PRESBYTERY
A general conference held in Edinburgh (Scotland) gave rise to the Pan-Presbyterian Alliance, which united all the Presbyterian Churches of Scotland, England, Ireland, Spain, France, Holland, the missionary Churches of Belgium, the Free Churches of Switzerland, the Reformed Churches of Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, Russia, the missionary Churches of Africa, India, New Zealand, Australia, and Formosa.
This Alliance published the *Quarterly Review* from 1885 onward in London. It was agreed that union should be based solely on the common features of the Presbyterian system, which accommodates lay participation and is founded on election. No account was to be taken of doctrinal differences. General Synods were held in Philadelphia (1880), Belfast (1884), London (1888), Toronto (1892), Glasgow (1896), Washington (1899), and elsewhere. Due to its very diversity, the Alliance began to claim the title of "ecumenical"; however, it would be more accurate to describe it as international and interconfessional, since there is no doctrinal unity within II.
A second step toward the linking of groups has been taken recently. A special issue of *Christian Century* dated December 13, 1950, announced the creation of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States. It was joined by Presbyterians in the United States of America (approximately 3,400,000 adults), Baptists (approximately 8,000,000 adults), Lutherans (approximately 1,700,000 adults), Methodists (approximately 10,000,000 adults), Episcopalians (1,671,000 adults), and several congregational denominations: Disciples of Christ, Quakers, etc. (altogether 6,000,000 adults). This federation adheres en bloc to the ecumenical movement of the Churches, which has continued to develop since 1919 onward (v. PROTESTANTISM).
### IV. CONCLUSION
From the current doctrinal standpoint, three tendencies may be observed in Presbyterianism:
a) those who have remained faithful to the Westminster Confession of Faith (1643–46), strictly Calvinist and congregationalist in character, though with a certain elasticity in
PRESBYTERY — PRESBYTERATE
In cathedrals, the bishop’s throne or chair is placed in the presbytery; opposite it, on the epistle side, are the seats or stalls for the vested ministers. Toward the people, a low dividing parapet, called a *pergola*, lectern, iconostasis (nowadays a balustrade), served to separate the presbytery from the nave, which was reserved for the faithful, ensuring a sufficient area of reverence around the altar into which no layperson was permitted to enter, especially during the celebration of sacred rites; women were forbidden access to the sanctuary.