Editing Presbyterian Church (USA) (section)

====Mergers====
[[File:Presbyterian Family Connections.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|Evolution of Presbyterianism in the United States]]
The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America was joined by the majority of the [[Cumberland Presbyterian Church]], mostly congregations in the border and Southern states, in 1906. In 1920, it absorbed the Welsh Calvinist Methodist Church. The United Presbyterian Church of North America merged with the PCUSA in 1958 to form the [[United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America]] (UPCUSA).

Under [[Eugene Carson Blake]], the UPCUSA's stated clerk, the denomination entered into a period of social activism and ecumenical endeavors, which culminated in the development of the [[Confession of 1967]] which was the church's first new confession of faith in three centuries. The 170th General Assembly in 1958 authorized a committee to develop a brief contemporary statement of faith. The 177th General Assembly in 1965 considered and amended the draft confession and sent a revised version for general discussion within the church. The 178th General Assembly in 1966 accepted a revised draft and sent it to presbyteries throughout the church for final ratification. As the confession was ratified by more than 90% of all presbyteries, the 178th General Assembly adopted it in 1967. The UPCUSA also adopted a ''Book of Confessions'' in 1967, which would include the Confession of 1967, the [[Westminster Confession]] and [[Westminster Shorter Catechism]], the [[Heidelberg Catechism]], the [[Second Helvetic Confession|Second Helvetic]] and [[Scots Confession]]s and the [[Barmen Declaration]].<ref>Hart & Meuther, p. 217</ref>

An attempt to reunite the United Presbyterian Church in the USA with the [[Presbyterian Church in the United States]] in the late 1950s failed when the latter church was unwilling to accept ecclesiastical [[centralization]]. In the meantime, a conservative group broke away from the [[Presbyterian Church in the United States]] in 1973, mainly over the issues of women's ordination and a perceived drift toward theological liberalism. This group formed the [[Presbyterian Church in America]] (PCA).

Attempts at union between the churches (UPCUSA and PCUS) were renewed in the 1970s, culminating in the merger of the two churches to form the Presbyterian Church (USA) on June 10, 1983. At the time of the merger, the churches had a combined membership of 3,121,238.<ref name="membership loss">Kibler, Craig M. [http://www.layman.org/News.aspx?article=23664 PCUSA projects largest membership loss ever in 2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613184208/http://www.layman.org/News.aspx?article=23664 |date=June 13, 2011 }}. ''Presbyterian Layman'', February 19, 2008.</ref> Many of the efforts were spearheaded by the financial and outspoken activism of retired businessman [[Thomas Clinton]] who died two years before the merger.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} A new national headquarters was established in [[Louisville, Kentucky]] in 1988 replacing the headquarters of the UPCUSA in [[New York City]] and the PCUS located in [[Atlanta, Georgia]].

The merger essentially consolidated moderate-to-liberal American Presbyterians into one body. Other US Presbyterian bodies (the Cumberland Presbyterians being a partial exception) place greater emphasis on doctrinal Calvinism, literalist hermeneutics, and conservative politics.

For the most part, PC(USA) Presbyterians, not unlike similar mainline traditions such as the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]] and the [[United Church of Christ]], are fairly progressive on matters such as doctrine, environmental issues, sexual morality, and economic issues, though the denomination remains divided and conflicted on these issues. Like other mainline denominations, the PC(USA) has also seen a great deal of demographic aging, with fewer new members and declining membership since 1967.