What are Essential Tenets?
Do you sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the confessions of our church as authentic and reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do, and will you be instructed and led by those confessions as you lead the people of God? (Book of Order, G14.0405b) This question is one of our ordination vows. Every ordained Presbyterian – deacon, elder, minister – must respond yes, which means that they choose to respect, know, “sincerely receive and adopt” certain truths or doctrines which our constitution calls “tenets.” The essential tenets are our foundational convictions, contained in our creeds and confessions, that bear witness to God’s grace in Jesus Christ. “They guide the church in its study and interpretation of the Scriptures; they summarize the essence of Christian tradition; they direct the church in maintaining sound doctrines; they equip the church for its work of proclamation.” (G – 2.0100(b)) We have adopted this
