Obedient to the Great Commission: The PCA’s Evangelistic and Missionary Calling

by David Cassidy

When I was fourteen years old, my father asked me to be his partner in a new personal evangelism training course our church was conducting. “It’s called Evangelism Explosion,” he said. “I think it will help us grow in our own faith too.” How right he was! We not only discovered new depths of gospel truth but also, for the first time, learned how to share the gospel effectively. We were a couple of Indiana Lutherans learning from some Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Presbyterians how to offer Christ to others. I’m so thankful that the early leaders of the PCA were committed to the Great Commission.

From its beginning, the Presbyterian Church in America has understood itself as a church on mission. Our familiar motto—“Faithful to the Scriptures, True to the Reformed Faith, and Obedient to the Great Commission”—is no mere motto, but a bold, grace-reliant commitment to follow Jesus wherever he leads in his world-saving mission. It expressed what kind of church we believed Christ was calling us to be and what kind of work we intended to give ourselves to for the glory of God.

The founding fathers and mothers of the PCA were convinced that faithfulness to Scripture and confessional integrity must always be joined to outward-facing obedience to Christ’s command to disciple all nations. From the start, the PCA rejected the false choice between doctrinal seriousness and evangelistic zeal. We believed that the gospel of grace produces both, leading to a deep faith that summons us to share the immeasurable riches of Christ.

That conviction shaped the denomination’s spirit and priorities early on. There was a shared understanding that structures and programs serve a higher aim: the gospel clearly preached and disciples faithfully made, especially where Christ was not yet known or where gospel witness was weak. The PCA was not formed merely to preserve and protect the purity of the gospel, but to boldly proclaim it in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Personal evangelism was encouraged as a normal part of Christian discipleship. Churches were urged to preach the whole counsel of God with clarity and urgency, calling all to repentance and faith in Christ. Fellowship within the church was not intended to create a self-protective cocoon, but a gracious place where new faith could take root and grow.

This commitment found practical expression through the creation of denominational ministries that placed evangelism and mission at the center of our common life. Mission to North America was established to strengthen churches, plant new ones, and carry the gospel into cities, suburbs, rural communities, and places of particular need across the continent.

At the same time, Mission to the World gave concrete form to the PCA’s desire to take the gospel to the nations. MTW missionaries have labored across cultures and continents, proclaiming Christ, training leaders, and planting churches that would endure, helping to build the largest Reformed denominational mission agency in the world. Their work has embodied the conviction that obedience to the Great Commission belongs to the whole church, not just a few specialists.

The PCA’s concern for the next generation was also evident early on. Reformed University Fellowship was founded with the belief that universities are vital mission fields. Through patient teaching, relational ministry, and faithful evangelism, RUF has helped countless students come to faith and grow as disciples, many of whom now serve Christ in churches, missions, and vocations across the world.

The denomination’s evangelistic heart has also been embodied in the lives and ministries of notable leaders and congregations. Frank Barker, through his long ministry at Briarwood Presbyterian Church, modeled a church life marked by strong preaching, global vision, and a culture of evangelism. His influence helped establish patterns of faithfulness that shaped the PCA for decades.

David Nicholas and Spanish River Church demonstrated that Reformed soteriology and intentional outreach go hand in hand. Their ministry encouraged churches to think seriously about how beautiful theology, personal evangelism, and church planting work together to further Christ’s kingdom. Spanish River is a founding church in the PCA, and its church-planting work today extends across the United States and in many nations, with David’s Gospel Bootcamp continuing to equip thousands of pastors and leaders to communicate the gospel clearly and passionately.

The PCA has also been enriched by leaders who helped engage culture thoughtfully and evangelistically. Francis and Edith Schaeffer, through the work of L’Abri, modeled a hospitable, intellectually serious witness that addressed the questions of modern people with biblical truth and pastoral care.

In more recent years, Tim Keller and the work of Redeemer Presbyterian Church exemplified a similar commitment in an urban context, showing how gospel-centered preaching, cultural engagement, and church planting could work together to reach cities with the hope of Christ. Randy Pope developed outstanding tools to help laypeople and leaders alike share Christ with others and make disciples, sparking the growth of Perimeter Church in Atlanta, which has, in turn, planted many other congregations. Numerous church-planting networks, led by great churches like Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas, brought together various Presbyteries in united efforts to recruit new leaders and raise the funds needed to support such a compelling vision.

Few figures illustrate the PCA’s evangelistic impulse more clearly than D. James Kennedy and Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. Through Evangelism Explosion, Dr. Kennedy trained generations of believers to articulate the gospel simply and confidently, reinforcing the conviction that every Christian is called to bear witness. As I noted above, Dr. Kennedy did this generously, working closely with Christians in other traditions to equip every believer to communicate God’s saving mercy given to us in Jesus effectively. And Dr. Kennedy was inspired in personal evangelism by PCA founding father Kennedy Smartt.

Throughout its history, the PCA has sought to keep the gospel central, the issue of “first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:1-5), sacrificially obeying the call to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20). That history is both a gift and a responsibility. Our officers and churches are called to renew this shared commitment—to preach the gospel clearly, to make disciples faithfully, fund ministries generously, and to plant new churches courageously. There’s never been a better time to ask the Lord of the harvest to raise up the next generation of gospel laborers in North America and beyond.

Our founders “hit the ground running,” and it’s vital that we all run the race set before us. May the Lord grant us grace to remain faithful to the Scriptures, true to the Reformed faith, and obedient to the Great Commission, for his glory and for the life of the world.

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David Cassidy is the Lead Pastor of Spanish River Church in Boca Raton, Florida, and the author of Indispensable, A Guide to Christian Basics (P&R). He has been a pastor since 1980, serving congregations in the US and the UK. He and his wife Toni have been married since 1980.