title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA had originally invited three denominations to the merger, including the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA). The OPC voted to accept the invitation to join the PCA, but the PCA voted against receiving them. The PCA presbyteries did not approve the application by the required three-quarters majority, and so the proposed invitation process was terminated without the OPC presbyteries voting on the issue. The RPCES was the only church to carry through with the merger. The merger was called "Joining and Receiving." When a sufficient number of RPCES and PCA presbyteries voted in favor of the plan, the final votes occurred at the respective annual meetings, both held in Grand Rapids, Michigan: the RPCES Synod voted to join the PCA on June 12, 1982, and the PCA General Assembly voted to receive the RPCES on June 14. The Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod agencies and committees were united with their PCA counterparts. The history and historical documents of the RPCES were incorporated into the PCA. Graduates from Covenant College and Seminary were also officially recognized.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The move reflected a rare phenomenon in American Protestantism of two conservative denominations merging, an occurrence that was far more common among mainline, moderate-to-liberal bodies in the 20th century (such as the UPCUSA/PCUS reunion). In 1982 the RPCES had 25,718 communicant members in 187 congregations served by 400 pastors. The PCA had 519 churches, 91,060 communicant members, and 480 pastors. After the merger the PCA membership was 706 churches, 116,788 communicant members, and 1,276 teaching elders.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: In 1986 the PCA again invited the Orthodox Presbyterian Church to join them, but without success. Not everyone agreed with the decision. In the four years after 1986, there was a voluntary realignment as congregations left the OPC for the PCA, mainly from California, Montana and Pennsylvania, but also from as far as Alaska.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: By the 1970s, the OPC had grown a new ‘pietist/revivalist’ wing under the influence of Jack Miller. According to Tim Keller, the New Life Churches and their Sonship course represented classic revivalism, and it did not fit well with the more doctrinalist cast of the OPC. The New Life Churches were made to feel unwelcome and nearly all left in the early 1990s to swell the pietist ranks of the PCA.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: In 1983 several PCUS churches had joined the PCA, instead of merging with the UPCUSA into the current PC (U.S.A.); others joined the recently formed Evangelical Presbyterian Church, unrelated to the 1950s and 1960s body of that name.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: A clause in the Plan of Union between the two mainline bodies allowed dissenting PCUS congregations to refrain from joining the merger and to join a denomination of their choosing.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA Historical Center, a repository of archives and manuscripts, is located in St. Louis, Missouri.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA is one of the denominations in the United States, with some 1,700 churches and missions throughout the US and Canada. There were some 335,000 communicant and non-communicant members as of December 2000.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: In 2004 the former PC(USA) member First Presbyterian Church in Charleston, MS voted to join the PCA rather than the EPC, which allows women as church officers. Hospers Presbyterian Church in Hospers, Iowa was also PC(USA), joined the PCA in November 2006. Park Cities Presbyterian Church was formed when about 1,500–2,000 former Highland Park Presbyterian Church (Dallas, Texas) member separated from the PC(USA) and joined PCA.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: In 2013 and 2014 a few disappointed conservative PC(USA) congregations from New York state and from the Presbytery of Sheppards & Lapsley (Unity Presbyterian in Weogufka, AL, and Southwood Presbyterian in Talladega, AL) in the state of Alabama and Smyrna Korean Presbyterian Church in Enterprise, AL joined the Presbyterian Church in America instead of ECO or EPC, which have women ministers. Several PC(USA) breakaway groups like New Covenant Presbyterian Church in McComb, MS which broke from J.J. White Memorial Presbyterian Church in 2007, and First Scot's Presbyterian Church, PCA in Beaufort, South Carolina (formerly First Scots Independent Presbyterian Church) voted to affiliate with the PCA. As well as several independent Anglo and till now unaffiliated Korean Presbyterian churches like Greater Springfield Korean Church in Agawam, Massachusetts.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: According to the PC(USA) statistics 7 PC(USA) congregations with 550 members joined PCA, excluded the seceder groups since 2005.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: Doctrinal debate in the Reformed Church in America led some RCA congregations like Grace Reformed Church in Lansing, Illinois (Pastor Andy Nearpass), the Peace Community Church from Frankfort, IL (Rev. Dr. Kurt Kruger), Crete Reformed Church in Crete, IL (Pastor David Smith), First Reformed Church in Lansing, IL (Pastor Ben Kappers), Mission Dei Church in New Lenox, Illinois (Pastor Paul Vroom) and University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan (Pastor Kevin DeYoung) to join the PCA as a conservative alternative.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The three main issues were RCA position on homosexuality, the adoption of the Belhar Confession and complementarianism. Beyond the three reasons University Reformed Church mentioned:


