The Presbyterian
Church in America:
Taking the Reformation
into the 21st Century
Introduction
From our founding in 1973 with 240 congregations
and just 40,000 members, the Presbyterian Church in America now has almost 1400
congregations and 300,000 members. For several years we have been one of the nation’s
faster growing Protestant denominations.
But mere numbers do not tell the story of this
young denomination which is seeking to be 'true to the Scriptures, the Reformed Faith, and
the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.' God has richly blessed the work of the Presbyterian
Church in America. Across North America and in almost sixty countries around the world
(over 500 career and "short term" foreign missionaries), there are new believers
and new churches worshipping God and seeking to serve Him in their communities.
While the personal witness of individuals and
the programs of local churches are foundational to fulfilling the Great Commission, it is
their collective efforts that greatly multiply their effectiveness. The various ministries
of the Presbyterian Church in America are carried out through the General Assembly's
committees and agencies. (The General Assembly is the representative ruling body which
meets annually.)
Christian Education and Publications
Discipling God's Covenant
People
CE/P’s mission is to glorify God by serving
the Presbyterian Church in America in its worldwide commitment to make disciples. We will
accomplish our role through teaching and training leaders and church members in principles
of ministry, discipleship, family living, and the challenge to develop a consistently
biblical worldview and a holistic view of the church’s mission.
Equip Conferences, seminars, and workshops train
officers, leaders, and teachers to better lead and disciple people in the local church. In
addition to the staff, CE/P has thirteen regional trainers and seven regional youth
trainers throughout the denomination.
CE/P provides a biblically based Sunday school
curriculum for all ages through its publishing house, Great Commission Publications. This
material gives a thorough presentation of the "whole counsel of God" in that it
consciously seeks to teach the Scriptures from a reformational worldview.
Publications produced through CE/P include Equip
for Ministry, a bi-monthly leadership resource magazine; the Bulletin Supplement,
a monthly bulletin insert of happenings in various PCA congregations; and the WIC
Resource Letter for Women In the Church leadership. The Women In the Church ministry
is under the oversight and direction of CE/P and provides seminars, retreats and materials
for women.
CE/P also provides various other services such
as the Bookstore and Video Library, both of which offer materials to teach and train
God’s people in the PCA.
Contact CE/P at: cep@pcanet.org
Mission
to North America
Our Vision
MNA: Serving the Church to Advance God’s Kingdom
Only let your manner
of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see
you or am absent that I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one
spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the
Gospel.(Philippians 1:27)
OUR CALLING To
serve PCA churches and presbyteries as they advance God’s Kingdom in North
America by planting, growing, and multiplying biblically healthy churches
through the development of intentional evangelism and outreach ministries.
OUR VISION That God,
by His grace and for His own glory, will transform the PCA into a
grassroots church planting culture that is exponentially reproducing a
growing number of biblically healthy churches each year among the many
diverse communities and people groups of North America through intentional
evangelism and outreach ministries.
IN FULFILLMENT OF THIS
VISION, OUR HOPE IS…
To see all PCA churches become “houses of
prayer for all the nations” (Mark 11:7), embracing a Great Commission
vision characterized by proactive engagement with their communities
through kingdom prayer, intentional evangelism, ministries of mercy and
social justice, community involvement, church planting and global
missions.
To see the PCA, beginning with its leadership,
reflect the demographic makeup of North America by seeing churches planted
and people coming to Christ from the many diverse communities and people
groups in our land.
To impact the centers of influence in North
America, which are defined as:
-
crossroads of
society
-
city centers
and metropolitan areas
-
concentrations of cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity
To
see the PCA planting churches in the regions of North America where there
is little reformed and evangelical presence.
Mission to the World
Grasping God’s
Grace Personally to Give God’s Grace Globally
Mission to the World is the mission
sending agency of the PCA, advancing Reformed and covenantal church planting movements in
strategic areas worldwide resulting in mature churches and equipped leaders among all
peoples.
MTW advances the work of the body of Christ
worldwide by identifying, selecting, training and empowering men and women focused on the
tasks of evangelism and church planting/church nurturing and significant support
ministries. We minister among the unreached people groups in world class cities as well as
in hinterland and rapid migrational growth areas.
