PRESBYTERY  , in

architecture, that portion of the choir of a church in which the high altar is placed, and which is generally raised by a few steps above the rest of the church . It is reserved for the priests, and in that respect differs from the choir, the stalls in which are occasionally occupied by the laity . In Westminster Abbey the space east of the transept is the presbytery, and the same arrangement is found in Canterbury Cathedral . In San Clemente at Rome the presbytery is enclosed with a marble balustrade or screen . For the use of the word in Church government see PRESBYTER and PRESBYTERIANISM .