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: Each of the churches was allowed to withdraw with their respective properties and assets after paying a varying settlement fee to the Illiana-Florida Classis. But if a church should withdraw from the PCA within five years of the approval of the agreement, then the property is to revert to the Classis of Illiana-Florida. the University Reformed Church was also granted dismissal by the RCA Classis on March 21, 2015.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: Kevin DeYoung the pastor of University Reformed Church summarized the reasons of withdrawing from the Reformed Church in America and affiliate with the PCA:


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA includes representation from all the historic Calvinist branches of Presbyterianism. The PCA's founding churches came out of the Southern Presbyterian church, which included revivalists, Old Siders, classic ‘Princeton’ Old Schoolers, conservative New Schoolers, and others. In 1982, the PCA merged with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, which itself was the product of a union between the ‘New Light’(New Side) Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod, and parts of the Bible Presbyterian church (the pietistic New School). In addition, many evangelical congregations that had lived within the mainline Presbyterian churches, both north and south, left as individual churches and joined the PCA. In short, the PCA has been formed with churches and leaders from many different branches—Old School, Old Side, New School.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The Presbyterian Church in America motto is "Faithful to the Scriptures, True to the Reformed faith, Obedient to the great commission of Jesus Christ." The PCA professes adherence to the historic confessional standards of Presbyterianism: the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and the Westminster Larger Catechism. These secondary documents are viewed as subordinate to the Bible, which alone is viewed as the inspired Word of God.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: "True to the Reformed Faith:" https://www.pcaac.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/PCA-Clerks-of-Session-Handbook.pdf


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: As might be expected given Presbyterianism's historically high esteem for education, the PCA has generally valued academic exploration more highly than revivalist traditions of evangelicalism. Apologetics in general and presuppositional apologetics has been a defining feature with many of its theologians and higher-ranking clergy, and many also practice "cultural apologetics" by engaging with and participating in secular cultural activities such as film, music, literature, and art to win them for Christ.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: Additionally, the PCA emphasizes ministries of mercy such as outreach to the poor, the elderly, orphans, American Indians, people with physical and mental disabilities, refugees, etc. As a result, the denomination has held several national conferences to help equip members to participate in this type of work, and several PCA affiliates such as Desire Street Ministries, New City Fellowship, and New Song Fellowship have received national attention for their service to the community at large.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA is anti-abortion and opposes euthanasia, according to the official statement adopted at the 16th General Assembly in 1988: "Euthanasia, or "mercy-killing" of a patient by a physician or by anyone else, including the patient himself (suicide) is murder. To withhold or to withdraw medical treatment, as is being discussed here, does not constitute euthanasia and should not be placed into the same category with it."


