The Presbyterian Church does not claim to be “the true church,” and believes there is no one denomination or church structure that is “the true church” by itself.  The true church is wherever there are sincere believers gathered together in Jesus’ Name, for there He is present (Matthew 18:20).  There He is building His Church upon His followers’ faith in the gospel (Matthew 16:17-18).  That is why Presbyterians welcome fellowship with other Christian churches.
The distinguishing marks of the Presbyterian Church are few and simple.  Some of them are shared by other denominations as well.  The Presbyterian Church is:

A Reformed Church
Presbyterianism grew out of John Calvin’s part of the protestant reformation in the 1500’s.  Martin Luther had returned the faith of the church back to the Bible.  John Calvin went on to help people reform the organization to the church into a more biblical pattern.  He also helped Christians reform the immoral structures and practices of an unjust society, along the lines of the biblical prophets’ call to justice.  See Deuteronomy  16:18-20;  Isaiah 1:1-17, 21-23, 59:11-15;  Amos 2:6-7, 5:7-15, 24:  Micah 3:1,9, 4:1-5;  Matthew 12:15-21, 23:23.

A Representative Church
Our name “Presbyterian” comes from the biblical practice of governing the congregation by presbyters (elders in English) which were selected from among the people.  See Acts 14:23, 10:17;  1Peter 5:1-13.

A Constitutional Church
We believe that the elders are to ensure that worship and church business are done “decently and in order.”  Our constitution (Known as the Book of Order) sets forth a representative system based on broad biblical principles of order and discipline.  See Matthew 18:15-18.

A Confessional Church
Another part of our constitution is known as the Book of Confessions.  Confessions in this sense is not admitting our sins to God, but refers to confessions of faith, sometimes know as “creeds.”  Our confessions or creeds (such as the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, Westminster Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Confession of 1967, etc.) do not take the place of the Bible, but rather are summaries of what the Bible says and of ways to apply the Bible in particular settings.   One of the earliest creeds used by Christians was “Jesus is Lord” 1Corinthians 12:3 .  It is thought that the early Christians used passages like Philippians 2:5-11 as a creed or confession to be spoken or as a hymn to be sung.

A Connectional Church
We believe the early Christian churches were connected together by representative geographical consultations as in Acts 15:2-4.  We Presbyterians call our basic representative geographical consultations “Presbyteries,” based upon the KJV English of 1 Timothy 4:14.