As we prepare to vote this coming Tuesday, our attention naturally shifts to local candidates, ballot questions, and voting precincts. In the noise of election season, it is worth remembering that active civic participation is a deeply rooted Presbyterian responsibility. Long before 1776, Presbyterian theology and church structure helped lay the groundwork for the American government. When the founders drafted the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, they dr

As our nation marks its 250th anniversary this year, we are continuing our look at how faith shaped the birth of America. Last month, we talked about how King George III sneeringly called the American Revolution a "Presbyterian rebellion" because so many early leaders came out of our Reformed tradition. When the 56 men gathered in Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776, twelve of them were Presbyterians: Abraham Clark (NJ), Philip Livingston (NY), Thomas

As our nation marks its 250th anniversary this month, it is a good time for us to reflect on the role faith played in America's founding. Presbyterian ideas about representative government, local leadership, and individual liberty were so influential that King George III is said to have described the American Revolution as "a Presbyterian rebellion." That influence reached all the way to the Continental Congress. Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, 12 we