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA takes the following position on homosexuality: "Homosexual practice is sin. The Bible teaches that all particular sins flow from our rebellious disposition of heart. Just as with any other sin, the PCA deals with people in a pastoral way, seeking to transform their lifestyle through the power of the gospel as applied by the Holy Spirit. Hence, in condemning homosexual practice we claim no self-righteousness, but recognize that any and all sin is equally heinous in the sight of a holy God." The PCA officially opposes same-sex marriage. However, according to the Pew Forum study conducted in 2014, about 50% of the members believe that homosexuality should be accepted and 40% same-sex marriage. Roy Taylor, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PCA, has said that the PCA "believes that, from creation, God ordained the marriage covenant to be a bond between one man and one woman" and that "divinely sanctioned standard for sexual activity is fidelity within a marriage between one man and one woman or chastity outside of such a marriage. Throughout history, there has often been a conflict between the unchanging standards of biblical ethics that the Church seeks to maintain and the changing social practices of the culture." In 2020, the PCA's Committee Report on Human Sexuality concluded that it is generally unwise for Christians to identify themselves as gay Christian even if they abstain from homosexual activities due to homoerotic desires being sinful in nature. Furthermore, the PCA officially affirmed the Nashville Statement at their annual General Assembly in 2019.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: However, the denomination has had mixed statements concerning the ordination of celibate or non-practicing gay men. A 1977 statement of the General Assembly had restricted from ministry only "practicing homosexuals"—as opposed to non-practicing. That precedent has since been called into question. Between 2018 and 2021, denominational conservatives lobbied for a series of investigations and a judicial case against celibate PCA pastor Greg Johnson on account of his 2019 admission in Christianity Today that, as a gay atheist who converted to Christianity in college, his sexual orientation had nevertheless never changed. Critics sought Johnson's removal for identifying as a gay or same-sex attracted man and for arguing against Sexual orientation change efforts as ineffective. Johnson requested investigation by his regional presbytery, which exonerated him in 2019 and again in 2020. In 2020, Johnson's exoneration was appealed to the denomination's Standing Judicial Commission. On October 22, 2021, that denominational court ruled in Johnson's favor by a vote of 16 to 7. While Johnson has stated that he has never been sexually active, significant opposition to Johnson's openness about his sexual orientation led the denomination's General Assembly in 2021 to propose changes to its constitution to prevent other celibate nonstraight people from ordination to ministry in the PCA.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: In 2014, in response to media confusion between the PCA and the PCUSA, the stated clerk's office issued the following:


