Governance & Structure

The PCTT is governed by what is called a “Presbyterial” form of government.

When the early apostles preached the Gospel and won converts to Christianity, congregations were formed and were administered by elders. Based on this Biblical practice, Presbyterian Churches have been governed by Elders.

This form of church administration also goes back to the sixteenth century Reformation with Calvin’s highlighting of the role of the elder in the New Testament Church. It is from this that the Presbyterian Church got its name since its management is in the hands of ‘Presbyters’ (elders). In some Presbyterian Churches, the Minister is called a ‘teaching elder,’ and other elders who serve to administer the rules of the church and are themselves governed by them are called “ruling elders.”

Administrative bodies within the Presbyterian Church are called “courts” and in most countries these are the Session, Presbytery, Synod and General Assembly.

In the PCTT, administration begins with the Local Board. Every congregation has a Local Board consisting of the elders and a number of persons elected by the congregation. Each group of the church (such as the Youth Group, the Women’s Group, the Choir, the Men’s Group, the Sunday School) has a representative on the Local Board. The Local Board serves the congregation under the authority of the Session. The congregation elects the officers of the Local Board.

A cluster of congregations comprise a Pastoral Region. There are twenty-three Pastoral Regions in the PCTT. Each Pastoral Region has a Session, the court of the Church for the Pastoral Region. Elders belong to the Session together with appointed Church Workers such as the Minister, Deaconess, Presiding Elder and Lay Pastor. The Minister is the Chairperson of Session. The Session serves the spiritual and temporal work of the Pastoral Region.

Pastoral Regions are grouped into Presbyteries. There are three Presbyteries in the PCTT – the Northern Presbytery, South-Central Presbytery and South-Eastern Presbytery. Each Presbytery serves the Pastoral Regions within its bounds. Presbytery comprises all Ministers within the Presbyterial area, Session representatives of Pastoral Regions, Deaconesses, Lay Pastors, Assistant Lay Pastors and Presiding Elders. Presbytery elects its officers from among its members.

The highest decision-making body in the PCTT is the Synod which comes from a Greek word meaning ‘gathering,’ of similar derivation to the word “synagogue”. All ordained ministers, other full-time workers, elder representatives of all the Pastoral Regions of the church, and elder representatives of the Presbyteries are members of Synod. This is the largest representative body of the church and makes policy decisions on behalf of the PCTT.

Synod elects one of its ministers to be Moderator.

The Synod carries out its work through various Boards and Standing Committees. The Synodical Council, on which every pastoral region and Presbytery is represented, acts on behalf of Synod because it meets more often than Synod does.

Other Boards and Standing Committees are – Boards of Men, Women, Primary Schools, Secondary Schools, Theological Education, Social Responsibility, Youth Affairs, Stewardship and Finance, and Christian Education. Pastoral Regions have representatives on each board of Synod. Certain committees such as the Judicial Committee and Communications Committee are appointed by the Synod.

The education and formation of Ministers, Church Workers and the Laity is done by St. Andrew’s Theological College (SATC) on behalf of the PCTT. Synod also appoints the Principal as well as the members of the Board of Directors of SATC.

1. The right of every member to share in the management of the local and national church. Therefore, Boards and Standing Committees comprise both lay and ministerial representatives.
2. It is a form of representative democracy in a hierarchical conciliar structure (i.e. administrative groups at different levels) consisting of clergy and lay members in which people are elected to exercise a delegated responsibility, according to a constitution.
3. The Church has a system of graded courts to which are entrusted various duties and powers that are legislative, executive, judicial and advisory. In the PCTT the highest Court is the Synod with its Chairperson being the Moderator; there is no General Assembly as in some Presbyterian Churches which cover wider geographic areas.
4. In the Presbyterian Church, the Moderator’s term of office is for a specific period. The powers of the Moderator are more limited than those of a bishop in an episcopal system

Distinctive Features of the PCTT

1.  The Church is governed by a hierarchy of representative bodies, from the Local Board up to Synod.
2.  No one person has the absolute authority to make decisions for the Church. Full participation in the work of the Church is ensured by its commitments to representative democracy.
3.  Every pastoral Region has representatives in Church courts and the Boards.
4.  The PCTT Constitution safeguards rights and freedoms.
5.  Order and discipline are important characteristics of Presbyterian administration and life.
6. The Presbyterian Church is a connectional church, meaning that each part is connected to the other parts and together all the parts make up the community of faith, the Body of Christ.