A Vision for the New Millennium

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) contributes to the ethos of community by teaching and encouraging its members to integrate life and faith.

"Reformed" defines the doctrinal beliefs of the PCA, which holds that the purest expressions of scriptural doctrine are found in the Calvinistic creeds, particularly the Westminster Confession of Faith.

The PCA's representative form of church government is rooted in its name — presbyterian. Local churches are governed by elders (presbyters) elected by the church members. This form of government extends through the regional presbyteries, which facilitate connectionalism, to the national General Assembly, which expresses PCA's connectionalism and the bond of union between/among all the churches.

Christian discipleship and education is to glorify God by teaching and training leaders and church members as well as by providing a biblically based curriculum for all ages.

The PCA is one of the faster growing denominations in the United States, with nearly 1500 churches and missions throughout the USA and Canada.  There were over 300,000 communicant and non-communicant members. Most of the work of the denomination is coordinated and carried out by four program committees — Mission to the World, Mission to North America, Christian Education and Publications, and Reformed University Ministries.

Unlike many activist organizations that lobby local, state, and federal governments for the enactment of laws, neither the PCA nor its churches attempts to represent its members in public matters. The PCA does encourage its members to be active in political and civic organizations. Consequently, the denomination is well represented in prison ministries, adoption services, pregnancy crisis centers, disaster relief, and many other such organizations in the communities where the churches are located. The PCA does humbly petition the government, when appropriate, regarding the significant moral issues that trouble our communities and nation.

The Presbyterian Church in America also cooperates with other denominations and churches where there are common goals. Two-thirds of the PCA's churches and members are in the Southeast, which include Ridge Haven, a conference center in, North Carolina; Covenant College, at Lookout Mountain, Georgia; and Covenant Theological Seminary, in St. Louis, Missouri.

The PCA's influence extends far beyond the walls of the local church. Through Mission to the World, about 600 foreign missionaries are working in about 60 nations. Because of the unique relationship between Mission to the World and over 30 mission agencies with which some of PCA's missionaries are working, many people consider PCA's influence to be far greater than its size might indicate. Further, with close to 160 chaplains in the military and in hospitals, the Gospel is proclaimed to a rather large audience around the world not reached through usual ecclesiastical channels. Because of the emphasis on education, many members of the PCA are teachers and professors at all levels of education, including large universities and quite a few theological seminaries.

PCA churches and presbyteries advance God’s Kingdom in North America through the development of intentional evangelism and outreach ministries.

Presbyterian Church in America
1700 North Brown Road, Lawrenceville, GA  30043
Telephone:  678-825-1000
Fax:  678-825-1001
Email: 

Excerpts written by Phyllis S. Fraley
Copyright © 2000 Presbyterian Church in America. All rights reserved.