This word has three different meanings: it is a architectural element found in some churches, is a type of meeting among representatives of the Catholic Church and, finally, the Presbyterian movement is a current of Protestantism. As for the etymology of the term, it comes from the Latin "presbyter", which in turn comes from the Greek word "presbyteros", which means assembly of elders.
An architectural element of churches
In most Christian churches, especially the oldest ones, there is an area near the main altar and there are steps that give access to the altar. This area is the presbyteryum. During the liturgy, the priests stood there surrounding the bishop in a semicircle. The presbytery can have several forms and for this reason it receives different names, such as apsis, shell or exedra. In some churches the presbyteries are separated from the rest of the church by a railing that serves as a separating element between the priests and the faithful. Therefore, the presbytery must be understood as a space conceived for the clergy.
The assembly of elders in the Jewish tradition and in the early Christian church
In the Torah and in the Old Testament there are several references to a meeting that took place in the synagogues and in them the older religious leaders gathered to talk about the administration of the synagogue. These meetings were the presbyteries.
With the consolidation of Christianity as a religion, the term presbyter was adopted to refer to the religious leaders who collaborated with the bishop
The first priests were collaborators of the apostles who followed Jesus Christ and with the passage of time this figure adapted to the organizational needs of the church.
In this way, the priests are part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy and, on the other hand, the term presbytery refers to the group of members who have the maximum responsibility in the church, that is, the bishops, the deacons and the priests themselves. All of them make up a community that represents the union between the followers of Jesus Christ. Priests, bishops and deacons share the different responsibilities (pastoral or missionary tasks or matters related to the management of the church).
At present, the houses where the Catholic religious live are known as presbyteries, since in many occasions they coexist in community.
The presbyterian church
The Presbyterians are a current that comes from Calvinism and was originally created in Scotland in the seventeenth century. This version of Christianity began with the Protestant Reformation and today its church is deeply rooted in the United States and to a lesser extent in Mexico and Brazil.
As for its doctrine, it is based on the Bible and on Calvin's contributions, especially the idea of predestination. According to the doctrine of predestination, the destiny of human beings is determined by the will of God.
Photos: Fotolia - Dmitry Vereshchagin / Mikhail Markovskiy
