Who out there is a member of the Presbyterian Churches of America?

Question

What do they believe and what are the opinions about the PCA

Answer 1

Dear Gary N: I attended, years ago, Presbyterian in Bel Air, California. It happened to be the Church of President Ronald Reagan and First Lady, Nancy ! (Just a bit of color - and excitement for me when I found myself sitting behind them many times. I always greeted them and got a warm response from President Reagan. (Just some memories to share!)

Anyway, I found the Presbyterian Church just my cup of tea for some years. They are Evangelical-minded. But what was important to me was that the inside of the Church was clear of idols, crucifixes with Jesus hanging from them, ornateness, etc.
One tall, large plain wood cross sat on the stage near the Altar. We had sterling silver in abundance for serving wine and wafers for the imitation of the Passover dinner instruction by Jesus. But, ornamentation was spare. Yet, so beautiful in simplicity. Banners lined the edge of the Cathedral ceiling across the Altar area. . .just lovely.

I found the services to be what Jesus taught - as applied to our modern times, of course, but I was impressed with the LACK of embellishment of the NT Gospels. They were presented quite in accordance with what was written without exaggerations. Just the NT "Word" as written - then applied to OUR lives. I appreciated that. I never heard our Pastor mention the "Trinity." Sorry, I can not tell you if they are oriented toward the Catholic idea of Trinity or not. Our Pastor never seemed to mention it.

The Pastor, Donn Moomaw, was quite "open" to other religions ; because Jesus was Jewish, he was very interested in attending, himself, the Passover Sedar and telling his congregation about it. He also was interested in the dynamic preaching of certain black Ministers in the Los Angeles area and brought them to us as Guest Speakers. So, I personally found Presbyterian Church open-minded and without prejudices. That was something I felt good and healthy about. He also attended some Council of Inter-Relational Affairs between different religions. It included Rabbis, Priests, Ministers, etc. So, the Presbyterians, seemed to me, to be quite "open."

When a Minister of the Presbyterian Church "falls" morally, the Supervision the Ministers are under DO suspend them for years at a time. The Ministers are watched closely. I'm sorry, I don't believe I ever really heard about the PCA as an organization. I attended without awareness of any real political aspects of the organization of Presbyterians. I only was interested in what it offered my spirit.

I recommend Presbyterianism very highly.

Best regards, Lana