in 1982, the pca merged with the reformed presbyterian church, evangelical synod (rpces), with 25,673 communicant members and 482 ministers in 189 congregations in the united states as well as in a few canadian provinces. discussions had begun in 1979 with the reformed presbyterian church, evangelical synod, which had itself come about due to a merger between the evangelical presbyterian church (formerly the bible presbyterian church - columbus synod and not the current denomination of the same name) and the reformed presbyterian church, general synod (a group of "new light" covenanters). the rpces brought to the pca a more broadly national base of membership with a denominational college, covenant college, and a seminary, covenant theological seminary. previously, the pca had relied on independent evangelical institutions such as reformed theological seminary in jackson, mississippi and westminster theological seminary in philadelphia, pennsylvania.