In this conversation, Derek Radney (Trinity Church PCA, Winston-Salem) sits down with Rev. Charles McGowan—AMR advisory board member, PCA pastor emeritus, former Moderator of the PCA General Assembly (1996), and founder of the McGowan Global Institute—to hear a firsthand account of the forces that shaped the PCA’s founding and the hopes that animated its early leaders. McGowan traces God’s providence in his own story, from his parents’ conversions in rural North Carolina to his path into ministry, offering a living window into the birth and early character of the denomination.

Along the way, he recounts the coalition meetings and convictions that led to 1973 and speaks candidly about the competing narratives many in the PCA feel today. McGowan argues that the PCA was formed as a broad evangelical and Reformed “big tent,” anchored in the authority of Scripture and energized by the Great Commission—evangelism, missions, and church planting—while resisting both doctrinal drift and a narrow, combative sectarianism. His reflections raise urgent questions about what truly animates the church, how we speak to one another, and what it would look like to pursue unity and mission with conviction, courage, and charity.

Derek Radney: Derek grew up in San Diego, CA and Austin, TX. In 2005, he married Sally, and they have four children. He has served as a pastor at Trinity Church (PCA) in Winston-Salem, NC since 2012. He received a B.A. in philosophy from Wake Forest University (’04), an M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (’07), and a Th.M. from Duke Divinity School (’12).

Charles McGowan is a retired Senior Pastor with nearly fifty years of ministry experience. He believes God has called him to use his extensive ecumenical network, decades of pastoral leadership, and deep love for the Kingdom of God to help churches discern and call the right pastor. A graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary, he served in the U.S. Army and the Office of Naval Intelligence as a Special Agent in counterintelligence, pastored churches in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee, served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, and is now a senior advisor with the McGowan Global Institute.