PCUSA
| Presbyterian Church (USA) | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Abbreviation | PC (USA) |
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Mainline Reformed |
| Theology | Combination of Old School and New School Presbyterianism with Confessing Movement, neo-orthodox, Low Church, Barthian, ecumenical, neo-evangelical, progressive, Christian left, Christian feminism, and some moderate to liberal influences |
| Polity | Presbyterian |
| Moderator | Denise Anderson and Jan Edmiston (Co-Moderators) |
| Associations | National Council of Churches; World Communion of Reformed Churches; World Council of Churches |
| Region | United States |
| Headquarters | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Origin | June 10, 1983 |
| Merger of | The Presbyterian Church in the United States and the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America |
| Separations | ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (2012) |
| Congregations | 9,451 as of 2016 |
| Members | 1,482,767 active members (2016) |
| Official website | www |
The Presbyterian Church (USA), or PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. A part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S., and known for its relatively progressive stance on doctrine. The PC(USA) was established by the 1983 merger of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, whose churches were located in the Southern and border states, with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, whose congregations could be found in every state. The similarly named Presbyterian Church in America is a separate denomination whose congregations can also trace their history to the various schisms and mergers of Presbyterian churches in the United States.
The denomination had 1,482,767 active members and 19,721 ordained ministers in 9,451 congregations at the end of 2016. This number does not include members who are baptized but who are not confirmed or the inactive members also affiliated. For example, in 2005, the PC(USA) claimed 318,291 baptized, but not confirmed, members and nearly 500,000 inactive members in addition to active members. Its membership has been declining over the past several decades, partly due to breakaway congregations, though the PC(USA) remains the largest single Presbyterian denomination in the United States.
Presbyterians trace their history to the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. The Presbyterian heritage, and much of its theology, began with the Swiss/French theologian and lawyer John Calvin (1509–64), whose writings solidified much of the Reformed thinking that came before him in the form of the sermons and writings of Huldrych Zwingli. From Calvin's headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the Reformed movement spread to other parts of Europe.John Knox, a former Roman Catholic Priest from Scotland who studied with Calvin in Geneva, took Calvin's teachings back to Scotland and led the Scottish Reformation of 1560. Because of this reform movement, the Church of Scotland embraced Reformed theology and presbyterian polity. The Ulster Scots brought their Presbyterian faith with them to Ireland, where they laid the foundation of what would become the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
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