page_title: Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
section_title: Later history
hierarchical_section_title: Presbyterian Church in the United States of America / History / 20th century / Later history
caption_attribution_description: English: The front of the First Presbyterian Church, Hollywood, California. Taken with a 35mm Exakta VX, using Ektachrome slide film.
context_page_description: The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America 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 America, a denomination with roots in the Seceder and Covenanter traditions of Presbyterianism. The new church was named the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. It was a predecessor to the contemporary Presbyterian Church.
  The denomination had its origins in colonial times when members of the Church of Scotland and Presbyterians from Ireland first immigrated to America. After the American Revolution, the PCUSA was organized in Philadelphia to provide national leadership for Presbyterians in the new nation. In 1861, Presbyterians in the Southern United States split from the denomination because of disputes over slavery, politics, and theology precipitated by the American Civil War. They established the Presbyterian Church in the United States, often simply referred to as the "Southern Presbyterian Church". Due to its regional identification, the PCUSA was commonly described as the Northern Presbyterian Church.
context_section_description: With the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s, the optimism of liberal theology was discredited. Many liberal theologians turned to neo-orthodoxy in an attempt to correct what were seen as the failings of liberalism, namely an overemphasis on divine immanence and the goodness of humanity along with the subordination of American Protestantism to secularism, science, and American culture. Neo-orthodox theologians instead emphasized divine transcendence and the sinfulness of humanity. From the 1940s into the 1950s, neo-orthodoxy set the tone at Presbyterian seminaries. Prominent Presbyterian theologians of this era include Elmer George Homrighausen and Joseph Haroutunian.
  At the same time, evangelicalism was continuing to influence the Presbyterian Church. In the late 1940s, the efforts of Christian educator Henrietta Mears at First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood, California, would make it the largest church within the denomination. First Presbyterian's emphasis on evangelism would have a profound influence on a number of prominent figures including Louis Evans Jr., founder of Bel Air Presbyterian Church; Richard C. Halverson, Chaplain of the United States Senate; and Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. According to historian George Marsden, Mears "may have had more to do with shaping west coast Presbyterianism than any other person."
  In 1958, the PCUSA merged with the century-old United Presbyterian Church of North America (UPCNA). This denomination was formed by the 1858 union of Covenanter and Seceder Presbyterians. Between 1937 and 1955, the PCUSA had been discussing merger negotiations with the UPCNA, the Presbyterian Church in the United States and even the Episcopal Church before settling on the UPCNA merger.
  Within the UPCNA, there was decreasing support for the merger amidst conservative reservations over the PCUSA's decision to ordain women to the office of minister in 1956 (the PCUSA had been ordaining women to the office of deacon since 1922 and elder since 1930). Nevertheless, the merger of the two denominations was celebrated in Pittsburgh that summer. The new denomination was named the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA).
caption: First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. In the 1950s, the evangelical church boasted the largest PCUSA congregation.
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