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Leadership Development Coordinating Team

Committees & Commission

  History  

Synod of the Trinity

3040 Market St.

Camp Hill, PA 17011

Monday through Friday

8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Click here for driving directions to the Synod office.   Click here for a map and online driving directions to the Synod office.

The Synod of the Trinity is the regional administrative office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It encompasses all of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the State of West Virginia (excluding the counties of Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Mineral, Morgan, and Pendelton) and in Ohio, the counties of Belmont, the southern sector of Columbiana, Harrison, Jefferson, and Monroe.  Click here to see a map of the Synod depicting presbytery boundaries, which also has links to each presbytery's website.

With its 16 presbyteries and over 250,000 members in its 1,289 churches, the Synod of the Trinity is the oldest synod in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  There are seven Presbyterian Church (USA) affiliated colleges within the Synod's bounds, as well as Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.  The presbyteries operate or support eleven camp and conference centers in the Synod.

At all levels, the Presbyterian Church (USA) is governed democratically by bodies of elected clergy and lay leaders, called "elders," which is what the word "presbyter" means.

The Synod office is located in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, adjacent to Harrisburg, the state's capital.


Our Mission

The mission of the Synod of the Trinity is to provide support, resources, and nurture to its presbyteries as they seek to be faithful to Christ's commission in their support of vital, mission-oriented congregations.  In addition, the Synod will initiate and carry out Synod-wide mission in light of larger mission strategy of the General Assembly.


Theological Foundation

We affirm, above all else: 

  • that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior; and
  • that he has commissioned his disciples:  "Go therefore and make disciples of all
    nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
    Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.  And   remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
    (Matthew 28:19-20, NRSV)

We believe that Christ Jesus calls us into relationship with God and with one another.

In word and in deed, Jesus proclaimed this gospel of relationships as both personal and communal.  As Jesus promised to be with us, so we are called to a ministry of Christ's presence, to be with each other as we reach toward those outside the church family.

As the Church seeks to fulfill Christ's Commission, organizational structures have been and are useful.  Yet it is clear from the gospel of Jesus Christ that we risk getting our priorities reversed when we rely on our institutional structures to the lessening or exclusion of our relational nature.

Throughout scripture we learn that God has sought to call a community of faith into being and to nurture that community.  We believe that Christ calls us together as a community of believers, a living, growing, organic body.

Because we are Christ's body in the world, we believe that we are called to a life of mission.  As Christ gave himself for others, so we are called to give of ourselves - all that we have and all that we are - in joyful obedience to God and in living service to the world God is redeeming.

Thanks be to God.


Standing Rules

The Standing Rules of the Synod of the Trinity, as amended at our February 2008 meeting, can be viewed by clicking here.  (If you don't have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may click here to download it free.)


 

The Synod of the Trinity - Nurturing streams from Christ the Rock to transform pastoral and urban landscapes through God's new people purposefully, joyfully, fruitfully.

Copyright The Synod of the Trinity.  All Rights Reserved.

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The Synod of the Trinity, 3040 Market Street, Camp Hill PA 17011-4599
Telephone (717) 737-0421 Toll Free (800) 242-0534 Fax (717) 737-8211
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