Churches

Last updated 1 Aug 2025 Churches I've belonged to:
I've been a Presbyterian all my life. My parents and grandparents were presbyterian.

My Finley (Great Grandmother on my father's side) ancestors have been Presbyterians back further than I can trace in Scotland.
Samuel Finley (my 2nd cousin 8 times removed) was a Presbyterian Minister from Scotland and President of College of New Jersey (now Princeton U.) 1761-1766.

There are several Presbyterian denominations. The largest PC(USA), which my churches were part of, had 3 million members in 1985, but was declining (1 million members in 2024) like most mainline protestant denominations,
The second largest Presbyterian church of America (PCA) denomination had about 380,000 members in 2024.
PCA was more conservative, not allowing women in leadership roles, although it has loosened some of those restrictions recently.
PC(USA) started loosing churches faster as the started taking a more liberal stance on social issues and other things along with society in general.
See History of of the PC (USA) and it's governing body, the General Assembly

My churches

First Presbyterian Church of Roseville (Now Centerpoint Community Church) Member from birth - 1970
I grew up in the Roseville Presbyterian Church where my Great Grandfather, Thomas McBride, was one of the founders, and 4 generations of my family were active members.
They left PC USA to join the Evangelical Presbterian Church (EPC) in 2007 and changed their name to Centerpint Community Church.

Liberty Corner Presbyterian, NJ (1980-2018)
I spent most of my adult life in the Liberty Corner Presbyterian church Where I was a trustee, deacon and group leader. I participated in service trips to Honduras (school building), Mississippi (Katrina cleanup) and other places. My son, Thomas, went thru confirmation there.
In 2015 they left PC USA and joined Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (ECO)

Some things the Roseville and New Jersey churches have in common:
Politically both are in red counties in blue states.
Both left PC (USA) for more evangelical Presbyterian demonations.
Both hosted KKK meetings in the 1920s.

I joined the Davis Community Curch (DCC) in 2018 when I moved back to California from New Jersey.
It was a breath of fresh air after spending 30 years in conservative churches.
My Grandmother on my mother's side was a sunday school teacher at DCC in the 1940's and my parents were married there. DCC was still part of the PC(USA) demonation which supports liberal social values.
I found out I was NOT going to hell because I married a member of a different tribe. My wife who we lost to cancer 25 years ago was an immigrant from Taiwan.
We were married in 1978 only 10 years after "Loving vs Virginia"", the supreme court case which outlawed laws against inter-racial marriage.