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The Presbyterian Church (USA) (PCUSA) is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States. It was formed from the 1983 merger of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (Southern) and the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (Northern).
Presbyterians trace their history to the sixteenth century and the Protestant Reformation. Presbyterian heritage, and much of what they believe, began with the French lawyer John Calvin (1509-1564), whose writings solidified much of the Reformed thinking that came before him.
Calvin did most of his writing from Geneva, Switzerland. From there, the Reformed movement spread to other parts of Europe. Many of the early Presbyterians in America came from England, Scotland and Ireland. The first American Presbytery was organized at Philadelphia in 1706. The first General Assembly was held in the same city in 1789. The Assembly was convened by the Reverend John Witherspoon, the only Christian minister to sign the Declaration of Independence.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) currently is struggling with a major division over Biblical interpretation, particularly as it relates to homosexuality. Current policy prohibits the ordination of practicing homosexuals; the policy was upheld by a vote of presbyteries in 2002. Practicing homosexuals remain welcome as members, although - at least officially - they can't serve as pastors or serve as elders on the church sessions (the equivalent of a local board of directors). They are also prohibited from becoming deacons.
The Presbyterian Church USA is an organizational member of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, which advocates gun control.
In 2000, the Reverand Dick Ficca was invited by the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program to make keynote address at the 2000 Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference. His presentation was entitled "Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a Diverse World" he specifically stated "Okay, well if God is at work in our lives whether we're Christian or not, what's the big deal about Jesus?"
The PCUSA published a statement where they stated "Regardless, Rev. Ficca speaks for himself and not for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)." It drifted with many other statements until three years later when the 2003 General Assembly declared that there is salvation in none other than Christ.
In March 2002 PCUSA sent a letter to the Israeli government stating, “While we do not condone the acts of violence by certain Palestinian extremists we are appalled that Israel, in response, has continued to punish the entire Palestinian population and its leaders who have been your government’s partners in the peace process.”
In June of 2004, the general assembly met in Richmond, Virginia and voted 413-62 to divest itself of companies doing business in or with Israel. Rev. Nile Harper stated “The occupation by Israel in the West Bank and Gaza must end because it is oppressive and destructive for the Palestinian people.” in explanation of this action. The church statement noted that "divestment is one of the strategies that U.S. churches used in the 1970s and '80s in a successful campaign to end apartheid in South Africa."
The policy of divestment is not applied universally as the church also holds billions of dollars in China where Christian's are persecuted, such as documented by Brother Yun, Peter Xu Yongze and the BBC [ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3993857.stm].
In the same week as this statement was issued, the Roman Catholic Church pointedly issued a statement recognized that one sided criticism of Israel was anti-Semitic in nature and that anti-Zionism was equal to anti-Semitism.
In 2004 the PCUSA sent Samir Makhlouf to speak at Wooster College on the recommendation of Fahed Abu-Akel (former General Assembly Moderator). The speaker presented a slide show depicting, among other things, the Star Of David associated with the swastika and materials from a discredited book entitled the "Protocols of the elders of Zion". The protocols, which originated in Russia, were determined by a Russian court in September 2003 to be an anti-semitic forgery.
The president of Wooster, R. Stanton Hales, later issued an apology whichg stated "Most unfortunately ... Mr. Makhlouf … made anti-Semitic statements about the state of Israel and about Jewish people based on documents that are widely acknowledged to be forgeries and are a direct statement of bigotry and hatred." He further stated that "Other inaccurate and misleading items were similarly claimed as fact... Nevertheless, some in attendance, including some who departed before the challenge, were left with the impression that the claims were valid and that the College supported the claims. The College most certainly does not...the appearance of speakers whose messages include simple bigotry and hatred supported by intellectual dishonesty is unacceptable."
The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program issued a statement stating "that the denomination's Peacemaking Program, Office for Interfaith Relations and the Office for the Middle East and Europe unequivocally disavow remarks and images reportedly used by Makhlouf. We regret that some in the audience may have been offended." They however did not include any mention of whether they regreted that the statements were made.
In 2004 Dr. Ronald H. Stone, elder at East Liberty Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh stated "we treasure the precious words of Hizballah and your expression of good will towards the American people." and "relations and conversations with Islamic leaders are a lot easier than dealings and dialogue with Jewish leaders" on Hezbollah's Al-Manar satellite television network. He did this in his capacity a 24 member team to the middle east as part of the PCUSA's Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (paid for by the church). The PCUSA has since published a statement where they said his views “do not reflect the official position of the Presbyterian Church.” no mention was made on what those views were in the statement.
Hezbollah has previously carried out actions which have included the 1982 bombing of an an American barracks in Beirut where 240 marines perished. No clarifications on the nature of "goodwill" mentioned in the statement were ever released.
See also: Confessing Movement, List of Presbyterian Church USA Churches
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