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA is more socially and theologically conservative than the PC(USA). The PCA requires ordained pastors and elders to subscribe to the theological doctrines detailed in the Westminster Standards, with only minor exceptions allowed, while the PC(USA)'s Book of Confessions allows much more leeway. The PCA ordains only men who profess traditional marriage, while the PC(USA) allows the ordination of both women and (in certain Presbyteries) non-celibate gays and lesbians as clergy. Like the PC(USA), however, the PCA accommodates different views of creation. The PCA strives for racial reconciliation. The PCA is unilaterally anti-abortion, believing life begins at conception. Unlike the PC(USA), the PCA has no ecumenical relationship with organizations which accept denominations that they perceive to have strayed from orthodoxy, such as the World Council of Churches or World Communion of Reformed Churches. Due to problems related to church property when splitting from the PC(USA), in the PCA all church buildings belong to the local church, which gives the PCA a slightly more congregational church structure than most other Presbyterian structures.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: 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.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA has little doctrinal quarrel with the OPC. Both denominations have similar views on the Federal Vision, creation and justification. While most OPC congregations allow women only to teach children and other women in Sunday school, some moderate PCA congregations allow women to do anything a non-ordained man can do. While the OPC and the PCA both adhere to the Westminster Standards, the OPC is generally more strict in requiring its officers to subscribe to those standards without exception. It is hard to find any doctrinal differences between these two denominations. In recent years the OPC and PCA published substantial similar reports on the Creation Days, the debate about Justification and the issue of the Federal Vision. They have identical positions on social issues like women in combat, Freemasonry and abortion. The only divergence of any significance is the matter of charismatic gifts. The OPC maintains a strict cessationist position, while the PCA allows presbyteries to ordain non-cessationists if they do not believe that ongoing gifts are on par with Special Revelation. Many PCA churches have moved toward contemporary worship, while the OPC is dominated by traditional Reformed worship. The southern roots of the Presbyterian Church in America were tempered somewhat by the merger with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod and the northern roots of the OPC was also tempered by the influence of Van Til and Kuyper. Nonetheless, the two denominations enjoy fraternal relations and cooperate in a number of ways, such as sharing control of a publication company, Great Commission Publications, which produces Sunday School curricula for both denominations.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA maintains the presbyterian church government set forth in its Book of Church Order. Local church officers include teaching elders, ruling elders and deacons. The BCO is based on the PCUS Book of Church Order declared it in force on May 19, 1879. The distinction between pastors and elders in the PCA is a mixture of two traditions. The PCA holds to a quasi-parity of pastors and elders (named Ruling and Teaching Elders; REs and TEs for short), where Ruling and Teaching Elders have the same voting rights in the courts of the church and can participate in each other's examinations and ordinations, yet there are certain and definite ways that TEs and REs are distinct. Pastors have deference as moderators of local church Sessions. Only Pastors may administer the sacraments and ordinarily only pastors may preach (REs must be licensed by a presbytery if they wish to preach regularly). Also, REs are members of their local churches, while pastors are members of their presbyteries and not members of the local churches they serve. While this 2.5 office view is the consensus of the PCA, many would hold to a more Northern three-office view and others would hold to a more Southern two-office view. Church government is exercised at three levels: the Session, which governs the local church; the Presbytery, a regional governing body, and the General Assembly, the highest court of the denomination. The PCA is committed to a principle of voluntary association and all PCA congregations own their own property. Additionally all giving to the administration and permanent committees of the PCA is voluntary. The PCA does not have Synods, which some other groups have either as the highest court or as an intermediate court between presbyteries and the general assembly.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: In 1995, the PCA was described as one of the fastest-growing denominations in the United States, having experienced steady growth since its founding in 1973. In 2009, the PCA reported "a net loss in members for the first time." In 2016, the denomination reported growth over a five-year period. From 2017 to 2021, the PCA reported having 374,736 in 2017, 384,793 in 2018, 383,721 in 2019, 383,721 in 2020, and 378,389 in 2021.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: As of December 31, 2011, the Presbyterian Church in America had 1,771 churches (includes established churches and new church plants) representing all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 5 Canadian provinces.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: There were 351,406 communicant and non-communicant members. The PCA has 83 presbyteries or regional governing bodies. The latest formed in January 2014.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: In 2012 the PCA had 1,777 congregations – 1,474 particular and 303 mission churches – that means a net increase of 6, membership developed by 12,613 total of 364,019. The number of ordained PCA ministers are 4,321.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: Less than 50% of the PCA churches send statistical report, and the stated supply believes the membership of the PCA experienced modest growth.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA is one of the most diverse Protestant denominations in the US with about 20% non-white members.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: More than 250 churches of the denomination are ethnic Korean churches with 9 non-geographical Korean language presbyteries, which is about 15% of the total.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA has grown tenfold in thirty years. This was partly the result of the union with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod and the voluntary realignment of some Orthodox Presbyterian Churches.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: For example, in Georgia the PCA has 14 congregations and 2,784 member in 1973, but in 2006 there were 93 congregations and 22,000 members. In 2015 there were about 150 congregations. This is more than tenfold growth of the denomination in the Peach State.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA is among the top 5 denominations that are most aggressive in church planting in North America.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The greatest concentration is in the states of the Deep South, with more scattered strength in the Upper South, the upper Ohio Valley, and the Southwest. Two-thirds of PCA churches and members are found in the Southeast, and 25 churches are in the Metro Atlanta area.