MTW upholds the doctrines of sovereign grace and
the truth that God saves his people. The Holy Scriptures are the authoritative and
reliable history of His covenantal relationship with His children. In regard to that
relationship, it is clear that missions is a divine enterprise in which God commands and
graciously accepts the obedience of His children. The dual truth that God chose in
eternity those who will be saved and that he also uses us as instruments in the process of
saving them, is our foundation for missions.
A church planting movement is a Spirit-directed,
vision-driven, sustained expansion of Christ’s kingdom among a particular geographic
or ethnic people. This is accomplished through nationally-led churches resulting in
ongoing church multiplication and renewal that significantly impacts society. We will
advance church planting movements by partnering with an existing group or denomination
that is Reformed and covenantal. When there is no such group we may establish a new
Reformed and covenantal denomination. As the Holy Spirit leads we will also take
opportunities to impact others from our Reformed and covenantal perspective.
MTW believes that the Church is God’s
instrument to complete the missionary task. Our approach is to advance movements of the
gospel through the planting of self-propagating, self-supporting and self-governing
churches with trained, empowered leadership.
Administrative Committee
(Office of the Stated Clerk)
The focus of the Office of the Stated
Clerk, which is under the oversight of the Administrative Committee (AC), is SERVICE.
Planning, coordinating and arranging facilities
and services for the General Assembly is a major responsibility. In addition, the Clerk's
office provides funding and administrative services for the Interchurch Relations
Committee, the Committee on Constitutional Business, the Committee on Review of Presbytery
Records, the Standing Judicial Commission, the General Assembly's Nominating Committee,
and the Ad Interim Committees of the General Assembly.
The Clerk's office also serves as liaison
between the General Assembly and the presbyteries and sessions, as well as other
denominational bodies.
Other areas of service include assisting church
pulpit committees and pastors in their search for a church, answering questions on the
Book of Church Order and providing assistance and guidance for clerks of presbyteries.
Among the documents that the Stated Clerk is
responsible for publishing are: the Handbook for General Assembly Commissioners, the
Minutes of each General Assembly, the Yearbook with the Church Directory and annual
Statistics, the Book of Church Order and a pocket-size Directory of PCA Churches.
The responsibilities also include oversight of
the PCA corporate civil matters, the PCA Historical Center in St. Louis, and the operation
of the PCA Office Building in Atlanta.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Administrative
Committee (AC) of the Presbyterian Church in America is to cultivate the peace, purity, and progress of
the church by providing the ecclesiastical and administrative functions which enable the
churches, the presbyteries, and the General Assembly to fulfill their ministries. The AC
is committed to enabling greater evangelical effectiveness by connecting, communicating,
and encouraging the various ministries God has given the PCA.
PCA Historical Center
The purpose of the PCA Historical Center is
to assist the people of the PCA in making a record of God’s continuing faithfulness
in our midst. We do this by training church historians, by the production of relevant
literature and by serving to fulfill the historical preservation and research needs of the
Presbyterian Church in America, it’s committees and agencies and the churches of the
denomination.
PCA
Retirement & Benefits, Inc.
...
glorifying God through serving
His servants...
PCA Retirement & Benefits, Inc. provides life and
disability insurance coverage and retirement plans for PCA pastors, lay
church workers and the staffs of PCA committees, agencies and
institutions.
Almost 6,000 participate in the PCA Retirement Plan, over 2,000
are covered under the PCA Long Term Disability Plan and more than 1,500
participate in one of the PCA Life Insurance Plans. The number of
individuals receiving monthly retirement benefits is over 200.
The Relief Committee of the PCA Retirement & Benefits, Inc. Board
also maintains the PCA Ministerial Relief Fund, which is used primarily to
supplement incomes, pay insurance premiums and handle emergency needs of
retired and disabled PCA ministers, lay church workers and their
dependents.
Presbyterian Church In America
Foundation, Inc.
From the beginning of the Presbyterian Church in America, the
General Assembly has been committed to the goal of teaching its members
the Biblical principal of stewardship.
