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Running Head: A DIFFERENT BRANCH

A Branch of Religion: Christian Presbyterian Differs From Standards


Bryce M. Goble
University of Kentucky

A DIFFERENT BRANCH

2
Abstract

Christian Presbyterian is a branch of Christianity that has some differences from the main branch
of Christianity. They hold Sunday services, have youth groups, adult youth groups, and Sunday
schools for children. They also have mission trips or community service you can do with the
church. Presbyterians have the difference of having a contemporary service and then later
having a traditional service on Sundays. The mission trips to help spread the words they want
can be either local, international or somewhere in the United States. Presbyterians do not follow
main rules as the other religions do and have a more relaxed feeling. They do have baptism and
confirmation; Presbyterians wont force you to do these, but they highly encourage that you do.
Other Christianity branches have stereotypes or views on the Presbyterian branch since they do
not follow the main rules as the others do in their churches and religion.
Key Words: Christian, Presbyterian, religion, Christianity, church

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A Branch of Religion: Christian Presbyterian Differs Standards


People have their opinions on religions and most of everyone is a part of a religion.
Some people have negative views on religions and some people consider them very important in
their lives. People tend to not like things when they are different and the Presbyterian branch of
Christianity tends to branch away from the normal conservative ways of usual Christianity
services and rules. Whether it is with their services they have at church every Sunday morning
or with the way they dress at their church services. You will see in the Presbyterian branch ways
that makes you think how it differs from normal services at other Christian churches or any other
religions ways of doing things. With their rules and customs the Presbyterian branch of
Christianity has a way of doing their church services in a more of a laid-back tone and not as
formal as other branches of religion.
In one-way that Presbyterians are more laid back is in their Sunday services than other
branches of Christianity; they can be either traditional like other churches or they can be more
contemporary. Laura explains how her church does their Sunday services:
We have two services, we have one at 9:30 and thats the traditional one where you wear
like dressy clothes, business causal. Thats more serious. Then we have one at 11, which
is called the Contemporary service where we have a band so it is more upbeat music and
in my opinion it goes by faster because Im a teenager. I like that.
(L.E. Burns, personal communication, September 24, 2014)
Making their services appealing to all ages brings teenagers wanting to come to them and it also
can appeal to the adults wanting to come to the traditional ones as well. At the contemporary
services they will have a band to play music or maybe even refreshments to make people feel
more comfortable to talk to others and welcomed to come again if they are guests at the

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Presbyterian church. Bailey shares how her church likes to get to know everyone that walks
through its doors:
Whenever we get there, there is donuts and coffee that you can get so you can socialize
with people. And then whenever we get into the service we sing about three to five songs
and then our service comes on like our speaker of the day and he gives the service and the
message and then we sing a little more, (B. Reifsteck, personal communication,
September 25, 2014)
No matter how formal or non formal the service is they each are services where you can get your
sins out or get your relief and having help you through with all that you need. You can get to
know everyone through the church services and get to know God better that way or you can go
on a mission trips and community service to get an even closer, deeper connection.
Going on a mission trip to another country, continent, or even another state is just one of
many ways that the Presbyterians believe they can be brought closer to god. Laura talks about
some of her experiences she has had with mission trips and what they do at her church:
We spread the word of God, but not by saying this is Jesus Christ and this is who he is.
Where we go in the community they have already heard of him, but we are expressing it
in love. By what I did in New York City is play with kids and saying this is all for Jesus
Christ love and he loves you. Its reaching out in the community in a different level, (L.E.
Burns, personal communication, September 24, 2014)
The mission trips may be one of the things that the Presbyterian branch has in common with the
other branches of Christianity. All the branches of Christianity are trying to show people out in
the world and trying to teach them the ways of God and spread the His words. Even though

