December 3, 1973

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) was founded in Birmingham. The PCA formed after 260 congregations from South Carolina, Mississippi and Alabama left the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) under the belief that theological liberalism had come to dominate the denomination. The PCA is a socially and theologically conservative denomination that traces its roots to political divisions in American Presbyterianism during the Civil War. It has grown to include more than 330,000 members and 1,400 congregations across the country, including more than 100 churches in Alabama. The state is also home to 10 of the 50 oldest PCA churches in the country.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Historic Presbyterian church in Eutaw, 2010. (Library of Congress, Wikipedia)

Graphical tree describing Presbyterian denominational history in the United States. (Courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, PA., Wikipedia)

Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham was founded by Rev. Frank Barker Jr. in 1960. The church was the site of the formal establishment of the National Presbyterian Church in 1970. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Briarwood Presbyterian Church)

Meridianville Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Hazel Green, Madison County, was founded in 1807. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of The Huntsville Times)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.