Our Denomination’s History
The earliest Christian church consisted of Jews in the first century who had known Jesus and heard his teaching. It gradually grew and spread from the Middle East to other parts of the world, though not without controversy and hardship among its supporters.
During the 4th century, after more than 300 years of persecution under various Roman emperors, the church became established as a political as well as a spiritual power under the Emperor Constantine. Theological and political disagreements, however, served to widen the rift between members of the eastern (Greek-speaking) and western (Latin-speaking) branches of the church. Eventually, the western portions of Europe came under the religious and political authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Eastern Europe and parts of Asia came under the authority of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
In western Europe, the authority of the Roman Catholic Church remained largely unquestioned until the Renaissance in the 15th century. The invention of the printing press in Germany around 1440 made it possible for common people to have access to printed materials, including the Bible. This, in turn, enabled many to discover religious thinkers who had begun to question the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
One such figure, Martin Luther, a German priest and professor, started the movement known as the Protestant Reformation when he posted a list of 95 grievances against the Roman Catholic Church on a church door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517. Some 20 years later, a French/Swiss theologian, John Calvin, further refined the reformers' new way of thinking about the nature of God and God's relationship with humanity in what came to be known as Reformed theology. John Knox, a Scotsman who studied with Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland, took Calvin's teachings back to Scotland. Other Reformed communities developed in England, Holland, and France. The Presbyterian church traces its ancestry back primarily to the Reformed churches of Scotland and England.
Presbyterians have featured prominently in United States history. The Rev. Francis Mackemie, who arrived in the U.S. from Ireland in 1683, helped to organize the first American Presbytery at Philadelphia in 1706. One of
the signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Rev. John Witherspoon, was a Presbyterian minister. The Rev. William Tennent founded a ministerial "log college" in New Jersey that evolved into Princeton University. Other Presbyterian ministers, such as the Rev. Jonathan Edwards and the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, were driving forces in the so-called "Great Awakening," a revivalist movement in the early 18th century.
Several times, the Presbyterian church in the United States has split and parts of it have reunited. Currently, the largest group is the one to which First Presbyterian Church of Wadesboro belongs, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which has its national offices in Louisville, Kentucky. It was formed in 1983 as a result of reunion between the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS), the so-called "southern branch," and the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (UPCUSA), the so-called "northern branch."
Our Denomination’s Basic Beliefs
The Bible
Presbyterian churches look to the Bible as the foundation for all matters of faith and practice. Along with the other Reformed churches, we claim a continuity between the people of God in the Old Testament, the Christian movement in the New Testament, and our own worship and work. We have confidence that the Bible is the pre-eminent way through which Jesus calls and teaches his people. We derive our major doctrines – including the sovereignty of God, the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the sinfulness of humanity, and the salvation of people to eternal life – from Scripture. Each church member is responsible for reading, interpreting, and practicing the teachings of the Bible for himself or herself. Accordingly, education is basic to the workings of our denomination.
Worship of God
Presbyterians affirm that to be in Christ is to enter into and become a part of his body, the Church. As a result, the corporate worship service is a central component for a Presbyterian’s worship of God. The Presbyterian belief in corporate worship is a natural extension of our understanding of the six “great ends of the church.” As outlined in the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), these are: (1) The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind, (2)The shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship of the children of God, (3) the maintenance of divine worship, (4) the preservation of the truth, (5) the promotion of social righteousness, and (6) the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.The dominant characteristic of Presbyterian worship is that it centers on God. We seek to draw our attention to the majesty and glory of God, as he is revealed in the Trinity, and not to ourselves and our feelings. To do this, we focus on the Word of God, as expressed in the Bible. Our sermons, sacraments, prayers, music – all of our forms of worship – are rooted in Scripture. As stated in the Directory of Worship, “[i]n Christian worship the people of God hear the Word proclaimed, receive the Word enacted in Sacrament, discover the Word in the world, and are sent to follow the Word into the world.”
The Reformed approach to worship is freedom within order. Both the Directory for Worship and the Book of Common Worship provide guidelines for public worship, while leaving room for a wide
spectrum of styles. We do, however, hold several ingredients to be necessary and foundational to corporate worship: prayer, reading and proclamation of Scripture, offerings, and the sacraments.
Presbyterians recognize two sacraments: the Lord’s Supper, which First Presbyterian Church celebrates the first Sunday of each month and on certain other occasions; and Baptism, which is administered to the infant children of church members and to adultswho have made a profession of faith. The Directory for Worship defines these sacraments as “God’s acts of sealing the promises of faith within the community of faith as the congregation worships.”
