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What is Presbytery?

Have you heard the word "Presbytery" used at GCC and wondered what it means? Friday night at 7:00pm is your chance to get a glimpse of its meaning!

Is it Biblical?
In the Bible, we see all the established local churches relate to one another. One famous example is in 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 when the Apostle Paul gathered a large collection from Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Galatia to relieve poverty in the local church in Jerusalem. In Revelation 1:19, Jesus instructed John to record His words of warning and encouragement for the seven churches in Asia as they bore witness together to Christ. The Biblical example is clear that local churches bear witness together and work together. But how do we do the same today? There are several ways that GCC relates to other churches (e.g., Greene County Ministerial Association), but one very important one is that we are part of a Presbytery.

What makes our Presbytery so special?
In a Presbyterian form of church government, all the churches of a geographical region form a Presbytery. So if you're a member of GCC, you are also a part of the Presbytery of the Blue Ridge. This Presbytery was formed in 2003 when the James River Presbytery was used by God to grow so many churches over the state of Virginia that it was time to divide into two Presbyteries with more logical boundaries. Our Presbytery of the Blue Ridge is the sum total of all the teaching elders and churches in a large triangle approximately formed by Frederick, Mecklenburg, and Carroll Counties.

Instead of asking "What is Presbytery?", a better question is "Who is Presbytery?" And the answer is you!


What ministry does it do?
The Presbytery has power to do several things as listed in our Book of Church Order (13-9):

  • Care for men through the process of becoming ministers
  • Plant churches (like ours 16 years ago, or Christ Covenant in Culpeper today)
  • Create and sustain RUF campus ministries (UVA, VT, Liberty U., Washington and Lee, etc.)
  • Review the records of church Sessions
  • Establish or dissolve the relationship of a pastor and congregation at the request of either party
  • Set apart evangelists, require ministers to be devoted to their work, censure the delinquent
  • To see that lawful injunctions of higher church courts are obeyed by local churches

How does it do this work?
In the same way that our local Session meets to work on the ministry of GCC, so also our local Presbytery meets to work on the ministry of the Blue Ridge. At GCC, the elders represent the people of the congregation when they meet, and they also represent Christ to our congregation. In the Presbytery, all the teaching elders and two ruling elders from each church represent all the people of all the congregations. They also represent Christ to these churches under their care.

You’re invited!
This Friday night at 7:00pm the whole Presbytery is invited (including you!) to gather for worship at GCC. Our worship team will lead us. Pastor Bill Leach from Christ Presbyterian in Harrisonburg will preach. We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, and pray for the churches in our Presbytery. A portion of your tithes and offerings goes to support the work of a large number of churches, campus ministries, and church plants through the ministry of the Presbytery of the Blue Ridge.

Saturday morning, the Presbytery will gather as a court (teaching elders and ruling elder representatives) to do some business. If you’re around Saturday, feel free to pop your head in the building for a few minutes to see what it’s like.  It begins at 8:00am with a short time of singing that will be led by our newest elder, Jimmy Wood, and a devotional led by Pastor Don. Then the business portion begins with a break for lunch (served by our own wonderful Susan Nelson), and then there is usually a little more business that takes place after lunch until mid-afternoon.

I hope I’ve answered a few questions and piqued your curiosity to ask more. Don and I are always happy to answer any questions you have about this or any other topic.

 

In Him,

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