Chapter 16: every tradition · Christianity

Presbyterian Church in America

A congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America, confessionally Reformed under the Westminster Confession and Catechisms, which its officers vow to receive. Its Lord's Day worship is ordered by Scripture and centred on long expository preaching, often with an evening service as well; the Lord's Supper is served from the table as often as the session decides, to those who profess the true religion and are communicants in good standing of an evangelical church. Believers' children are baptized by pouring or sprinkling and are non-communing members until the session examines them and they profess their faith. The session of ruling elders governs, and its elders, deacons, and ministers are men only. The congregation calls its own pastor, whom the presbytery examines and installs, and owns its property outright: the Book of Church Order promises that no court will ever take it, and a church may leave by its own vote. All giving to the presbytery and the General Assembly is voluntary. Church planting and missions are its growth engine.

All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it; How people feel, what every factor is.

At a glance

Faith	Christianity
Its words	church, church, sanctuary; the pastor leads the worship service; the sermon; Sunday; the Bible
Worship	word focus, reserved, moderate formality (0.67 of 1); seated on pews
Music	piano expected; chant discouraged; recorded discouraged
The room's sound	no strong preference
Its year	western; major observance; fasts none
Leans	conservative on moral questions, conservative on economic ones
Polity	presbyterian; leaders come by call; property local
Leaders	one leader, full time, trained by seminary; marriage any
Belonging	high commitment, formal discipline, admitted by board
Giving	tithing taught; collected by plate, online
Way of life	alcohol moderation, dress casual, sabbath observed

The week's services

Day	Time	Service	Led by	People look for it
Sunday	10:30 am	Reformed worship	the pastor	expected
Sunday	6:00 pm	Reformed worship	the pastor	optional

Leader: a pastor. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the church holds a Lay-led service in place of its own, led by the laity, which costs everyone at it 0.04; on sabbatical a supply pastor stands in ($800 a month).
Communion (monthly), passed among the people: nothing needs to be placed to serve it. People receive from age 10; anyone younger who comes forward is blessed instead.
Baptism: needs a font, a baptistry, or an immersion font, built and installed; until there is one, those wanting baptism wait.
Lay helpers at each service: Required: 2 elders (at communion).

Rites

Profession of Faith (quarterly, +0.025 to those there): Young people raised in the church, after catechism classes and an interview with the elders, publicly profess their faith before the congregation and become confessing members.
Installation of Officebearers (yearly, +0.015 to those there): Newly elected elders and deacons are ordained and installed before the congregation using the church's prescribed form.

Baptism, confirmation, and joining

Baptized elsewhere: it recognizes a believer's baptism by immersion. Someone so baptized is received at a service after about 4 weeks (a week from another of its churches).
Not baptized (or baptized where it doesn't recognize it): a candidate who is baptized and received at the same service.
Joining age: 10.
The church's children are baptized as babies, and are baptized members, without a vote until confirmed.
Profession of Faith: from about 10, a class of 3 months (in a classroom or an office, led by the pastor or a sunday school teacher) prepares them, and the rite makes them full members at 10 or so. It's held only when there are candidates.
Kinds of belonging: communing members (votes, may hold office); non-communing members; received by its board.
What it means: being baptized, confirmed, or received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home each Christmas Eve and Easter for ten years.

Giving, and what goes up

How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.

How it's given: the offering, by a plate passed at each main service, and giving online. A visiting household puts $5 to $25 in the plate. Those who give online give whether or not they come (8% more a month).
Fundraisers: only the modest ones (below).
Owed above: Presbytery askings, $25 a year for each member, to the Presbytery (voluntary); not kept, it costs the wider body's regard.
Owed above: Administrative Committee, 0.35% of what it takes in, to the General Assembly (voluntary).
Owed above: Ministry partnership, 3% of what it takes in, to the General Assembly (voluntary).

