Click on the above video to watch an informational description of the Presbyterian Church polity and governance. This instructional video helps to explain how the Presbyterian Church attempts to discern God's will in executing the mission and work of the church.
There are three forms of church government, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Congregational. The first two are both guided by historic principles of church governance, they are connectional churches. The episcopal form of government is perhaps the oldest, having a hierarchical system of bishops and diocese. This system of government includes papal, canonical and synodic authority in its structure. There is still a great deal of diversity within an episcopal system as illustrated in the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, or the Protestant Episcopal system. The second, is a representative system, comprised of elders, both clergy and lay elected by the congregation or ordained by a presbytery. Consistories or sessions are the council of the church that governs the local congregation. A General Assembly convenes to decide major issues facing the church. In the last, the congregational system, there is much greater autonomy in the local congregation. Most have a board comprised of either deacons or elders. The church may be a part of a loose association, but local congregations remain completely autonomous. The above video is descriptive of how the Presbyterian church in the USA operates as a Presbyterian system of church government.
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