First Presbysterian Church

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Richard Moore, Pastor
Every once in awhile a non-Presbyterian will ask me, Do Presbyterians have bishops? My response is usually, not exactly. Then I go on to explain how, in the more hierarchical denominations (Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopalian, and Methodist), authority on important matters is vested in an individual chain of command (bishops, superintendents, priests, pastors, etc.). But in our representative form of church governance, authority rests in groups of persons (sessions, presbyteries, synods, and the General Assembly) who decide together what should be done. So, in a way, our bishop is a group, not a single individual.
Of course, we Presbyterians endure certain jokes that are always making the rounds. One is about how a camel must have been designed by a committee. Actually, I dont find that very funny; because a camel is a very useful animal in some parts of the world!
This coming Saturday, the Presbytery of Winnebago is meeting at our church from 9:30 a.m. until around 4 in the afternoon. You are invited to stop by for any, or all, of this event and see our larger church at work. Our Presbytery is made up of 40 Presbyterian churches in northeast Wisconsin. And when you add up all the Presbyterians in those churches, the total is close to 7,300 members.
If you do stop by on Saturday, you can hear committee reports, watch how presbytery discusses issues, programs, and makes decisions, participate in a service of worship and Communion at 11:15, and enjoy a delicious lunch at noon. But even if you just drop in for a small portion of the meeting, you will get a sense of what we do and how we do it together as a presbytery sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in northeast Wisconsin and beyond.
rmoore@firstpresneenah.org