The Word Presbyterian
The word “Presbyterian” comes from the Greek word for “elder”, “presbuteros”.
Leadership Team
Our Leadership team is composed of members of CTR who serve in various areas of ministry and help provide opportunities for others to serve as well. We meet bimonthly to pray, plan and carry out the ministries of CTR.
- Pastor: Jon Taylor read more about Jon
- Administrator: Allie Taylor
- Children’s Ministries: Isaac Fernsler
- Women’s Ministries: Allie Taylor
- Discipleship: CTR Session
- Outreach: Judy Niles-Simmons
- Fellowship: Linda Jenkins
- Nursery: Open
- Facility: CTR Session and volunteers
Session
- Teaching Elder: Jon Taylor
- Ruling Elder: Tony Duquette
- Ruling Elder: Ken Butler (on sabbatical until May 2024)
Deacons
Currently, CTR does not have any deacons, but we will hold nominations and train candidates in early 2024.
Church Governing Structure
Our church government is conciliar; in other words, the church is to be governed by multiple officers, not just one person (Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Acts 21:17-18). These officers are accountable to each other and the people they serve.
Presbyterian churches seek to follow the pattern of church government seen in the New Testament, which was itself based on the pattern of the synagogues (though, of course, there have been developments over the years). In Presbyterian churches, we have the following classification of officers.
- Elders who shepherd the flock of God’s Church (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1). There are two types:
- Teaching elders, whom we normally refer to as ministers or pastors, men specially charged to preach and teach the Word and celebrate the sacraments;
- Ruling elders, who guide and govern the church.
- Deacons who lead in ministries of mercy and in other supportive areas.
With that understanding, our emphasis on leadership is that it is servant leadership. Our ordained leaders are not the only ones who do ministry; their primary task is to equip others to do ministry. Therefore, the real ministers of CTR are the members of CTR, as is seen in the following passage from the writings of the apostle Paul.
[Christ] gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-13