Presbyterians affirm the Reformed conviction that God is active in history. In addition to having created our universe, we believe, God continues to rule over all things and is involved in the affairs of the world, moving all creation toward the coming of the Kingdom of God. Accordingly, Presbyterian worship seeks to address the concerns of our times – not remain aloof to them.
Form of Government
The word Presbyterian describes a particular way of organizing and governing the church through groups of
elders, which is the English word for presbyter. This polity is one of the ways members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) work to ensure that our actions reflect the most important concepts of our faith. Our Constitution not only makes theological proclamations, but also provides us with a framework for incorporating those proclamations into our relationships. It gives us a way for living out the “six great ends of the church.”
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a connectional church that contains several governing divisions. The church’s governing bodies are the session (for each congregation), the presbytery (a collection of churches), the synod (a grouping of presbyteries), and the General Assembly (all synods in the United States). At all levels above the session, each body must contain ruling elders and teaching elders in numbers “as nearly equal as
possible.” Each congregation has the right to elect its own officers. At the same time, that congregation and all other parts of the denomination have the responsibility of providing support to and sharing in the exercise of discipline for the entire church.
Joining the Church
People become members of a particular Presbyterian church by making a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ, making a public reaffirmation of that faith, or by transferring their certificate of membership from some other church. There is no minimum age for membership. Each session has the responsibility “to judge, after careful examination, the readiness of those who apply for active membership.”
In making that judgment, however, the session must “welcome all persons who respond in trust and obedience to God’s grace in Jesus Christ and desire to become part of the membership and ministry of his Church.” In other words, a session may not impose any other requirements for membership. Our Constitution declares that failure to “seek the grace of openness in extending the fellowship of Christ to all persons . . . . constitutes a rejection of Christ himself and causes a scandal to the gospel.”
First Presbyterian Church of Wadesboro gladly welcomes all candidates for membership. If you are interested in joining the church, you may indicate this on the Friendship Roster and someone will call you. You also may contact our Pastor following the service, or through the church office at any time. Whether you already are a member of the Presbyterian denomination, are coming from another denomination, or are new to church life altogether – you are warmly invited to become a part of the First Presbyterian family of faith!
The earliest Christian church consisted of Jews in the first century who had known Jesus and heard his teaching. It gradually grew and spread from the Middle East to other parts of the world, though not without controversy and hardship among its supporters.
During the 4th century, after more than 300 years of persecution under various Roman emperors, the church became established as a political as well as a spiritual power under the Emperor Constantine. Theological and political disagreements, however, served to widen the rift between members of the eastern (Greek-speaking) and western (Latin-speaking) branches of the church. Eventually, the western portions of Europe came under the religious and political authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Eastern Europe and parts of Asia came under the authority of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
In western Europe, the authority of the Roman Catholic Church remained largely unquestioned until the Renaissance in the 15th century. The invention of the printing press in Germany around 1440 made it possible for common people to have access to printed materials, including the Bible. This, in turn, enabled many to discover religious thinkers who had begun to question the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
One such figure, Martin Luther, a German priest and professor, started the movement known as the Protestant Reformation when he posted a list of 95 grievances against the Roman Catholic Church on a church door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517. Some 20 years later, a French/Swiss theologian, John Calvin, further refined the reformers' new way of thinking about the nature of God and God's relationship with humanity in what came to be known as Reformed theology. John Knox, a Scotsman who studied with Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland, took Calvin's teachings back to Scotland. Other Reformed communities developed in England, Holland, and France. The Presbyterian church traces its ancestry back primarily to the Reformed churches of Scotland and England.
Presbyterians have featured prominently in United States history. The Rev. Francis Mackemie, who arrived in the U.S. from Ireland in 1683, helped to organize the first American Presbytery at Philadelphia in 1706. One of
the signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Rev. John Witherspoon, was a Presbyterian minister. The Rev. William Tennent founded a ministerial "log college" in New Jersey that evolved into Princeton University. Other Presbyterian ministers, such as the Rev. Jonathan Edwards and the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, were driving forces in the so-called "Great Awakening," a revivalist movement in the early 18th century.
Several times, the Presbyterian church in the United States has split and parts of it have reunited. Currently, the largest group is the one to which First Presbyterian Church of Wadesboro belongs, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which has its national offices in Louisville, Kentucky. It was formed in 1983 as a result of reunion between the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS), the so-called "southern branch," and the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (UPCUSA), the so-called "northern branch."
