Aviva Directory » Faith & Spirituality » World Religions » Abrahamic Religions » Christianity » Church Divisions » Protestant » Denominations » Presbyterianism » Presbyterian Church in America

The Presbyterian Church in America is the second-largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States.

First known as the National Presbyterian Church, the PCA was formed in 1973 from congregations that had withdrawn from the Presbyterian Church in the US over a variety of issues related to growing theological liberalism in the PCUS, its affiliations with the National Council of Churches and World Council of Churches, as well as its impending merger with the even more liberal United Presbyterian Church of the United States of America, which would form the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1983.

Several renewal groups of conservative Presbyterians were formed initially within the PCUS, including the Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship, Concerned Presbyterians, and the Presbyterian Churchmen, who sought to reaffirm the Westminster Confession and to demand a firm affirmation of the inerrancy of the Bible. Conservatives also held that the ordination of women was non-biblical.

When it became clear that the merger was going to go through, and that there would be no escape clause allowing churches to leave without forfeiture of property, the leaders of the renewal groups called for a departure of conservative Presbyterians. In December of 1973, representatives from 260 congregations met in Birmingham, Alabama to organize the National Presbyterian Church, which later became the National Reformed Presbyterian Church, and then the Presbyterian Church in America. It doubled in size within a few years.

Primarily concentrated in the South, the denomination gained a large number of churches outside of the South in the late 1970s when an ordination candidate was denied by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America because he refused to affirm the ordination of women, prompting the departure of several churches. Originally, they formed the Ascension Presbytery, which soon became affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America.

In the Midwest, some Christian Reformed Church congregations joined the PCA in the 1980s and 1990s, largely over issue having to do with the authority of the Bible.

Other congregations in the South joined with the PCA in the 1970s, 80s, and the 90s, after PC(USA) ministers were required to ordain women, which is opposed by the PCA.

In 1982, the PCA merged with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, with congregations in the United States and Canada. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church sought to merge with the PCA in the early 1980s, but the PCA presbyteries did not approve of the merger by the required three-fourths majority. In 1986, the PCA again invited the OPC to join them but again, not everyone agreed with the decision. In the next few years, several congregations left the OPC to join the PCA, however.

Beginning in the early 2000s, PC(USA) churches began leaving that denomination to join with the PCA. Reasons given for the changes in affiliation included the growing openness in the PC(USA) to LGBTQ issues, the adoption of the Belhar Confessions by the PC(USA), and an insistence among the PC(USA) leadership that member churches share in their changing convictions.

The Westminster Confession of Faith is the PCA's primary standard for doctrine. It also uses the Westminster Shorter Catechism and the Westminster Larger Catechism. The documents are viewed as subordinate to the Bible. The Church teaches that the Holy Spirit guided the authors of the Bible so that Scriptures are free of error. They also adhere to the doctrines of total human depravity, unconditional election, Christ's death for the elect only, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints, commonly understood as the five points of Calvinism.

The PCA is socially conservative on most issues, particularly those related to homosexuality, abortion, and euthanasia. The Church opposes divorce, except in the event of adultery or abandonment. However, the PCA is slightly less theologically conservative than the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, but more conservative than the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and ECO: Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians.

The PCA has retained the traditional Presbyterian polity, which is rule by presbyters, the graded courts, the session governing the local church, the presbytery for regional matters, and the general assembly at the national level. It makes a distinction between teaching elders (ministers) and ruling elders (laymen).

Within the PCA, all church buildings belong to the local church, giving the denomination a more congregational structure than most Presbyterian bodies.

The Presbyterian Church in America is one of the fastest-growing Christian denominations in the United States, has increased membership every year since its founding in 1973.

Its headquarters is in Lawrenceville, Georgia

 

 

Recommended Resources


Search for Presbyterian Church in America on Google or Bing