The pastor, the staff, and who decides

How the pastor comes: advertised and called: the members vote, then the Presbytery must consent.
Paid: full time.
Candidates: three apply; trained at seminary; men; most married.
Tenure: settled for about 10 years, then may be called elsewhere.
Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Bivocational pastor ($22,000–$38,000; cares for 75)
- Pastor ($55,000–$85,000 + $18,000 benefits, full time; cares for 150)
- Associate pastor ($42,000–$62,000 + $15,000 benefits, full time; cares for 100 more)
- Deacon (up to $6,000; from the members; cares for 30 more)
- Choir director / organist / pianist ($15,000–$35,000; leads the music (up to +0.06))
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Church secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
Its boards: the session (deciding, over everything); the diaconate (deciding, over the money).
Renovations: The session votes.
New construction: The members vote.
Calling a leader: The members vote, then the Presbytery must consent.
Who votes: communing members, 16 and over.

Life together

What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.

Ministries of its own: Choir.
Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
Fundraisers of its own: Soup supper.
Shared fundraisers it may hold (only the modest ones): Bake sale, Car wash, Raffle, Rummage sale.
Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, A twelve-step group, Another congregation, Dance classes, Parties and receptions, Wedding receptions.
Outreach: invitation Sunday, planting a new church, a home Bible study (Community → Evangelism).
Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): A petition for cushions, The bells, again.
Dilemmas its code of life brings: A Masonic funeral, A matter of discipline, A raffle for the roof, A recruiter asks for the hall, Champagne at the reception.

What the building needs

required Communion tableThe Lord's Supper is served from a communion table, recalling the table of the Last Supper.
required Baptismal fontInfant baptism by pouring needs a baptismal font, traditionally near the entrance as a sign that baptism is entry into the church.
required PulpitPreaching is the center of worship, so the pulpit stands at the center of the platform.
required sacristyVestments, sacred vessels, and paraments are kept and prepared in a sacristy.
expected Communion traysThe bread and cup are carried to the pews in trays and passed along the rows.
expected Upright pianoThe congregation expects singing led from a piano.
discouraged CrucifixThis tradition uses an empty cross, proclaiming the risen Christ, rather than a crucifix.
discouraged Flaming chaliceThe flaming chalice is another tradition's symbol.
discouraged IconIcons are not part of this tradition's worship.
discouraged Painting of ChristPictures of Christ are not part of this tradition's worship space.
discouraged StatueStatues are not part of this tradition's worship space.

What people here feel

Architectural style: Colonial brick +0.028; Modern synagogue +0.046; Gurdwara +0.052; Japanese temple +0.056; Islamic +0.05; Shinto shrine +0.05; Chinese temple +0.044; Dravidian temple +0.038; Nagara temple +0.038; Thai temple +0.038; Jain marble +0.032; Gothic +0.026.
Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
Acoustics: it wants a room between ringing and dry, about 2.2 seconds of reverberation: neither bare stone nor a carpeted low room. Up to ±0.05.
Seasonal decor: it keeps the church year: paraments and the season's decor are worth up to ±0.027.
The sermon lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the pastor's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
Communion: each communion service runs longer; a slow one costs 0.05 for every 10 minutes the service runs over (0.2 at most).

How each sermon lands

The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.

Fire & Brimstone+0.08
Marriage as God Designed+0.06
Sanctity of Life+0.06
The Last Days+0.06
Faith & Family+0.04
Faith of Our Fathers+0.04
Obedience & Discipline+0.04
Personal Holiness+0.04
Resisting Temptation+0.04
Spiritual Warfare+0.04
The Authority of Scripture+0.04
The Great Commission+0.04
Biblical Stories+0.015
Blessed Are the Peacemakers+0.015
Called by Name+0.015
Doubt & Faith+0.015
Eternal Life & Resurrection+0.015
Grace & Forgiveness+0.015
Gratitude+0.015
Hope & Comfort+0.015
Joy in All Things+0.015
Love One Another+0.015
Sabbath Rest+0.015
Saints & Witnesses+0.015
Servant Leadership+0.015
Songs of the Psalms+0.015
Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
The Church Year+0.015
The Life of Prayer+0.015
The Parables of Jesus+0.015
Care for Creation-0.05
Healing for All-0.05
Interfaith Understanding-0.05
Reading Scripture in Context-0.05
Swords into Ploughshares-0.05
The Prophets' Call-0.05
Wealth & Poverty-0.05
Welcome the Stranger-0.05
Women Who Led-0.05
Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.075
Radical Inclusion-0.075
Social Justice Call-0.075

Every item, for this tradition

Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.

