The Presbyterian Church is filled with rules and regulations.
Some of these are under the Office of the General Assembly (OGA)
The Book of Order is Part II of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
This document contains the Form of Government, Directory for Worship, Rules of Discipline,
and the Formula of Agreement.
Form of Government | pcusa.org
Constitutional Interpretation | pcusa.org
General rolls are:
Session (Elders): internal affairs
Deacons: external, reaching out
Trustees: property issues
Constitutional Interpretation
Churches
The Church officers mentioned in the New Testament include those of:
- Presbyters (ministers of the Word and Sacrament also called pastors) - Responsible for teaching, preaching, baptisms, pastoral care, leadership, management, ...
- Elders - Generally responsible for internal affairs. They make up the Session of the Church which is responsible for governing the church.
- Deacons - Generally responsible for external affairs. They represent the caring (welfare) side of the church and seek to minister either within or beyond the community of faith. They also dispense the sacraments.
In the Catholic Church deacons may preach, teach, baptize, witness marriages and conduct funeral liturgies.
In addition to the officers most Churches have a Board of Trustees which is responsible for the property of the church.
Ministries are organizations within the church such as Sunday School (children/youth), adult education, womens group, mens group, music, outdoor, ...
Women's groups are sometimes called "circles".
Small groups may meet weekly or semi-weekly.
Activities include things like bible study, book discussion groups, outings, softball/basketball teams, ...
Support groups may include things like Grief sharing, divorce recovery, Substance abuse, ...
Missions support Local, Regional, National and International projects, either monetarily or with time and talents e.g.
Local - Clothing and food drives, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, inner city church support.
Regional - Home repair, Habitat for Humanity
International - Schools, hospitals, orphanages, Missionaries.
Committees (Teams) may include, Nominating, Hospitality, Personnel, Finance, Stewardship, ...
Another Org chart
National - International
Catholic:
Pope, who is the Bishop of Rome
The Holy Father is advised by his College of Cardinals (who are always Bishops).
The Curia, divided into dicasteries (congregations, tribunals, offices,
secretariat of state, etc.), is the agency through which the Vatican is governed.
Province - A group of dioceses usually within a state or part of a state in the U.S.
The lead Bishop in a province is their archbishop
and his diocese is the archdiocese
Dioceses - There are 2,795 each overseen by a Bishop.
There are about 200 Dioceses in the U.S.
The chief church of a diocese, or "the Bishop's church," is called a "cathedral"
Parish - Staffed with one or more Priests
There are about 22,000 churches in the U.S. with 70 million members.
See USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - Catholic Information Project
Average attendance was 850.
Some bishops are also given the honorary title of Cardinal.
These are usually conferred upon bishops of influential or significant dioceses
or upon bishops who have distinguished themselves in a particular area of service.
There were 18 American cardinals in 2008.
In addition Catholics have monks and nuns, who join a monastic or religious order, such as the Benedictines, Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, and the Sisters of Mercy.
See: Parishes, Dioceses, Archdioceses, Patriarchates
Web Site Info For Roman Catholic Dioceses and Parishes within the United States
Protestant:
There are about 100 million protestants in the U.S.
The largest denominations are Baptist (35 M), Methodist (14 M), Lutheran (9 M), Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormans) ( 6 M) Presbyterian (4 M).
The median congregation size in American protestant churches is about 160
according to the National Congregations Study at Duke.
The median number that regularly participate is 75.
Number of persons associated with a congregation
Size | Frequency | Percent | Cumulative Percent |
5 to 49 | 200 | 13.4 | 13.4 |
50 to 99 | 307 | 20.6 | 34 |
100 to 249 | 491 | 32.9 | 66.9 |
250 to 499 | 261 | 17.5 | 84.4 |
500 to 999 | 119 | 8 | 92.4 |
1,000 to 2,499 | 72 | 4.8 | 97.2 |
2,500 to 4,999 | 24 | 1.6 | 98.8 |
5,000 to 9,999 | 14 | 1 | 99.7 |
10,000 or more | 4 | 0.3 | 100 |
Number of adults that regularly participate in the congregation
Number | FrequencyPercent | Cumulative Percent |
5 to 49 | 687 | 45.6 | 45.6 |
50 to 99 | 380 | 25.2 | 70.9 |
100 to 249 | 283 | 18.8 | 89.6 |
250 to 499 | 89 | 5.9 | 95.6 |
500 to 999 | 41 | 2.7 | 98.3 |
1,000 to 2,499 | 22 | 1.5 | 99.7 |
2,500 to 4,999 | 4 | 0.2 | 100 |
5,000 to 9,999 | 1 | 0 | 100 |
10,000 or more | 0 | 0 | 100 |
Source: 2007 Data at Duke's National Congregations Study
More statistics at Religion Stats and Christian Denominations
Presbyterian:
The Presbyterian theory of government developed in Geneva under John Calvin and was introduced to Scotland by John Knox.
The Presbyterian Church in the USA has gone thru many iteration with denominations splitting off and later rejoining. The largest ones in 2010 were PC USA (80%), PC America (13%) and The Evangelical PC (3%). Most are organized as follows (some skip the synod).
General Assembly - Ruling Body
Synod - There are 16
Presbytery - There are 173
Churches - 13,000
Members - 3-4 Million
See PC(USA) - Presbyteries, Synods and Other Links of Interest
Links:
Presbyterian Organization
Officers
Office of the General Assembly (OGA) | pcusa.org
Presbyterian polity - Wikipedia
The Barna Group studies religious trends
(United Methodist Women) UMW-Local Officer Job Descriptions
Updated 16 Jan 2011
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