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other branches of Christianity look down upon the Presbyterian branch they can all come
together on spreading the word of God and making a positive image.
The main branches of Christianity have some views about the Presbyterian branch with
how the Presbyterians do things and how they are not the same as the main branches of
Christianity. Others see the Presbyterian branch as not being serious and they cant take them
seriously because they are more laid back and contemporary than the traditional ways of the
more conservative Christianity branch. Considering I go to a Presbyterian church its kind of
different because Presbyterian are kind of looked down upon because we do things differently
from regular Christian churches because we are more laid back. (L.E. Burns, personal
communication, September 24, 2014) It is not as if the other Christian branches are giving
negative views to the Presbyterians and being rude to them; its that they do not see them as the
same as them as important and dont understand the non traditional ways the Presbyterians have.
There is nothing negative about it typical Christians dont like it. We have our own set of rules I
guess. We go off on our own. (L.E. Burns, personal communication, September 24, 2014)
Presbyterians do things a little bit differently
than the main branches of Christianity, but how
do they do things differently than other religions
that arent Christianity?
Every religion is different than each
others in some type of way and with
Presbyterians they do things differently than
other religions and things differently from
their own main branch of Christianity also.

Figure 1. A baptism of a baby in a Presbyterian church


in Denver, CO. Baptism in Wellshires Chapel.
[Photograph] (Year created was not given) Retrieved
October 12, 2014, from:
http://wpcdenver.org/ceremonies/baptisms/

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There are differences between religions like Christians call it Sunday service and Catholics call it
Sunday mass. They also have holidays celebrated differently as well. No we can participate in
lent, but its not a serious kind of thing. We arent forced to doing it. People do it just cause.
(L.E. Burns, personal communication, September 24, 2014) They both have baptisms (See
Figure 1) and confirmations; in both religions these are very important. They are very important
to both the Presbyterians and Catholics because it shows that you are trying to commit yourself
to God and trying to follow him through your life as you grow older. The church wants you to
commit so that they know you want to be a part of them and you working towards it all.
Presbyterians are a little more laid back on what you
can wear to church and how they do not have
communion given out at church at every Sunday
service like Catholics do. Then once a month we
have a thing called communion where we have bread
passed out and drink grape juice. Thats the first
Sunday of every month. (L.E. Burns, personal
communication, September 24, 2014) Also the
Presbyterians do not do first communion, but

Figure 2. A confirmation class at a Presbyterian church in


Denver, CO. [Photograph] Confirmation class. (Year
created was not given) Retrieved October 12, 2014, from:
http://wpcdenver.org/ministries/youth-groups-andprograms/

Catholics do when you are in about third or fourth grade.


All religions try to reach out to all age groups and try to get them to go to church more
often. The Presbyterians make sure to have ways to get all age groups involved in the religion in
some way whether that is through a Sunday school, youth group, confirmation classes (See
Figure 2), or groups for kids going off to college and even adult youth groups. These are
important to the Presbyterian Church because they keep you involved with the church besides

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going to the Sunday service. Having other groups in the church can make it reach out to all types
of ages and all types of people; they want everyone to come and be a part of something in the
church that will help you become closer to God. They want everyone to try to stay connected to
God in some way so they try their best to reach out to all the ages that they can. Laura explains
how she was involved in her Presbyterian church and how she feels about being a part of your
church:
It just varies on how much you participate and are willing to in the church. Like I was
very involved and I got out of it what I put in. So the more you put in it the more you will
get out of it, (L.E. Burns, personal communication, September 24, 2014)
Getting involved in a church is always going to depend on how much you try to put effort into
getting into the things that are going on. Trigger (2010) says that when you are going to youth
groups you get a deeper connection with your church, god, and the others around you. In a
service at church you can feel connected, but with the youth groups you have small groups that
give you the deep connection between each other. The Presbyterian churches dont want to see
the younger generations not having the religion in their lives because it is becoming
increasingly irrelevant to them (Trigger, 2010). That is why the Presbyterians are trying to
appeal to the younger generations with the many activities and groups they have for them. They
are trying to keep them to stay and get involved even as they get older into their adulthood.
Marriage is a common thing that you see commenced in churches and with Presbyterians
they are more open to different kinds of couples getting married than most other religions are.
J.B (2014) says Presbyterians may be a little more liberal because some Presbyterian churches
are now having same sex marriages. Even though other religions and countries around the world
are not finding that right, but the Presbyterian churches are not the typical rule followers. They