Our Denomination’s Basic Beliefs
The Bible
Presbyterian churches look to the Bible as the foundation for all matters of faith and practice. Along with the other Reformed churches, we claim a continuity between the people of God in the Old Testament, the Christian movement in the New Testament, and our own worship and work. We have confidence that the Bible is the pre-eminent way through which Jesus calls and teaches his people. We derive our major doctrines – including the sovereignty of God, the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the sinfulness of humanity, and the salvation of people to eternal life – from Scripture. Each church member is responsible for reading, interpreting, and practicing the teachings of the Bible for himself or herself. Accordingly, education is basic to the workings of our denomination.
Worship of God
Presbyterians affirm that to be in Christ is to enter into and become a part of his body, the Church. As a result, the corporate worship service is a central component for a Presbyterian’s worship of God. The Presbyterian belief in corporate worship is a natural extension of our understanding of the six “great ends of the church.” As outlined in the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), these are: (1) The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind, (2)The shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship of the children of God, (3) the maintenance of divine worship, (4) the preservation of the truth, (5) the promotion of social righteousness, and (6) the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.The dominant characteristic of Presbyterian worship is that it centers on God. We seek to draw our attention to the majesty and glory of God, as he is revealed in the Trinity, and not to ourselves and our feelings. To do this, we focus on the Word of God, as expressed in the Bible. Our sermons, sacraments, prayers, music – all of our forms of worship – are rooted in Scripture. As stated in the Directory of Worship, “[i]n Christian worship the people of God hear the Word proclaimed, receive the Word enacted in Sacrament, discover the Word in the world, and are sent to follow the Word into the world.”
The Reformed approach to worship is freedom within order. Both the Directory for Worship and the Book of Common Worship provide guidelines for public worship, while leaving room for a wide
spectrum of styles. We do, however, hold several ingredients to be necessary and foundational to corporate worship: prayer, reading and proclamation of Scripture, offerings, and the sacraments.
Presbyterians recognize two sacraments: the Lord’s Supper, which First Presbyterian Church celebrates the first Sunday of each month and on certain other occasions; and Baptism, which is administered to the infant children of church members and to adultswho have made a profession of faith. The Directory for Worship defines these sacraments as “God’s acts of sealing the promises of faith within the community of faith as the congregation worships.”
Presbyterians affirm the Reformed conviction that God is active in history. In addition to having created our universe, we believe, God continues to rule over all things and is involved in the affairs of the world, moving all creation toward the coming of the Kingdom of God. Accordingly, Presbyterian worship seeks to address the concerns of our times – not remain aloof to them.
Form of Government
The word Presbyterian describes a particular way of organizing and governing the church through groups of
elders, which is the English word for presbyter. This polity is one of the ways members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) work to ensure that our actions reflect the most important concepts of our faith. Our Constitution not only makes theological proclamations, but also provides us with a framework for incorporating those proclamations into our relationships. It gives us a way for living out the “six great ends of the church.”
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a connectional church that contains several governing divisions. The church’s governing bodies are the session (for each congregation), the presbytery (a collection of churches), the synod (a grouping of presbyteries), and the General Assembly (all synods in the United States). At all levels above the session, each body must contain ruling elders and teaching elders in numbers “as nearly equal as
possible.” Each congregation has the right to elect its own officers. At the same time, that congregation and all other parts of the denomination have the responsibility of providing support to and sharing in the exercise of discipline for the entire church.
Joining the Church
People become members of a particular Presbyterian church by making a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ, making a public reaffirmation of that faith, or by transferring their certificate of membership from some other church. There is no minimum age for membership. Each session has the responsibility “to judge, after careful examination, the readiness of those who apply for active membership.”
In making that judgment, however, the session must “welcome all persons who respond in trust and obedience to God’s grace in Jesus Christ and desire to become part of the membership and ministry of his Church.” In other words, a session may not impose any other requirements for membership. Our Constitution declares that failure to “seek the grace of openness in extending the fellowship of Christ to all persons . . . . constitutes a rejection of Christ himself and causes a scandal to the gospel.”
First Presbyterian Church of Wadesboro gladly welcomes all candidates for membership. If you are interested in joining the church, you may indicate this on the Friendship Roster and someone will call you. You also may contact our Pastor following the service, or through the church office at any time. Whether you already are a member of the Presbyterian denomination, are coming from another denomination, or are new to church life altogether – you are warmly invited to become a part of the First Presbyterian family of faith!