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The state of Florida has the most PCA churches with more than 160 congregations, but Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas in the South and Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia on the East Coast remain strongholds for the denomination. In the five southeastern US States (Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia) the PCA had 742 congregations, making up more than one third of the total 1,771 churches. Mississippi has the highest percentage of adherents per 1,000 people, followed by Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Delaware, and Georgia. Numerous mega churches can be found in the American South and East as well as in Illinois, but the largest and the second largest churches in the denomination are Korean churches. A Korean congregation, Sarang Community Church of Southern California in Anaheim, CA, is the biggest congregation in the denomination with as many as 11,000 members.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: When the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod merged with the PCA, Canadian congregations entered the union. Since the merger, other congregations have been added through evangelism. Canadian churches report that ""secularism and unbelief provide an opportunity to evangelism"". There are more than 22 congregations in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The Potomac Presbytery proposed to elect a provisional presbytery in the Latin American county of Paraguay with 4–5 congregations and church plants in Asunción and the nearby cities. The Presbytery worked in the country for 15–20 years. The goal is to establish a National Presbyterian Church in Paraguay.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The membership of the PCA is predominantly Caucasian (80%), but the denomination includes more than 260 Korean-American Churches in 9 Korean Presbyteries. The first Korean Presbytery was formed in 1982; since then the number of presbyteries has grown to 9, namely the Korean Capital Presbytery, the Korean Central Presbytery, the Korean Eastern Presbytery, the Korean Northeastern Presbytery, the Korean Northwest Presbytery, the Korean Southeastern Presbytery, the Korean Southern Presbytery and the Korean Southwest Presbytery, and the recently formed Korean Southwest Orange County Presbytery.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: Korean PCA churches have contributed significantly to the denominational leadership and the church at large. In 2013, Michael Oh was appointed CEO of Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. In 2014, Lloyd Kim was appointed coordinator of Mission to the World. In 2017, PCA elected its first non-Anglo moderator, Alexander Jun. The same year, Joel Kim was appointed as president of Westminster Seminary California. In 2019, Walter Kim was elected president of National Association of Evangelicals and in 2020, Julius Kim was selected as president of The Gospel Coalition.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: Koreans comprise approximately 15% of the denomination, and the majority of them are located in the West coast and Northeast regions. In recent years several independent Korean congregations have joined the PCA to be a part of a conservative Presbyterian denomination. The largest PCA church is a Korean church located in Anaheim, CA called Sarang Community Church of Southern California and the second largest, Korean Central Presbyterian Church in Centreville, Virginia. All the Korean churches in the PCA appoint non-ordained deaconesses and women encouragers (Kwonsa) who are elected and installed so that women can care for other women in the church. Such has been the practice of all Korean Presbyterian churches since its inception which is practiced across denominational boundaries.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: There are about 40 Hispanic American PCA churches in Alabama, Florida, California, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and also in Virginia.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: Approximately 15 Brazilian or Portuguese-speaking congregations was affiliated with the denomination in 2011, mainly in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Georgia, New Jersey and Florida.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: Several multi-ethnic African American, Haitian, Japanese, Nepali, Albanian, Indian, Sudanese, Indonesian Russian ethnic churches belong to the Presbyterian Church in America and the denomination begun to build relationship with the First Nations/Native American groups in the United States and Canada.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA has congregations outside North America. These International congregations can be found in the Grand Cayman Island, in Okinawa, Japan, South Korea, Prague and various cities (Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart and Munich) in Germany.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: Additionally, the denomination has its own agency for sending missionaries around the world (Mission to the World)(MTW). Through Mission to the World well over 600 foreign missionaries are working in about 60 nations. Mission to North America serves PCA churches and presbyteries through the development of evangelism and church planting in Canada and the USA. An average of 3 new churches are planted in a month in the 2 nations and currently has more than 300 mission churches in the United States alone. More than 40% of all congregations are less than 25 years old, due to church planting. The PCA puts into the field the world's largest Presbyterian mission force after that of the Global Missions Society of the Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong) with over 2,500 missionaries.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA church planters must raise their own support and the denomination turned to the use of church planting networks of like-minded churches to found church planters. The PCA frequently use the evangelist model of starting a new church where the evangelist under the oversight of the Presbyteries home missions committee has the power of the sessions in his own person.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: Further, there are more than 100 chaplains in the military, hospitals, prisons and 45 college and university campus ministers. The church has high emphasis on education.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA has its own ministry to students on college campuses, the Reformed University Fellowship, its own camp and conference center, the Ridge Haven Conference and Retreat Center (Ridge Haven in Brevard, North Carolina), and its own liberal arts college (Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, near Chattanooga, Tennessee) and seminary (Covenant Theological Seminary in Saint Louis, Missouri). Covenant Theological Seminary is a fully accredited theological institution that offers several academic degrees: Master of Divinity, Master of Arts, Master of Theology and Doctor of Ministry. The Seminary is home to the Francis Schaeffer Institute.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The church maintains headquarters in Lawrenceville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. The site was once the headquarters of the PCUS, but all offices of the united PC(USA) were moved to Louisville, Kentucky in 1988.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA Ministry Buildings in Lawrenceville is the location from which the ministries of the denomination are coordinated. These ministries are Mission to the World, Mission to North America, Christian Education and Publications, Administrative Committee and Reformed University Fellowship (RUF).


