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The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and members of the LGBT community as elders and ministers. 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. Unlike the PCA, the PC(USA) supports evangelical feminism and supports practise of same gender marriages. It also welcomes practicing gay and lesbian persons to serve in leadership positions as ministers, deacons, elders, and trustees.
Presbyterianpolity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply. Groups of local churches are governed by a higher assembly of elders known as the presbytery or classis; presbyteries can be grouped into a synod, and presbyteries and synods nationwide often join together in a general assembly. Responsibility for conduct of church services is reserved to an ordained minister or pastor known as a teaching elder, or a minister of the word and sacrament.
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Reformed in theology and presbyterian in government. It is characterized by a blend of Calvinist practice and broad evangelicalism.
The Presbyterian Reformed Church (PRC) is a North American Christian denomination which was founded in Ontario, Canada on November 17, 1965, when two existing congregations, with similar Scottish Presbyterian roots, came together under a Basis of Union drafted by Prof. John Murray of Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States was a small Presbyterian denomination based in the United States that merged into the Vanguard Presbytery. The RPCUS was established in 1983, subscribes to the unrevised Westminster Confession and upholds biblical inerrancy. The denomination self-identified as theonomic.
Jennings Ligon Duncan III is an American Presbyterian scholar and pastor.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Vernon is a historic church in the Town of Vernon in southeastern Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It is also listed as Covenanter Church. Built in 1853, and formerly a congregation of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1999.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) is a Presbyterian church with congregations and missions throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, and Chile. Its beliefs—held in common with other members of the Reformed Presbyterian Global Alliance—place it in the conservative wing of the Reformed family of Protestant churches. Below the Bible—which is held as divinely inspired and without error—the church is committed to several "subordinate standards," together considered with its constitution: the Westminster Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms, along with its Testimony, Directory for Church Government, the Book of Discipline, and Directory for Worship.
The Korean Presbyterian Church in America now Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad is an independent Presbyterian denomination in the United States. It was founded in 1976 as a union of 3 Korean language Presbyteries. The mother church was the Presbyterian Church in Korea (TongHap). The church has close relationship with the PC(USA) and the Korean Christian Church in Japan. In 2004 it had 29,000 members and 263 congregations. According to the recent statistics it has 55,000 members and 302 congregations. Official languages are English and Korean. The church uses the Westminster Confession and the Apostles Creed. Since 2010 it formed an English speaking presbytery. KPCA is a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. It is also a member of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America and the Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT-USA).
A session is a body of elected elders governing each local church within presbyterian polity.
ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians is an evangelical Presbyterian denomination in the United States. As a Presbyterian church, ECO adheres to Reformed theology and Presbyterian polity. It was established in 2012 by former congregations and members of the Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA). Dissatisfaction with the declining membership of the PC(USA) along with growing denominational disputes over theology—particularly ordination of practicing homosexuals as pastors and gay marriage—and bureaucracy led to the founding of ECO. In 2018, ECO has over 383 congregations, 103,425 covenant partners and over 500 pastors. ECO churches are egalitarian in beliefs and ordain women as pastors and elders.
The National Presbyterian Church in Mexico is the second-largest Protestant church, and the largest Reformed denomination in Mexico. It is present throughout the country, and is particularly strong in the states of Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan, Nuevo León, Aguascalientes and Mexico City.
Presbyterian Church in Uganda is a conservative Reformed Calvinistic denomination in Uganda with almost 100 churches in 5 presbyteries in the late 2000s.
The Reformed Church in Transcarpathia is a historic Calvinist church in Ukraine. It is the oldest Protestant church in the country, founded in the 16th century, and a significant part of the Hungarian-speaking ethnicity belong to this denomination.
The Presbyterian Church of Africa was founded in 1898 by Rev. James Mzimba, who broke from the Church of Scotland. He was born in Ngquakai, and his father was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church. Mzimba become a pastor, and was ordained in 1875. He was sent to Scotland to the anniversary of the Free Church of Scotland, but later severed its ties with the denomination. In 1899 he founded his own independent Presbyterian church. He died in 1911. The first Synod was constituted in Alice, Cape Colony. Mzimba had a dispute with the Free Church of Scotland over land and over the use of money. The Presbyterian Church of Africa is a predominantly black church. It was a small group of churches with 2 presbyteries. The church grew steadily. It is one of the oldest independent churches in Africa.
The Reformed Church in Japan is a confessional Calvinist denomination in Japan. It was formerly a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, but it chose to suspend its membership.
The Reformed Church of Latin America is a confessional Reformed and Presbyterian church in Colombia and the Caribbean and the surrounding Latin American countries.
The Synod of Zambia is one of the five synods of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian.
The Presbyterian Church in Korea (JungRip) traces its origin to the mainline and non-mainline division of Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong). Later some Presbyterian Church in Korea (TongHap) pastors and hapDong pastors gathered under the motto of "Return to the early church and aim at one Gospel church". After a prayer meeting they formed the JungRip church in 1981. Some members formed the PyungYang seminary later renamed as the Seoul Westminster Seminary. The church teaches the verbal inspiration of the Bible. It subscribes the Apostles Creed and Westminster Confession. In 2004 there were 75,007 members and 451 congregations and 454 ordained ministers. The denomination had 13 Presbyteries and a General Assembly.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Africa (Uganda) was formed in 2007 by pastors and elders graduating from the Westminster Theological Seminary in Mbale, Uganda. In Uganda there are 10 congregations and 2 Presbyteries. In Kenya and Tanzania there is one Presbytery in each country.
References
- ↑ "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions".
- ↑ "Member churches | Bringing together 80 million Reformed Christians worldwide". Archived from the original on 2012-08-08. Retrieved 2012-08-08.