Item	Fit	Rule
Seating
Box pew	+0.333
Choir stalls	+0.167
Meeting bench	no fit
Oak pew	no fit
Row of chairs	0
Liturgical furniture
Altar	+0.333
Baptismal font	+0.333	required Infant baptism by pouring needs a baptismal font, traditionally near the entrance as a sign that baptism is entry into the church.
Baptistry	no fit
Bishop's chair	+0.333
Brass eagle lectern	+0.333
Columbarium niches	+0.333
Communion rail	+0.333
Communion station	no fit
Communion table	no fit	required The Lord's Supper is served from a communion table, recalling the table of the Last Supper.
Communion trays	no fit	expected The bread and cup are carried to the pews in trays and passed along the rows.
Confessional screen	no fit
Coptic cross	0
Epitaphios	-1
Flaming chalice	-1	discouraged The flaming chalice is another tradition's symbol.
Foot-washing basins	no fit
Haikal screen	-1
Iconostasis	-1
Immersion font	+0.333
Lectern	no fit
Litany desk	+0.333
Mercy seat	no fit
Octagonal stone font	+0.333
Paraments	no fit
Pulpit	no fit	required Preaching is the center of worship, so the pulpit stands at the center of the platform.
Readers' desks	no fit
Rood screen	-1
Sanctuary lamp	+0.333
Tabernacle	+0.333
Three-bar cross	0
Thurible and stand	no fit
Music
Brass band stands	0
Chanter's stand	-0.333
Drum kit	0
Electronic organ	0
Grand piano	+1
Hammond organ	0
Handbell table	0
Pipe organ	+0.167
Sound system	0
Upright piano	+1	expected The congregation expects singing led from a piano.
Decor
Advent wreath	no fit
Banner	0
Christmas Eve candles	no fit
Cross	0
Crucifix	-1	discouraged This tradition uses an empty cross, proclaiming the risen Christ, rather than a crucifix.
Easter lilies	no fit
Eternal flame	no fit
Flag of the church	0
Great dome	+0.333
Icon	-1	discouraged Icons are not part of this tradition's worship.
Memorial plaque	no fit
National flag	0
Painting of Christ	-1	discouraged Pictures of Christ are not part of this tradition's worship space.
Paschal candle	no fit
Plain spire	no fit
Small dome	no fit
Stained glass window	+0.333
Statue	-1	discouraged Statues are not part of this tradition's worship space.
Steeple and bells	+0.333
Votive candle stand	no fit
Furnishings
Alms box	no fit
Coffee pot	no fit
Commercial coffee pot	no fit
Computer	no fit
Crib	no fit
Desk	no fit
Desk chair	no fit
Folding table	no fit
Full-length mirror	no fit
Pillar	+0.333
Prie-dieu	+0.333
Projection screen	0
Vestment cabinet	+0.333
Wooden table	no fit
Utility
A/V rack	no fit
Camera	no fit
Cast-iron boiler	no fit
Central air conditioner	no fit
Commercial HVAC plant	no fit
Commercial stove	no fit
Congregation van	no fit
Ductless heat pump	no fit
Electric wall heater	no fit
Gas furnace	no fit
Hearing loop	no fit
Lift	no fit
Packaged heat pump	no fit
Plumbing stack	no fit
Ramp	no fit
Shuttle bus	no fit
Sink	no fit
Solar panels	no fit
Stairs	no fit
Toilet	no fit
Used school bus	no fit
Wall camera	no fit
Window air conditioner	no fit
Grounds
Evergreen tree	no fit
Flower bed	no fit
Fountain	no fit
Garden bench	no fit
Hedge	no fit
Lychgate	+0.333
Playground	no fit
Shade tree	no fit
Standing cross	no fit

Sources

The Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America, 2026 edition (link)
byFaith, New Statistics Reveal PCA's Growth in 2024 (link)
byFaith, A Typical PCA Church: A Statistical Perspective (January 2026) (link)
PCA Administrative Committee, Annual Fund 2025 (link)
PCA, Report of the Ad Interim Committee on Women Serving in the Ministry of the Church (2017) (link)
PCA Historical Center, Studies and Actions: Validity of Roman Catholic baptism (link)
Christianity Today, Debating School-Based Clinics and Freemasonry (September 1987) (link)