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: In 1975, the PCA joined the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA), Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod (RPCES) and Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) in becoming charter members of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC), which it remains a part of.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The PCA is also part of the World Reformed Fellowship, a worldwide organisation of Churches where about 70 Reformed, Presbyterian and Reformed Baptist, Anglican denominations, as well as congregations and individuals can also participate.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: It is currently a member of the National Association of Evangelicals, but voted on June 22, 2022 to leave the organization.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: The Presbyterian Church in America enjoys fraternal relations with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In 2008 the Presbyterian Church of Brazil and the Presbyterian Church in America entered into full fraternal relationship with each other. The National Presbyterian Church in Mexico and the PCA also work together in missions and evangelizing. In 2012 at the PCA 41st General Assembly the Presbyterian Church in America and the National Presbyterian Church in Mexico entered into an assembly level ecclesiastical relationship.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: In 1994 The Fellowship of Reformed Churches was formed and was a product of the dialogue between the PCA, the Presbyterian Church in Brazil and the National Presbyterian Church in Mexico. They decided to invite other Latin American Reformed Churches to join the Fellowship.


title: Presbyterian Church in America

text: PCA missionaries have helped found the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ukraine, the Christian Presbyterian Church in Portugal, the Evangelical Presbyterian Reformed Church in Colombia, the Presbyterian Church in America, Chile, the Africa Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the Westminster Presbyterian Church of Australia.


title: Asturian language

text: Asturian (; ,<ref name="bable/asturiano">Art. 1 de la [https://www.boe.es/eli/es-as/l/1998/03/23/1 Ley 1/1998, de 23 de marzo, de uso y promoción del bable/asturiano <nowiki>[Law 1/93, of March 23, on the Use and Promotion of the Asturian Language]</nowiki>] </ref> formerly also known as ) is a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Principality of Asturias, Spain. Asturian is part of a wider linguistic group, the Asturleonese languages. The number of speakers is estimated at 100,000 (native) and 450,000 (second language). The dialects of the Astur-Leonese language family are traditionally classified in three groups: Western, Central, and Eastern. For historical and demographic reasons, the standard is based on Central Asturian. Asturian has a distinct grammar, dictionary, and orthography. It is regulated by the Academy of the Asturian Language. Although it is not an official language of Spain it is protected under the Statute of Autonomy of Asturias and is an elective language in schools. For much of its history, the language has been ignored or "subjected to repeated challenges to its status as a language variety" due to its lack of official status.


title: Asturian language

text: Asturian is the historical language of Asturias, portions of the Spanish provinces of León and Zamora and the area surrounding Miranda do Douro in northeastern Portugal. Like the other Romance languages of the Iberian peninsula, it evolved from Vulgar Latin during the early Middle Ages. Asturian was closely linked with the Kingdom of Asturias (718–910) and the ensuing Leonese kingdom. The language had contributions from pre-Roman languages spoken by the Astures, an Iberian Celtic tribe, and the post-Roman Germanic languages of the Visigoths and Suevi.


title: Asturian language

text: The transition from Latin to Asturian was slow and gradual; for a long time they co-existed in a diglossic relationship, first in the Kingdom of Asturias and later in that of Asturias and Leon. During the 12th, 13th and part of the 14th centuries Astur-Leonese was used in the kingdom's official documents, with many examples of agreements, donations, wills and commercial contracts from that period onwards. Although there are no extant literary works written in Asturian from this period, some books (such as the and the 1155 ) had Asturian sources.


title: Asturian language

text: Castilian Spanish arrived in the area during the 14th century, when the central administration sent emissaries and functionaries to political and ecclesiastical offices. Asturian codification of the Astur-Leonese spoken in the Asturian Autonomous Community became a modern language with the founding of the Academy of the Asturian Language () in 1980. The Leonese dialects and Mirandese are linguistically close to Asturian.


title: Asturian language

text: Efforts have been made since the end of the Francoist period in 1975 to protect and promote Asturian. In 1994 there were 100,000 native speakers and 450,000 second-language speakers able to speak (or understand) Asturian. However, the language is endangered: there has been a steep decline in the number of speakers over the last century. Law 1/93 of 23 March 1993 on the Use and Promotion of the Asturian Language addressed the issue, and according to article four of the Asturias Statute of Autonomy: "The Asturian language will enjoy protection. Its use, teaching and diffusion in the media will be furthered, whilst its local dialects and voluntary apprenticeship will always be respected.”


title: Asturian language

text: However, Asturian is in a legally hazy position. The Spanish Constitution has not been fully applied regarding the official recognition of languages in the autonomous communities. The ambiguity of the Statute of Autonomy, which recognises the existence of Asturian but does not give it the same status as Spanish, leaves the door open to benign neglect. However, since 1 August 2001 Asturian has been covered under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages' "safeguard and promote" clause.


