Why the PCA?

Dr. Jim Baird, one of twelve men chosen as a steering committee to form the first General Assembly of the PCA in 1973 - and one of only three members of that Committee who are still alive - spoke to a group of pastors and elders at the annual Presbytery Fellowship January 11. Dr. Baird was also sent by the PCA in 1974 to the Asia Rim (Japan through Pakistan) to explain why the PCA was formed. He is a former moderator of the General Assembly and also served as chairman of the Mission to the World and Mission to North America Committees.

His accounts reminded me of men who have been influential in my own life, one of those being Sam Patterson, the first president of Reformed Theological Seminary, and a man who labored within the "Southern" Presbyterian Church for its reformation.

Reminding the group of Israel's example of setting up a pile of stones from the Jordan river as a reminder to future generations of what God had done for them, Dr. Baird noted six historical reasons for the existence of the PCA:

1)  The Purity of Scripture
The Confession of '67 - adopted by the PCUSA as part of its doctrinal standards - was intended to do away with Chapter One of the Westminster Confession of Faith with its foundational view of Scripture as inspired, infallible, and inerrant.

2) The Preservation of Historical Presbyterianism
The doctrinal standards of the PCA are clearly stated in the Westminster Confession of Faith,  a summary of doctrine that Dr. Baird called "the best confession of faith" ever written.

3) The Proclamation of the gospel internationally and locally
The PCA has more international missionaries than many other denominations and is committed to planting new churches at a time when the "old" church has decreased its number of missionaries.

4)  Church Property
Local congregations became embroiled in controversies over ownership of property (and many still are).

5)  Pennies
Stewardship of finances is something about which the Bible has much to say.

6) Peace
"We came away with a lot of peace," commented Dr. Baird.