The vehicle established by the 3rd General Assembly was
first the Stewardship Committee, later replaced by the Foundation.
Today, the Foundation is a separate Georgia Corporation
guided by a ten man Board of Directors, all elected by the General
Assembly. This Board is
divided into four classes which serve four year terms.
Ruling Elders, Teaching Elders, and Deacons are eligible to serve
(at least two must be Teaching Elders).
The PCA Foundation’s “niche” is in helping Christians
carry out their charitable desires and stewardship responsibilities.
This is accomplished through a suite of charitable financial
services offered by the PCA Foundation (PCAF), including Charitable
Remainder and Charitable Lead Trusts (of which the PCAF can serve as
Trustee), Endowments, Designated Funds for Churches and Individuals,
Bequest Processing, the Advise & Consult Fund (a donor advised fund),
and Estate Design.
The Foundation’s task is largely divided into three parts:
education, motivation, and serving as the facilitator to see that a
donor’s wishes are carried out. This
involves working with individuals, churches,
pastors, stock brokers, financial planners, attorneys, insurance
professionals, etc.
Unlike most other Foundations, the PCAF is donor-driven –
that is, the distributions made by the PCAF are designated or recommended
by the donors themselves. Any
undesignated gifts received are presently distributed to the Committees
and Agencies of the PCA according to General Assembly formula.
The PCA Foundation is completely self-supported.
It does not participate in the Partnership Share program, and
receives no mandated support from the other PCA Committees and Agencies.
Funding for the PCAF’s operations come from contributions and
earnings and fees on its accounts.
Two of the Foundation’s most popular and effective services
are their Estate and Gift Design Service and the Advise & Consult
Fund. Please visit the
Foundation’s web site to see more about these and other services.
Please also feel free to contact the PCAF by telephone at
1-800-700-3221, by fax at 678-825-1041, or by email at pcaf@pcanet.org
if you would like to discuss their services or your particular charitable
giving needs.
Ridge Haven Conference Center
- Family time
- Fellowship with God’s people from everywhere
- Exceptional Biblical world-view opportunities to grow
spiritually
- Recreation
- Vacations
- Really exceptional meals you don’t have to fix yourself
- A friendly, ministry-minded, hospitable, caring residential
community
- A retreat to a more restful place of living
- Mountain beauty
- Fresh, clean, soft, clear waters (and to drink too)
- Four enjoyable seasons (mild winters and cool summers included
at no extra charge)
- All the colors of creation
- Opportunities to serve
- Affordability and accessibility
If these are the questions and the needs important to you,
your family, your church or your group, then
Ridge Haven is the answer
and the place for you.!!!
An official ministry and agency of the
Presbyterian Church In America
True to the Scriptures, True to the
Reformed Faith and Faithful to the Great Commission
Ridge Haven may be contacted at Ridgehaven@citcom.net or by phoning (828)862-3916.
Covenant
College
14049 Scenic Highway
Lookout Mountain, Georgia 30750-4164
(706) 820-1560
Fax: (706) 820-2165
Email: admissions@covenant.edu
Covenant College is a Christ-centered
institution of higher education, emphasizing liberal arts, and operated by a Board of
Trustees elected by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America. It exists
to provide educational services to that denomination and the wider public. The college
offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science, Master of Education, and
Associate of Arts degrees and a number of pre-professional programs.
The college is committed to the Bible as the
Word of God written, and accepts as its most adequate and comprehensive interpretation the
summary contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith.
The focus of Covenant College is found in its
motto, based on Colossians 1:18: "In all things…Christ pre-eminent."
Acknowledging Christ pre-eminent as the creator of all things, as the redeemer of people
fallen into sin, as the touchstone of all truth, and as the sovereign ruler over all areas
of life, the college strives to discern and to unfold the implications of His pre-eminence
in all things. To serve this end Covenant seeks to appropriate the mind of Christ as the
biblical perspective from which it characterizes and responds to reality. In attempting to
make such a biblically grounded frame of reference explicit and operative, the college is
committed to excellence in academic inquiry, and seeks to define all areas of the
college’s structure and program according to this understanding of our purpose.
