; therefore, God's love is manifest in our relationship with one another. Through this manifestation, we, the members of Pine Street Presbyterian church, are witnessing in our urban setting to the presence of Christ in our midst and God's Kingdom on earth. Grounded in worship, in life together, and in spiritual growth, we are empowered to live our faith, both personally and as a congregation. We are endeavoring to fulfill God's purpose in calling us to this time, place, and mission.

To accomplish this mission we therefore resolve to:

• provide a dynamic, theologically strong worship in the Reformed tradition.
• provide strong, diverse, challenging Christian education, including Sunday school programs and a variety of educational programs for children, youth, and adults.
• respond actively to the