title: Asturian language

text: A 1983 survey indicated 100,000 native Asturian speakers (12 percent of the Asturian population) and 250,000 who could speak or understand Asturian as a second language. A similar survey in 1991 found that 44 percent of the population (about 450,000 people) could speak Asturian, with from 60,000 to 80,000 able to read and write it. An additional 24 percent of the Asturian population said that they understood the language, making a total of about 68 percent of the Asturian population.


title: Asturian language

text: At the end of the 20th century the Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (Academy of the Asturian Language) attempted to provide the language with tools needed to promote its survival: a grammar, a dictionary and periodicals. In addition a new generation of Asturian writers has championed the language. In 2021 the first complete translation of the Bible into Asturian was published.


title: Asturian language

text: Although some 10th-century documents have the linguistic features of Asturian, numerous examples (such as writings by notaries, contracts and wills) begin in the 13th century. Early examples are the 1085 "Fuero de Avilés" (the oldest parchment preserved in Asturias) and the 13th-century "Fuero de Oviedo" and the Leonese version of the "Fueru Xulgu".


title: Asturian language

text: The 13th-century documents were the laws for towns, cities and the general population. By the second half of the 16th century, documents were written in Castilian, backed by the Trastámara dynasty and making the civil and ecclesiastical arms of the principality Castilian. Although the Asturian language disappeared from written texts during the "sieglos escuros" (dark centuries), it survived orally. The only written mention during this time is from a 1555 work by Hernán Núñez about proverbs and adages: " ... in a large copy of rare languages, as Portuguese, Galician, Asturian, Catalan, Valencian, French, Tuscan ... ".


title: Asturian language

text: Modern Asturian literature began in 1605 with the clergyman Antón González Reguera and continued until the 18th century (when it produced, according to Ruiz de la Peña in 1981, a literature comparable to that in Asturias in Castilian). In 1744, Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos wrote about the historic and cultural value of Asturian, urging the compilation of a dictionary and a grammar and the creation of a language academy. Notable writers included Francisco Bernaldo de Quirós Benavides (1675), Xosefa Xovellanos (1745), Xuan González Villar y Fuertes (1746), Xosé Caveda y Nava (1796), Xuan María Acebal (1815), Teodoro Cuesta (1829), Xosé Benigno García González, Marcos del Torniello (1853), Bernardo Acevedo y Huelves (1849), Pin de Pría (1864), Galo Fernández and Fernán Coronas (1884).


title: Asturian language

text: In 1974, a movement for the language's acceptance and use began in Asturias. Based on ideas of the Asturian association Conceyu Bable about Asturian language and culture, a plan was developed for the acceptance and modernization of the language that led to the 1980 creation of the Academy of the Asturian Language with the approval of the Asturias regional council.


title: Asturian language

text: "El Surdimientu" (the Awakening) authors such as Manuel Asur "(Cancios y poemes pa un riscar)", Xuan Bello "(El llibru vieyu)", Adolfo Camilo Díaz "(Añada pa un güeyu muertu)", Pablo Antón Marín Estrada "(Les hores)", Xandru Fernández "(Les ruines)", Lourdes Álvarez, Martín López-Vega, Miguel Rojo and Lluis Antón González broke from the Asturian-Leonese tradition of rural themes, moral messages and dialogue-style writing. Currently, the Asturian language has about 150 annual publications. The Bible into the Asturian language was completed in 2021 after over 30 years of translation work, beginning in September 1988.


title: Asturian language

text: Astur-Leonese's geographic area exceeds Asturias, and that the language known as Leonese in the autonomous community of Castile and León is basically the same as the Asturian spoken in Asturias. The Asturian-Leonese linguistic domain covers most of the principality of Asturias, the northern and western province of León, the northeastern province of Zamora (both in Castile and León), western Cantabria and the Miranda do Douro region in the eastern Bragança District of Portugal.


title: Asturian language

text: Traditional, popular place names of the principality's towns are supported by the law on usage of Asturian, the principality's 2003–07 plan for establishing the language and the work of the "Xunta Asesora de Toponimia", which researches and confirms the Asturian names of requesting villages, towns, "conceyos" and cities (50 of 78 "conceyos" as of 2012).


