United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
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The United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA) was the largest branch of
Presbyterianism Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
in the
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from May 28, 1958, to 1983. It was formed by the union of the
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was the first national Presbyterian denomination in the United States, existing from 1789 to 1958. In that year, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North Americ ...
(PCUSA), often referred to as the "Northern" Presbyterian Church, with the
United Presbyterian Church of North America The United Presbyterian Church of North America (UPCNA) was an American Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a pri ...
(UPCNA), a smaller church of
Covenanter Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from ''Covenan ...
-
Seceder The First Secession was an exodus of ministers and members from the Church of Scotland in 1733. Those who took part formed the Associate Presbytery and later the United Secession Church. They were often referred to as seceders. The underlying ...
tradition at a conference in
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, in May 1958. Vigorous
ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
activity on the part of PCUSA leaders led to this merger, something of a reunion of two long-separated branches of the larger Presbyterian family deriving from the
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.


Background

Between 1937 and 1955, both the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and the United Presbyterian Church of North America had been looking to merge with
Reformed Churches Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the Christian theology, theological tradition and forms of Christianity, Christ ...
. The PCUSA had discussed a merger with the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS), as well as with the Episcopal Church. Both denominations had also been in contact with the
Reformed Church in America The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a Mainline Protestant, mainline Reformed tradition, Reformed Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 152,317 members. From its beginning in 1628 unti ...
, as well as the
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARPC), as it exists today, is the historical descendant of the Synod of the South, a Synod of the Associate Reformed Church. The original Associate Reformed Church resulted from a merger of the Associate ...
.


History

By the time of the merger, the PCUSA had churches in all 50 states, while the heaviest concentration of UPCNA congregations could be found in
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and parts of
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. One institutional expression of the union was the consolidation of two nearby seminaries into the new
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (PTS) is a Presbyterian graduate seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1794, it houses one of the largest theological libraries in the tri-state area. History Pittsburgh Theological Seminary was formed ...
. As had been customary for centuries, the UPCUSA originally held solely to the
Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the " subordinate standard" ...
and catechisms. But, one of the details of the 1958 merger was to revise the Westminster Confession. Realizing that the task of revising the Westminster Confession was too much of a burden and potentially divisive, the commission developed a new confession. Known as the
Confession of 1967 The Confession of 1967 is a confession of faith of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), abbreviated PC(USA). It was written as a modern statement of the faith for the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA), the "norther ...
, it was heavily influenced by
neo-orthodoxy In Christianity, Neo-orthodoxy or Neoorthodoxy, also known as theology of crisis and dialectical theology, was a theological movement developed in the aftermath of the First World War. The movement was largely a reaction against doctrines of ...
. The commission also added several other confessional standards to what was called the
Book of Confessions The ''Book of Confessions'' contains the creeds and confessions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The contents are the Nicene Creed, the Apostles' Creed, the Scots Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Second Helvetic Confession, the Westmi ...
. Furthermore, the UPCUSA revised its ordination vows. Prior to 1967, the ordination vows required an affirmative to this question: "Do you sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith and Catechisms of this Church as containing the system of doctrine taught in Holy Scripture?" After 1967, the ordination vows read: "Do you sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed Faith as expressed in the confession of our church as authentic and reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do, and will you be instructed and led by those confessions as you lead the people of God?" Despite strong opposition from conservative
evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
, much of which dovetailed with their hostility toward the denomination's perceived focus on social action that the Confession of 1967 in particular appeared to endorse, nine-tenths of the presbyteries approved the new documents.


Social stances and ecumenism

Generally speaking, the UPCUSA, especially its leadership, was a strong supporter of progressive causes, such as
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
and
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
.
Eugene Carson Blake Eugene Carson Blake (November 7, 1906 – July 31, 1985) was an American Presbyterian Church leader. From 1954 to 1957 he served as president of the National Council of Churches in the United States; from 1966 to 1972 he served as General Sec ...
, who served as the stated clerk of the UPCUSA from 1954 until 1966, was particularly active in the civil rights movement, including partaking in the August 28, 1963
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...
, with
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
The following year, the UPCUSA took an unprecedented step in electing Edler Garnet Hawkins (1908-1977), an African American, who had served as pastor of St. Augustine Presbyterian Church, as moderator, a position which he filled until 1970. However, despite the progressive views of many members, a scandal erupted in 1970 and 1971 when the denomination gave $25,000 to defend the Black Panthers and $10,000 to the
Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A feminist and a Marxist, Davis was a longtime member of ...
Defense Fund. Katie Cannon was ordained on April 24, 1974, in
Shelby, North Carolina Shelby is a city in and the county seat of Cleveland County, North Carolina, United States. It lies near the western edge of the Charlotte combined statistical area. The population was 20,323 at the 2010 census. History The area was originally i ...
, by the Catawba Presbytery, in the Synod of Catawba, becoming the first African-American woman to be ordained in the UPCUSA.


Ecumenical endeavors

In December 1960, UPCUSA stated clerk, Eugene Blake, preached a sermon at Grace Cathedral piscopal Churchin San Francisco, in which he laid down the plan for uniting UPCUSA,
The Methodist Church (USA) The Methodist Church was the official name adopted by the Methodist denomination formed in the United States by the reunion on May 10, 1939, of the northern and southern factions of the Methodist Episcopal Church (which had split in 1844 over t ...
, the Episcopal Church and the
United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...
. Following Blake's lead, the 1961 General Assembly sent invitations to the Presbyterian Church in the United States, the Methodists, the Episcopalians, and the United Church of Christ, beginning what was called the “Consultation on Church Union,” but would be eventually renamed the “ Churches of Christ Uniting”. The UPCUSA was also part of both the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, the latter of which Blake would become the General Secretary of in 1966.


