United Presbyterian Church

United Presbyterian Church two denominations of Presbyterianism . 1 In Scotland, the United Presbyterian Church was formed by the union (1847) of the United Secession Church with the majority of the congregations of the Relief Church. In 1900 the United Presbyterian Church and the Free Church of Scotland joined as the United Free Church of Scotland. This United Free Church merged (1929) with the Church of Scotland (see Scotland, Church of ).

2 In the United States, the United Presbyterian Church of North America was constituted (1858) by the union of the Associate Presbyterian Church with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. The United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. was formed in 1958 by the merger of the United Presbyterian Church of North America and the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. This church was the main body of Presbyterianism in the United States until 1983 when it merged with the Presbyterian Church in the United States (otherwise known as the Southern Presbyterian Church) to form the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which has about 3.6 million members (1997).

United Presbyterian Church. The Church formed in Scotland in 1847 by the union of the United Secession Church and the Relief Synod, a body formed in 1761 after difficulties over the patronage system. In 1900, apart from a small minority (the Wee Frees) it joined the Free Church of Scotland to form the United Free Church of Scotland.

Presbyterianism. A form of ecclesiastical polity in which the Church is governed by presbyters. Its proponents in the 16th and 17th cent. regarded it not as an innovation but a rediscovery of the apostolic model found in the NT. Most Presbyterians now recognize that the early Church had episcopal and congregational elements and that Presbyterianism has no claim to be the only permissible Church polity.

The normal pattern of government of Presbyterian Churches is a hierarchy of interrelated bodies: the Session (Kirk session), Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly. These are all made up of ministers and elders. The elders are elected representatives of the congregation, but their office is recognized as one of the four ministries of the Church, and they may participate in preaching, teaching, and administering the sacraments. Ministers are elected by the people, but their ordination is an act of the Presbytery. Most Presbyterian Churches ordain men and women both as ministers and elders. All Presbyterian Churches acknowledge the Bible as the supreme standard of faith and practice, and many still accept the Westminster Confession and the two Westminster Catechisms as their chief subordinate standards. The United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1967 adopted a Book of Confessions as its doctrinal base and this was accepted by the Presbyterian Church (USA) when that came into being in 1983. It includes various Calvinist documents, among them the Barmen Declaration, and a new formula of confession drawn up in 1967. A ‘Brief Statement of Faith’ was added in 1991. Presbyterian worship emphasizes hearing and preaching the Word of God, but there was an increased appreciation of the sacraments in the late 20th cent., and the Lord's Supper is now commonly celebrated seven to 12 times a year.

Presbyterian Churches are found throughout the world. There are concentrations in the USA, Scotland (the only Presbyterian State Church), Hungary, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Switzerland, France, the Cameroon, and Korea. The World Presbyterian Alliance (founded in 1875) was merged in 1970 with the International Congregational Council to form the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. In the USA there have been unions of Presbyterian Churches, notably in 1958 and 1983, the latter bringing together streams of Presbyterianism divided since the Civil War. Presbyterian Churches have also been involved in regional unions with different denominations in Canada, the Philippines, Zambia, Australia, North and South India, and Pakistan. In 1972 the Presbyterian Church of England united with the greater part of the Congregational Church of England and Wales to form the United Reformed Church.