the pca is generally less theologically conservative than the orthodox presbyterian church (opc, founded in 1936), but more conservative than the evangelical presbyterian church (epc, founded in 1981) and the covenant order of evangelical presbyterians (eco, founded in 2012), though the differences can vary from presbytery to presbytery and even congregation to congregation. the pca, as mentioned above, will not ordain women as teaching elders (pastors), ruling elders, or deacons, while the epc considers this issue a "non-essential" matter left to the individual ordaining body, and eco fully embraces women's ordination. however, there is an increasingly strong movement in the pca to allow ordination of women as deacons including overtures in the general assembly. a number of pca churches are known to have non-ordained women deacons and deaconesses. the epc is also more tolerant of the charismatic movement than the pca. however, there is a strong new calvinist movement in the pca that practices contemporary music, adheres to a continuationist position on the gifts of the holy spirit, and engages in civil dialogue with differing theological views. this is not surprising since pca has issued, from its inception, a pastoral letter to all the pca churches to tolerate the charismatics within its ranks.