Controversies and departures

Despite being the largest Presbyterian body in the United States, controversies and schisms would soon shake the UPCUSA, which would lead to the exodus of several well-known congregations and members. In keeping with the practice of the PC-USA (which the PC-USA had begun in 1956) the UPCUSA continued the ordination of women. When the union between the UPCNA and the PC-USA occurred in 1958, it was understood that the new denomination would permit, but not require female ministers However, in 1974, Walter W. Kenyon, a student at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, informed his presbytery that, while he would be willing to work with female ministers, or not impede their ordination, he would not participate in their installation. While his ordination was narrowly approved, it was overturned by the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly the following year, with the commission stating that it was the denomination's responsibility to refuse ordination to those who did not theologically accept the ordination of women, as the General Assembly had no power to grant the presbytery an exception to an already explicit constitutional provision. Furthermore, in 1979, the General Assembly ruled that all congregations must elect both men and women to the office of ruling elder. The ruling resulted in an exodus of approximately forty congregations, including
Tenth Presbyterian Church Tenth Presbyterian Church is a congregation of approximately 1,600 members located in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Tenth is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a denomination in the Reformed (Calvi ...
in Philadelphia, which would eventually realign with the
Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod The Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod was a Reformed and Presbyterian denomination in the United States and Canada between 1965 and 1982. Formation The RPCES was formed in 1965 with the union of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, ...
. In 1976, the New York Presbytery petitioned the General Assembly asking for advice over what to do about a candidate who was a homosexual, yet who was otherwise qualified for ministry. A task force was assigned and came back with the proposal that the question should be up to the discretion of the presbyteries. However, after lobbying from the Presbyterians United for Biblical Concerns, the majority report was rejected by the General Assembly, which voted overwhelmingly to affirm instead that “unrepentant homosexual practice does not accord with the requirements of ordination as set forth in the ''Book of Church Order''." Another controversy rocked the UPCUSA when the National Capital Union presbytery voted to receive a minister by the name of Mansfield Kaseman, a move that was upheld by the 1981 General Assembly. Ordained in the
United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...
, Kaseman declined to affirm straightforwardly the deity of Christ, His sinless nature and the bodily resurrection. This case resulted in a further wave of departures from the UPCUSA, including those who founded the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, along with longtime Pittsburgh Seminary professor
John Gerstner John Henry Gerstner (November 22, 1914 – March 24, 1996) was an American Reformed and Presbyterian theologian and professor of Church History at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary. He was an expert on the life and th ...
.


Reunion of the UPCUSA and the PCUS

As the UPCUSA continued its more liberal shift, talks had begun regarding a merger between the UPCUSA and the Presbyterian Church in the United States, who had split from the main Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1861 due to the Civil War. Initially committed to “Old School” Presbyterianism, the PCUS had been beginning a shift towards liberalism in the 1950s and 1960s, including allowing the ordination of women in 1964. While there had been a failed attempt to merge the UPCUSA and the PCUS in 1954, there had been increased cooperation between the two denominations, including joint foreign mission boards, a new hymnal in 1955, union presbyteries in 1968, and in 1970, the so-called “Plan of Union” was drafted. With the December 1973 creation of the
National Presbyterian Church The National Presbyterian Church is a Christian congregation of approximately 1,500 members of all ages from the greater metropolitan Washington, D.C., area. The mission statement of the church is "Leading People to Become Faithful Followers of J ...
, which would soon be renamed the
Presbyterian Church in America 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 presb ...
, which led to an exodus of conservatives from the PCUS, plans for union accelerated, and were also hastened, albeit less decisively, by the creation of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church by conservatives leaving the UPCUSA in 1981. In 1983, the vote was finally held regarding the merger, with a unanimous 151 presbyteries in the UPCUSA affirming it, and the PCUS affirming it 53 to 8. On June 10, 1983, the first General Assembly was held for the new denomination, which would be called the
Presbyterian Church (USA) 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 ...
.


Notable members

Prominent leaders and theologians from the period included
Eugene Carson Blake Eugene Carson Blake (November 7, 1906 – July 31, 1985) was an American Presbyterian Church leader. From 1954 to 1957 he served as president of the National Council of Churches in the United States; from 1966 to 1972 he served as General Sec ...
, Robert McAfee Brown,
Lloyd John Ogilvie Lloyd John Ogilvie (September 2, 1930 – June 5, 2019)Marquis Who's Who on the WebWilliam Sloane Coffin William Sloane Coffin Jr. (June 1, 1924 – April 12, 2006) was an American Christian clergyman and long-time peace activist. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church, and later received ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ. In h ...
, and David H. C. Read. Among its members was President
Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
.


See also

* List of Moderators of the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America * United Presbyterian Church in the USA synods and presbyteries 1968


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Christian organizations established in 1958 Presbyterian denominations in the United States Former Presbyterian denominations Presbyterian denominations established in the 20th century Presbyterian Church (USA) predecessor churches 1958 establishments in Pennsylvania