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will let you marry within their church without very strict other guidelines; some other
denominations will make you take classes before marrying in their church. However, Laura,
explains her church on marrying: There are no strict guidelines when it comes to marrying, but
to marry within our church the other person has to have a church background or belong to a
church (L.E. Burns, personal communication, September 24, 2014). They are different than
other religions and churches in marriage and in divorce also. With some religions they do not
want you to marry someone who has been married once before you, but with Presbyterians they
are not that strict with those rules. Laura says how he church is more understanding with divorce
among their church members: Divorce happens so we dont take it as a big deal. We are not
going to shun you. It is not a big deal if it happens. (L.E. Burns, personal communication,
September 24, 2014). The Christian Presbyterians show in how the feel about marriage that are
not the rule followers like the other branches of Christianity and the other religions that are out
there. They try to do their own thing and still try to help others in that way.
Music is a big part of the Presbyterian Church and the music they play at the Sunday
services can make put an impact on whether it makes the service contemporary or if it is more
traditional. The contemporary service music attracts the youth more because of how much
livelier the music is to them. Music can help spread the message that the church is trying to
convey and it can help bring each person in the service together as one when they all sing about
the same thing. They can bring peace as Laura says when they sing their hymn: A hymn. It is
just a song where we worship. He will release us by saying go out into this world and spread
peace. (L.E. Burns, personal communication, September 24, 2014). The music can be diverse
that they play during services and it can be played in different ways also. There could be a choir,
or everyone in the church service can sing, or it could be just a band. The youth groups that the

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Presbyterian churches hold are another way to bring the Christian music to youth and have them
play the music, sing, and listen to the music with everyone around them also. They can play
music that will help relate to the younger generation and want to get them involved with the
ways of the church. They are adding something to their branch of Christianity and trying to make
it so each person can relate to what is going on in the church.
The Presbyterian branch of Christianity being different from other religions does not
mean that they are bad or any less important than the other religions that are out there. It means
that that they just have a set of rules and customs that fit them. Most cultures have their own
rules and different ways of doing things than other cultures. That is what makes them different;
that is what makes each culture distinct from the others out there. With any religion you are
going to find differences between them, but it is about coming together to not make those
differences the main viewpoints. As you could see that the Presbyterian has some similarities
with other religions that have can have a positive impact on others. With the Presbyterians being
more laid back and informal they are not be taken seriously by the other Christian branches and
even some other religions besides Christianity. Even with negativity that can be around them
sometimes that does not affect how they are with how they still try to be who they are as the
different branch of Christianity. They do not try to conform back to the other Christian branches;
they are a different culture. They still try to spread the word of God and try to make things
comfortable and fit for others that are a part of their church and that arent. Laura says: We do
not care what background they come from as long as they are finding God in a way it doesnt
really matter to us. (L.E. Burns, personal communication, September 24, 2014).

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10
Refrences

B.H., (2014). Confirmation for teenagers going into high school. Retrieved from
http://wpcdenver.org/ministries/youth-groups-and-programs/
B.H., (2014). Celebrating baby and infant baptisms in Denver, Colorado. Retrieved from
http://wpcdenver.org/ceremonies/baptisms/
J. L., R. K., & A. D. (2001) Relationships Among Giving, Church Attendance, and
Religious Belief: The Case of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Journal for the
Scientific Study of Religion. 40(4), 765-775.
Divisive divestment [Editorial]. (2014) ]. Christian Century, 131(15), 3-3.
S.T. (2010). Celebrating the Youth Trienniumand a call to look ahead. Network News, 30(3),
24-24

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