Government

The Presbyterian Church is a representative democracy.  It governs itself by representatives chosen from the local congregation.  There are four levels of government.  The local church is governed by the "Session" which is made up of all our ministers and ruling Elders elected by the local congregation.  The next level is the "Presbytery" which is comprised of every minister and at least one Elder from each of the 66 Presbyterian congregations in the upstate of South Carolina.  The next level is the "Synod" whose boundaries include the states of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.  The highest level of government is the "General Assembly" which is made up of representatives from each Presbytery according to the numbers of members in the Presbytery.

The Session of Fort Hill Presbyterian Church is governed by The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  This includes Part I - Book of Confessions and Part II - Book of Order.  The local Session has chosen to develop additionally an Organizational Manual.  This manual is revised and updated by the Session working through the elders and the Standing Ministries.