• American History
• History in Europe and the British Isles
• Protestant Development

American History:

     The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) can trace its American
history as shown in the following chart: 

     Prior denominational names can be determined through 
combinations of two or more of the following: 
A       =America 
CSA	=Confederate States of America, 
E       -Evangelical 
NA	=North America.
PC	=Presbyterian Church, 
U	=United 
US	=United States,
USA	=United States of America, 

1983         ^           PC(USA)                                ^ 
             |    +---------+--------------------------------+  |
1973        EPC---+                                          +-PCA 
1958            UPCUSA            ^         ^                |
           +------+---------+     +--------Bible PC          |
1936       |                +-Orthodox PC                    |  
           |                |            ^                   |
           |                |            |                   | 
1906       |                |------------+                   |
           |                |            |                   | 
           |                |            |     ^             |  
           |                |            |     |             |
1870       |              PCUSA          |     |             |
1869       |   ^          |   |          |--2d Cum.(Colored) |
1865       |   |          |   |          |                  PCUS
           | Assoc.Ref.PC |   |          |                  |  |  
1861       |   |          +-->|--------->|-------------PC-CSA  | 
1858     UPCNA |          |   |          |                     |
1857     |   | |          |   +--------->|--------------------USPC
         |   | | Old School   |          |  
1837     |   | |          |   New School | 
         |   +-+  ^       +-+-+          |   
1810     |   |    |         |---------Cumberland
         |   | Reformed PC  | 
         |   |    |         |
1774     |   +----+         |
         | Assoc.Ref.PC     | 
1757     |   |            PCUSA 
1754 Assoc PC|            |   |
        ++---++           |   |
        |     |  Revivalism   Non-Revivalism
     Seceders |           +-+-+
         Covenaters         |
1706                      PCUSA

1600's      Individual Churches in VA, MA, CT, LI, NY.      

     For slightly more detail, here is the above chart in words.
     In 1983 PC(USA) was formed by the merger of UPCUSA (northern) 
and the PCUS (southern).
     In 1973 the Presbyterian Church in America split from PCUS.
     In 1958 the UPCUSA (northern) was formed by the merger of the 
UPCNA and the PCUSA (northern).  
     In 1936 the Orthodox Presbyterian Church split from the PCUSA.
     In 1906 the Cumberland PC merged back into the PCUSA.
     In 1869 the Colored Cumberland PC split from the Cumberland PC.
     In 1870 the PCUSA (northern) was remerged from the northern 
portions of the PC (Old School) and the PC (New School).  
     In 1865 the PCUS (southern) was formed by the merger of the 
PC-CSA (1861 southern split from the PC (Old School) and the USPC 
(1857 southern split from the PC (New School).  
     In 1837 the PCUSA split into PC (Old School) and PC (New School).  
     In 1810 the Cumberland PC split off from the PCUSA.  
     In 1757 the PCUSA remerged the revivalism and non-revivalism 
groups that had split the PCUSA which had originally started in the
USA in 1706. 
     In 1858 the UPCNA was formed by the merger of the Associate PC
(Secession) and the Associate Reformed PC (Covenanters).  
     The Assoc. PC (Secession) was formed in the USA in 1754.  
     The Assoc. Reformed PC was formed in the USA in 1774.  
     However, even before this Presbyterian Churches were found in 
Virginia in 1611, Massachusetts and Connecticut in 1630, and 
Long Island and New York in 1640.

     Note: Several of the denominations shown above did not die out 
when they merged but still continue on today although not shown above
as doing so.  Every time there is a merger some of the congregations 
won't agree to the merger and will continue on under the old 
denominational names.  Some of these over time have merged but as a 
result there are many other smaller Presbyterian denominations,  One 
of the larger ones is the Colored Cumberland PC.  The second largest  
Presbyterian denominations is the Presbyterian Church in America with
about 198,000 members in 1992.  The PC(USA) had about 2,698,000
members in 1994.

History in Europe and the British Isles:

     Presbyterian/Reformed churches in Europe and the British Isles
form a major branch of Protestant Christianity.  John Calvin 
(1509-1564), who was greatly influenced by Martin Luther (1483-1546),
Huldreich Zwingli (1484-1531), and Martin Bucer (1491-1551), was the 
principle exponent during the Reformation era of the Presbyterian or 
Reformed type of Christianity.  Calvin's influence was strongly seen 
in the Reform movements in France (Huguenots), the Netherlands (Dutch 
Reformed), Germany, and Scotland (Presbyterian). 

     In Scotland and the British Isles the movement was designated 
as Presbyterian and was brought from Europe about 1560 by John Knox 
(1513/5-1572).  In Scotland the Associate PC (Secession) was formed 
in 1733.  The Relief Church was formed in 1761.  The Free Church of 
Scotland was formed in 1843.  In 1847 the Succession and Relief 
churches merged into the United Presbyterian Church.  In 1900 the 
United Presbyterian Church and the Free Church were merged into the 
United Free Church.  In 1929 the United Free Church merged into the 
Church of Scotland.  
     Presbyterianism, although primarily in Scotland, was also in 
Northern Ireland and England.  In the 1640's the Church of England 
was Presbyterian.

Protestant Development

Christianity
     |
 ---------- 1000's Eastern Orthodox  
 |        
 Roman Catholic
 | 
 |--------- 1500's Protestant
 |            | 
 |            |--Lutheranism (Luther)    
 |            |       |--1600's Pietists - German Baptist Brethren  
 |            |            |--1700's Brethren
 |            |
 |            |--Reformed (Calvin, Zwingli)
 |            |  |--Reformed   
 |            |  |--Presbyterian
 |            |  |--Huguenot
 |            |  |--Congregational (Puritans 1600's)
 |            |       |--1600's Baptists
 |            |
 |            |--Anabaptists (Grebel) 
 |            |  |--Hutterites (Hutter)
 |            |  |--Mennonites (Simons)
 |            |       |--1600's Amish
 |            |
 |            |--Anglican (king Henry, political)
 |                    |    |--1700's Methodist (Wesley) 
 |                    |    |--1700's Episcopal      
 |                    |--1600's Friends (Quakers)(Fox)
 |
 Roman Catholic

     You may note what seems to be incongruities.  Not all sub-groups
under the major divisions had the same polity (church hierarchical
structure) or beliefs on baptism (infant or believer).  For instance
Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Lutherans, Anglican, Episcopal, and
Methodists have appointed or selected individuals in their hierarchy
to maintain the structure.  Reformed, Presbyterian, and Huguenot have
elected representative bodies to maintain order and continuity.
Pietists, Brethren, Congregationalists, Baptists, Anabaptists, and
Friends held that each congregation was autonomous, however many 
cooperate together in conferences or denominations.

     This information is from the Encyclopedia Americana and from 
the Handbook of Denominations by Frank S. Mead.