Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second largest Presbyterian church body in the United States after the Presbyterian Church (USA). The PCA has a strong commitment to evangelism, missionary work, and Christian education. From its inception, the church has determined its purpose to be "faithful to the Scriptures, true to the Reformed faith, and obedient to the Great Commission."

Background

In December, 1973, delegates from 260 congregations that had left the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS), gathered at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and organized the National Presbyterian Church, which became the Presbyterian Church in America in 1974. According to PCA's official website, it "separated from the PCUS in opposition to the long-developing theological liberalism which denied the deity of Jesus Christ and the Inerrancy and authority of Scripture.

In 1982, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, joined the Presbyterian Church in America. The Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, had been formed in 1965 by a merger of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America, General Synod.

The PCA has made a firm commitment to the Westminster Standards, namely the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and the Westminster Larger Catechism.

The denomination has its own college (Covenant College) and seminary ( Covenant Theological Seminary). It shares control of a publication company, Great Commission Publications, with its sister denomination, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and recently the PCA began publishing its own denominational magazine, byFaith.

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