The Statement of Purpose further states:
"We seek to implement our purpose in view of our belief that all human beings are
created in the image of God and are, therefore, spiritual, moral, social beings who think,
act, value, and exercise dominion. Because we are called to reflect in finite ways what
God is infinitely, we attempt to institute programs designed to offer all students the
opportunity to discover and give expression to their potential in each facet of their
redeemed humanness."
Covenant attracts dedicated students from across
the country and around the world known for their academic ability. They hold the highest
average SAT score of all top-tier Southern liberal arts colleges in U.S. News &
World Report’s 1998 college guide. The college offers eighteen major programs and
six pre-professional programs for more than 1,000 students.
One of the most important programs that Covenant
offers to the PCA is the Church Scholarship Promise program. This is what helps to make
the college affordable to children of the denomination. When churches give to the college
at the $10.00 per member level, the college offers the following benefits:
Each student from your church who qualifies will
receive a $1,000 grant.
Covenant guarantees each qualifying student 100
percent of financial need for tuition (this would include grants, loans and work/study).
Students must have at least a 3.0 GPA. The benefit can be assigned to a child of foreign
or domestic missionaries supported by the church, if you have no student enrolled at
Covenant.
The program strengthens the denomination by
creating an informed laity to serve on the Session, and as Christian education, youth and
study leaders.
Covenant’s education develops knowledgeable
believers for leadership in the community and nation.
Please remember that this is different than the
"askings" or "Partnership Shares" number reported to you by the
denomination.
This is a genuine partnership in which the
college and the church join to serve our families. The young people of the denomination
are trained to respond intelligently to the secular culture from the Reformed perspective,
and they return to the church with a more fully developed, Christ centered faith. We think
this is a vital link between the college and our churches.
Covenant Theological Seminary
Covenant Theological Seminary, since its
founding more than 40 years ago, has remained strongly committed to the three-fold purpose
of training servants of the triune God to walk with God, to interpret and communicate
God’s Word, and to lead God’s people. In pursuit of this purpose, we believe
that preparation for Gospel ministry must be firmly rooted in the divinely inspired Holy
Scriptures, which provide us with that knowledge of God and His will that is necessary and
sufficient for our salvation, faith and life.
The name Covenant reflects our conviction that
all we are and all we have its the result of a relationship that God Himself ordained. Out
of His grace alone, God entered into a covenant with us that we do not deserve nor could
we arrange on our own initiative. In love He eternally bound us to Himself through the
blood of His Son so that by faith alone, we would be His people.
This conviction of God’s redemptive
covenantal work through history shapes Covenant Seminary’s teaching and ministry.
Students and professors search the Scriptures in obedient love, seeking to know God’s
Word in such a way that they are able to live and teach its message with power.
Within this conviction is the understanding that
the doctrine of grace is foundational to all we do at Covenant Seminary, for it is by
grace we are saved, and by grace we live the Christian life.
Founded with a passion for Christ and His
Gospel, Covenant Seminary began in 1956 as the seminary of a denomination originally named
the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, also founded in the middle of 1950s. During
Covenant’s first year, 11 students shared a log cabin and an estate house with sister
school, Covenant College, which was established during the previous year. The founders of
the Seminary recognized the need for a traditional curriculum with direct accountability
to and governance by the Church. They were also committed to establishing a school focused
on training pastors.
The Seminary continued to grow in the 1960s. In
1964, the Seminary’s sister school, Covenant College, moved to its current home in
Lookout Mountain, Georgia, with the Seminary remaining on the St. Louis campus. In 1965, a
merger with the Reformed Presbyterian Church designated Covenant Seminary as the
denominational seminary of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod. In 1982,
another denominational merger established Covenant Seminary as the national seminary of
the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).
Only a decade ago, Covenant Seminary was a
school of 159 students. Today it is a school of nearly 900 students, with almost 600
student attending day and evening courses on campus. Each year, approximately 125 pastors
also sharpen their ministry skills through work toward the Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.). In
addition, about 200 students participate each semester in the Seminary’s accredited
extension program, both individually and at extension sites in nine cities nationwide.
