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Who Are We?
The Presbytery of New Covenant is one of 173 presbyteries in the country, which are district governing bodies that provide care and oversight of local congregations and ministers in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
There are 106 churches in the Presbytery of New Covenant and 17 new church development projects. Spread across 23,000 square miles in southeast Texas, the presbytery includes churches in 35 Texas counties.
Our Vision:
Growing congregations that passionately engage
their community in making disciples
Our Mission:
Confessing Jesus Christ as Lord; Connecting one another in ministry ;
Challenging one another for mission.
What We Do
Presbytery of New Covenant consists of every member and all Ministers of the Word and Sacrament of the 106 congregations in the Presbytery. Member-churches support the work of the presbytery through their gifts of time, talent, and treasure.
Examples of what these resources enable the presbytery to do:
- Provide care and guidance for individuals seeking to enter the ministry
- Give pastoral care to churches and pastors
- Work closely with churches seeking to call new pastors
- Develop lay leadership
- Organize (plant) new churches
- Transform established churches by guiding them and mobilizing their strength for effective dialog, witness, and mission to the broader community
- Provide encouragement, guidance, training, and resources for church leaders
- Create connectional ministry networks (serve as a connecting point between congregations and the PC(USA)ity of
Our Governing Bodies
The Presbytery of New Covenant is a member of the Synod of the Sun, which is one of 16 regional governing bodies in the PC(USA) that provide care and oversight of several presbyteries. The Synod of the Sun includes 11 presbyteries located in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
The Presbytery of New Covenant is a member of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which has approximately 2.4 million members, 11,100 congregations, 21,2000 ordained ministers, and 101,300 elders. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is distinctly a confessional and a connectional church, distinguished by the representation of elders-laymen and laywomen-in its government.
Through the General Assembly, the biannual meeting of clergy and lay commissioners who represent the presbyteries of the Church, all Presbyterians have a voice in setting directions for mission.
The Presbyterian Church in the United States has split and parts have reunited several times. Currently the largest group is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It was formed in 1983 as a result of reunion between the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., the so-called "southern branch," and the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., the so-called "northern branch."
Presbyterianism
Presbyterians are distinctive in 2 major ways:
- We adhere to a pattern of religious thought known as Reformed theology, and
- We follow a form of government that stresses the active, representational leadership of both ministers and church members
The designation of churches as Presbyterian indicates their governance by presbyters—both teaching elders (ministers) and ruling elders —who are chosen by the congregation. These elders are known as a church’s Session.
Presbyterian ministers and elders serve together in a system of representative assemblies at the congregational, regional (presbytery), and national (general assembly) levels.
The majority of decisions made concerning a church are made by the church itself. The presbytery and general assembly serve as checks against doctrinal error, but they do not strictly control the local congregations.
For more information about the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), visit
http://www.pcusa.org/101/101-whoare.htm and http://www.pcusa.org/oga/perspectives/jun04/churches.htm.
How does a person become a Presbyterian minister?
To become a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), you must first come under the care and supervision of a church as well as the local presbytery.
In order to be ordained as a Presbyterian minister, you must have a Master of Divinity degree from a theological seminary, pass ordination exams that demonstrate competence in the fields of theology, Bible, church polity, and worship and Sacraments, and receive other training through church internships and hospital chaplaincies. Only a presbytery may ordain a minister, not a congregation.
Before, beyond, and in the middle of all that, of course, you must sense God's calling to serve and love the Church.
If you're interested in beginning the process by becoming an Inquirer (the yearlong first step in the process), contact one of your pastors or Sharon Darden, Coordinator for Committee on Ministry and Committee on Preparation for Ministry, at the Presbytery Center. Confessing Jesus Christ as Lord; Connecting one another in ministry; Challenging one another for mission.
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