Why would a Presbyterian church be named after a Catholic saint?

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EvangelCatholic said:
The Church of Scotland is Presbyterian and even have cathedrals such as St Giles in Edinburgh, St Machar’s Cathedral in Aberdeen, St Magnus in Kirkwall. I wish there were more Presbyterians on CAF because their roots are also catholic.

churchofscotland.org.uk/
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I notice quite a few comments about non-Roman Catholic denomination’s roots.

All Christians roots are catholic, but not all are (Roman) Catholic.
 
SteveVH said:
The point is that saints are holy people that we should try to emulate, especially regarding their religious beliefs. How can one name a saint as their patron and ignore the fact that they were deeply Catholic? I’ve never understood that mindset. 🤷
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Because the name on the sign in front of the building they worship in doesn’t make one a saint…being a saint makes one a saint…and for those who seek to live in the Truth…stand squarely in the Light…find much to admire about those many call “saints”, and can appreciate the deep insight into the love and life of God in the midst of His People.

I don’t believe I spoke of claiming a “saint” as a “patron”…if anything the “saint” would be the last to want to be anyone’s “patron”…look to Jesus, the “author and finisher of our faith.”
 
I wrote:
Originally Posted by SteveVH
The point is that saints are holy people that we should try to emulate, especially regarding their religious beliefs. How can one name a saint as their patron and ignore the fact that they were deeply Catholic? I’ve never understood that mindset.
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You responded:
Publisher said:
Because the name on the sign in front of the building they worship in doesn’t make one a saint…being a saint makes one a saint…and for those who seek to live in the Truth…stand squarely in the Light…find much to admire about those many call “saints”, and can appreciate the deep insight into the love and life of God in the midst of His People.

I don’t believe I spoke of claiming a “saint” as a “patron”…if anything the “saint” would be the last to want to be anyone’s “patron”…look to Jesus, the “author and finisher of our faith.”
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When one names their faith community after a Catholic saint they are adopting that saint as patron of that particular community. They are holding this holy person up as an example for the flock to follow. If not, then please explain to me why a community would be named “St. James [fill in the blank] Church”.

I truly have no idea what you are talking about. Honoring one for leading a holy life and emulating this life in no way diminishes our faith in or relationship with Jesus. The saints show us how to grow closer to Jesus. They do not lead us away.
 
lutheran_farmer said:
Ah, thank you. That makes sense about the church in Scotland with the same name.

I have noticed many Lutheran and Anglican churches that use saints names, but that was the first Presbyterian church I have seen using one. 🙂

I don’t know much about the Presbyterian church other than what I learned about Calvinism in a philosophy class.
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Very interesting things going on with the Presbyterian Church. You might want to google it and see what was adopted in the recent synod out of Detroit. Not good at copying for these posts but one article is “The End of the Presbyterian Church.” Found it shocking and sad.
 
aicirt said:
Very interesting things going on with the Presbyterian Church. You might want to google it and see what was adopted in the recent synod out of Detroit. Not good at copying for these posts but one article is “The End of the Presbyterian Church.” Found it shocking and sad.
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You are talking about the Presbyterian Church (USA). That denominations is not the only Presbyterian church in existence in the United States.

Just clarifying that not all Presbyterian churches are embracing the same trajectory as the PC(USA).
 
SteveVH said:
I wrote:

You responded:

When one names their faith community after a Catholic saint they are adopting that saint as patron of that particular community. They are holding this holy person up as an example for the flock to follow. If not, then please explain to me why a community would be named “St. James [fill in the blank] Church”.

I truly have no idea what you are talking about. Honoring one for leading a holy life and emulating this life in no way diminishes our faith in or relationship with Jesus. The saints show us how to grow closer to Jesus. They do not lead us away.
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Not all Protestant churches named after a saint consider the saint their congregation’s patron. I can safely state that many Lutheran parishes don’t even have an image [statue, icon, banner, etc] of the saint they are named after. 😊
 
EvangelCatholic said:
Not all Protestant churches named after a saint consider the saint their congregation’s patron. I can safely state that many Lutheran parishes don’t even have an image [statue, icon, banner, etc] of the saint they are named after. 😊
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Then what is the point? It just sounds good? I think they have forgotten why parishes were named after saints. 😉
 
EvangelCatholic said:
Not all Protestant churches named after a saint consider the saint their congregation’s patron. I can safely state that many Lutheran parishes don’t even have an image [statue, icon, banner, etc] of the saint they are named after. 😊
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I live in Cornwall, a Celtic territory in the UK. The majority of our churches are dedicated to Celtic Saints who travelled between Ireland, Wales and Brittany in the 4th-6th centuries.
Most of our towns and villages are named after them. We’re known as ‘the land of Saints’.

We’re close to our Saints. In its daily Eucharist, our Cathedral Church commemorates the Patron Saint’s feast day for every church in the diocese as they cycle throughout the year. (The major ones get a Solemn celebration with clouds of incense and rousing hymns in honour of the Saint.)

My village has just celebrated its feast day which is reminiscent of the ‘Pardons’ that occur in Brittany.
 
Symphorian said:
I live in Cornwall, a Celtic territory in the UK. The majority of our churches are dedicated to Celtic Saints who travelled between Ireland, Wales and Brittany in the 4th-6th centuries.
Most of our towns and villages are named after them. We’re known as ‘the land of Saints’.

We’re close to our Saints. In its daily Eucharist, our Cathedral Church commemorates the Patron Saint’s feast day for every church in the diocese as they cycle throughout the year. (The major ones get a Solemn celebration with clouds of incense and rousing hymns in honour of the Saint.)

My village has just celebrated its feast day which is reminiscent of the ‘Pardons’ that occur in Brittany.
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That is a lovely custom. I have such high regard for the Anglican Church.

We do something similar on the other side of the pond [Atlantic]. My local synod/ i.e. diocese put out an insert for the Sunday bulletins to all parishes listing the anniversary dates of church dedications and the saints/ holy days for the upcoming week. Those saints are mentioned in the Eucharistic prayer.

The use of incense continues to be a contentious issue for Lutherans. I think because many of our churches are small compared to Europe, incense can get thick with the usual cougher’s/ complainers in parish meetings. Read where another fine Evangelical-Catholic parish in New Jersey has done away with incense that they used in Sunday Masses for over 75 years 😦
 
I came across photos on a Slovak website. The amount of incense in the photo would drive several parishioners out the door and into the Pastor’s office 😃
 
Sometimes I think (in a humorus way) that the favorite Protestant saint is saint First. Even tiny towns will have First Baptist, First Christian, First Presbyterian, First Methodist.

I have even heard of places with a First Lutheran church.

😃
 
Publisher said:
One of the difficulties IMO that Catholics have when discussing Protestants, is Catholics try to put the particular Protestant tradition into a “Catholic mold”. The church building wasn’t named after a “Catholic saint”, but a “saint” that had some significance to that particular congregation.

I’ve seen “St. Mark’s Church of the Nazarene”, “St Timothy’s Mennonite Church”, “St Francis Covenant Church”…those saints of renown that made an impact on religious thought and practice pre Reformation are simply “saints” to most Protestants…no need for “cannonization” by a political/religious body.
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how would you know they were saints if they weren’t canonized by the Catholic Church?
 
andrewstx said:
Sometimes I think (in a humorus way) that the favorite Protestant saint is saint First. Even tiny towns will have First Baptist, First Christian, First Presbyterian, First Methodist.

I have even heard of places with a First Lutheran church.

😃
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He’s my patron saint.

Jon
 
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