A Mission Statement for
The PCA Historical Center

The primary purpose of the Historical Center of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is to assist the people of the PCA in making a record of God's continuing faithfulness in our midst. We do this by training church historians, by the production of relevant literature and by serving the historical preservation and research needs of the Presbyterian Church in America, its committees and agencies and the churches of the denomination.

In order to fully accomplish this mission, the PCA Historical Center also seeks some documentation of the larger ecclesiastical context or background of the PCA. Thus, the development and progress of every American Presbyterian denomination is to some extent an interest of the Center, particularly where there has been a direct historical connection. For instance, the PCA was largely formed from churches that were once part of the old Southern denomination, officially known as the Presbyterian Church, U.S. (PCUS). This makes the history of the PCUS a legitimate interest of the Historical Center and so we welcome materials into the Collection that document the history of that denomination.

From the 1982 Joining and Receiving of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod (RPCES), which was itself a merged group, the PCA participates in the rich heritage of several other denominations. Likewise, the PCA actively participates as a fraternal member of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC), and as a result the Historical Center seeks to document not only the history of that organization, but in limited ways the histories of the other participating NAPARC denominations.

Archival resources exist to be used. There is little point in simply filing away papers that will never be looked at again. The materials housed here have lasting value. They are relevant to future generations of God's people and it is the purpose of the PCA Historical Center to make these records accessible, both now and for as long as God may give us the ability to preserve them.