A History of the Presbyterian Church (USA)

The earliest Christian church consisted of the Jews and Gentiles who had known and heard the teachings of Jesus. From this group, the faith spread from the middle east to other parts of the world, despite persecution from governments and other faiths and controversy among its adherents.

During the 4th century, the church became established as a political and spiritual power under the Emperor Constantine. Theological and political disagreements between members of the eastern (Greek-speaking) and western (Latin-speaking) branches eventually caused the church to divide into two main branches: the Eastern Orthodox Church in the east and the Roman Catholic Church in the west.

In western Europe, the political and religious authority of the Roman Catholic Church remained largely unquestioned until the Renaissance in the 15th century. The invention of the printing press in Germany around 1440 made it possible for common people to have access to printed materials, including the bible. This enables many to discover the religious thinkers who had begun to question the practices and authority of the Roman Catholic Church. One of these figures, Martin Luther, a German priest and professor, is credited with starting the movement known as the Protestant Reformation when he posted a list of ninety-five grievances against the Roman Catholic Church on a church door in Wittenburg, Germany in 1517.

Some twenty years later, a French/Swiss theologian, John Calvin, further refined the reformers’ new way of thinking about the nature of God and God’s relationship with humanity in what came to be known as Reformed theology. John Knox, a Scotsman who studied with Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland, took Calvin’s teachings back to Scotland. Other Reformed communities developed in England, Holland, and France. The Presbyterian Church traces its ancestry primarily back to Scotland and England.

Presbyterians have played an important part in United States History. The Rev. Francis Mackemie, who arrived in the U.S. from Ireland in 1683, helped to organize the first American Presbytery at Philadelphia in 1706. One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Rev. John Witherspoon, was a Presbyterian minister. The Rev. William Tennent founded a ministerial "log college" in New Jersey that evolved into Princeton University. Other Presbyterian ministers, such as the Rev. Jonathan Edwards and the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, were driving forces in the so-called "Great Awakening," a revivalist movement in the early 18th century.

The Presbyterian Church in the United States has split many times, and some parts have reunited. Currently the largest group is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), of which our congregation is affiliated. Its national offices are in Louisville, Kentucky. The PC(USA) was formed in 1983 as a result of the reunion between the "southern" Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS) and the "northern" United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A (UPCUSA).

Windows showing the seals of each these predecessor churches are located in the narthex (the entrance hall to our sanctuary on Austin Avenue) and on the stairwell to our balcony. Another window showing the seal of the PCUS, of which our church was a member before the reunification, is located in the chapel. Central Presbyterian Church, the other Presbyterian church in Waco, was a member of the UPCUSA.

(Adapted from PCUSA web site (www.pcusa.org) information)