Do I have to be Presbyterian to join Chain of Lakes Church?

 

When Chain of Lakes was started, I was encouraged to gather the Presbyterians in the community. I did. Seven families were gathered. Most of them had some connection to the Presbyterian Church (USA).

It became obvious to me that we wouldn’t build this church by marketing ourselves as a Presbyterian congregation as no one really knew what that meant. We didn’t even put the term “Presbyterian” in the name of our congregation, which is Chain of Lakes Church. We didn’t put the term “Presbyterian” in our Purpose Statement or our Core Values. We weren’t trying to hide from the reality that we are a Presbyterian congregation. But in our mind being Presbyterian really wasn’t that important to people not connected to a church.

 Our denominational identity is a balancing act. We are Presbyterian, but we’re not trying to make someone become a Presbyterian. What we really want to see happen for newcomers is the person flourishes in faith, develops meaningful friendships, and connects to the community in ways that brings tremendous value and purpose.

 And I love being Presbyterian. My family of origin is as Presbyterian as you can get. My parents have been Presbyterian their entire adult life, my sister is a Presbyterian pastor, she is married to a Presbyterian pastor. It’s not surprising when we get together we talk Presbyterian. I’ve been a Presbyterian pastor for 33 years. I’m currently the Moderator of the Presbytery of Twin Cities Area. We have passion for what happens within the Presbyterian church.

 Amidst this balancing act I’ve developed and shared often a talk about what it means to be Presbyterian. The metaphor that guides my talk is a car. At Chain of Lakes church we ride in the Presbyterian car. I believe it’s important to know what is in our car.

 Here are twelve parts of the Presbyterian car. They share These And if someone wants to talk about them more, send me an email at pastor@colpres.org. In no particular order in order of importance, this makes up the Presbyterian car.

A commitment to Jesus Christ connects Presbyterians together
The foundation of Presbyterians is Jesus—his birth, birth, life, death, resurrection and teachings. This is more important than anything else.

Elders lead the Presbyterian church at all levels
Presbyterians are led by Elders. My title as a pastor is Teaching Elder. A person who serves on the board or Session of a Presbyterian congregation is a Ruling Elder. Both Teaching Elders and Ruling Elders have to be voted upon by their congregations. No one is every appointed to serve.

God alone is Lord of the Conscience—Presbyterians are not Subscriptionist
I talk about this frequently. No one has to subscribe to a particular view. Anyone who is part of Chain of Lakes is encouraged to form their own views. I’ll share what I think and then encourage people to think for themselves.

Worship revolves around the Word
Worship revolves around Jesus and what he would have us do in our own lives and in the world.

Presbyterians celebrate two Sacraments, Communion and Baptism. Infants are baptized.
At Chain of Lakes we celebrate Communion once a month. We baptize infants and don’t believe that people have to be rebaptized when they connect to our congregation. When people ask me about rebaptism, I share that I believe God did a terrific job the first time, so no need to redo what God has already done.

Presbyterians are committed to the Reformed Tradition of theology

We’re Protestants—one of the three branches of the church. The other two branches are Catholic and Orthodox.

Women are leaders at all levels

Presbyterians celebrate the gifts of women. Full stop.

Congregations can ordain and install people from the LGTBQ+ community and celebrate their marriages

This might be the most controversial part of the Presbyterian car. Since 2010 Presbyterian congregations can have people in the LGTBQ+ community serve as pastors (Teaching Elders), leaders on the Session and as a Deacon. Presbyterian congregations aren’t forced to ordain and install people from the LGBTQ community, but most do. And yes I’m familiar with the six passages in the Bible that condemn these relationships. I’m more interested in what Jesus would have us do. I believe Jesus would be applauding Presbyterian congregations for being affirming.

Presbyterians are engaged in the wider community
I would guess that a hundred percent of Presbyterian congregations have some involvement with their local Food Shelf. Presbyterians are known for being engaged in their community.

Presbyterians are a connectional denomination where authority flows both ways. 
It’s hard to put this in a short paragraph. The PC(USA) has four governing bodies—a Session (which leads a local congregation), Presbytery, Synod and General Assembly. The three governing bodies are made up of people who are elected. Those three wider governing bodies can’t really tell a local Presbyterian congregation what to do, but they do have influence.

Presbyterians are informed by the Book of Order & Book of Confessions
The Book of Order is like a manual of operations for Presbyterian congregations. We’re informed by it. You can read the book of Order at: 2025_0724_Book_of_Order_Interactive_2025-2027.pdf
The Book of Confessions is a gathering of theological statements that the church has made throughout history. You can read the Book of Confessions at: Microsoft Word - File 01 Front Matter.doc

Presbyterians are ecumenical
Presbyterians are always interested in partnering with other denominations to do ministry. I’m married to a Catholic. My wife is the Administrator of the Catholic church in Lino Lakes. I cantor there about six times a year. When our daughter, Hannah, was baptized, a Catholic priest and Presbyterian pastor officiated at her baptism in a Presbyterian worship service. That was a glorious day!