But parity among her ministers is not the only feature which distinguishes the government of the Presbyterian Church. Her mode of conducting discipline in each church by a bench of Elders, acting as the representatives of the members at large; and by courts of review and control, admitting of appeals, where parties feel aggrieved, and binding all the particular churches together as one body, walking by the same rules of truth and order, and subject to the same uniform constitutional authority, are among her peculiar advantages. In regard to both these points, Presbyterians differ from Independents and Congregationalists, as well as from Episcopalians, and, indeed, from most other denominations of Christians.

“The Government of the Presbyterian Church” by Samuel Miller quoted in Paradigms in Polity: Classic Readings in Reformed and Presbyterian Church Government, 98.