[Back to Who We Are and What We Believe]
Our Creeds and Confessions of Faith
The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) consists of The Book of Confessions and The Book of Order.
The Book of Confessions includes eleven historic creeds and confessions of faith:
Members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) confess their faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, promising their loyalty and service to him and committing themselves to faithful membership in his church. Ordained officers (deacons, elders, and ministers of the word and sacrament) promise to be guided by our confessions---that is, to be more consciously and deliberately Presbyterian in their beliefs and leadership activities within the church.
No Presbyterian is bound to every statement in the confessions, nor do we ever put our confessions on the same level of authority as the Bible. Our confessions guide, help, and correct us in following our biblical faith in Jesus Christ, who is the living truth of God come to us in person. The Word became flesh and lived among us. The scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the unique and authoritative witness to him. Our creeds and confessions provide us with statements of faith in Christ arising from Christians in particular times, places, and circumstances that called for faith to be so expressed. Together, these creeds and confessions give us a tradition of faith that guides and urges us forward as Christ's church.