title: Asturian language

text: Asturian has several dialects. They are regulated by the Academia de la Llingua Asturiana and mainly spoken in Asturias (except in the west, where Galician-Asturian is spoken). The dialect spoken in the adjoining area of Castile and León is known as Leonese. Asturian is traditionally divided into three dialectal areas, sharing traits with the dialect spoken in León: western, central and eastern. The dialects are mutually intelligible. Central Asturian, with the most speakers (more than 80 percent), is the basis for standard Asturian. The first Asturian grammar was published in 1998 and the first dictionary in 2000.


title: Asturian language

text: Western Asturian is spoken between the rivers Navia and Nalón, in the west of the province of León (where it is known as Leonese) and in the provinces of Zamora and Salamanca. Feminine plurals end in "-as"


title: Asturian language

text: Central Asturian is spoken between the Sella River and the mouth of the River Nalón in Asturias and north of León. The model for the written language, it is characterized by feminine plurals ending in "-es", the monophthongization of and into and and the neuter gender in adjectives modifying uncountable nouns ("lleche frío", "carne tienro").


title: Asturian language

text: Eastern Asturian is spoken between the River Sella, Llanes and Cabrales. The dialect is characterized by the debuccalization of word-initial to , written ("ḥoguera", "ḥacer", "ḥigos" and "ḥornu" instead of "foguera", "facer", "figos" and "fornu"; feminine plurals ending in "-as" ("ḥabas", "ḥormigas", "ḥiyas", except in eastern towns, where "-es" is kept: "ḥabes", "ḥormigues", "ḥiyes"); the shifting of word-final "-e" to "-i" ("xenti", "tardi", "ḥuenti"); retention of the neutral gender in some areas, with the ending "-u" instead of "-o" ("agua friu", "xenti güenu", "ropa tendíu", "carne guisáu"), and a distinction between direct and indirect objects in first- and second-person singular pronouns (direct "me" and "te" v. indirect "mi" and "ti") in some municipalities bordering the Sella: "busquéte (a ti) y alcontréte/busquéti les llaves y alcontrétiles", "llévame (a mi) la fesoria en carru".


title: Asturian language

text: Asturian forms a dialect continuum with Cantabrian in the east and Eonavian in the west. While this dialect continuum is for the most part smooth, a number of isoglosses cluster together parallel to the River Purón, linking the dialects of eastern Llanes, Ribadedeva, Peñamellera Alta, and Peñamellera Baja with those of Cantabria and separating them from the rest of Asturias. Cantabrian was listed in the 2009 UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. The inclusion of Eonavian (spoken in western Asturias, bordering Galicia) in the Galician language is controversial, since it has traits in common with western Asturian.


title: Asturian language

text: Asturian is one of the Astur-Leonese languages which form part of the Iberian Romance languages, close to Galician-Portuguese and Castilian and further removed from Navarro-Aragonese. It is an inflecting, fusional, head-initial and dependent-marking language. Its word order is subject–verb–object (in declarative sentences without topicalization).


title: Asturian language

text: Asturian distinguishes five vowel phonemes (these same ones are found in Spanish, Aragonese, Sardinian and Basque), according to three degrees of vowel openness (close, mid and open) and backness (front, central and back). Many Asturian dialects have a system of metaphony.


title: Asturian language

text: Asturian has always been written in the Latin alphabet. Although the Academia de la Llingua Asturiana published orthographic rules in 1981, different spelling rules are used in Terra de Miranda (Portugal).


title: Asturian language

text: Asturian orthography is based on a five-vowel system (), with three aperture degrees. It has the following consonants: . The phenomenon of "-u" metaphony is uncommon, as are decrescent diphthongs (, usually in the west). Although they can be written, "ḷḷ" ("che vaqueira", formerly represented as ""ts"") and the eastern "ḥ" aspiration (also represented as ""h."" and corresponding to "ll" and "f") are absent from this model. Asturian has triple gender distinction in the adjective, feminine plurals with "-es", verb endings with "-es, -en, -íes, íen" and lacks compound tenses (or periphrasis constructed with ""tener"").


title: Asturian language

text: The letter "h" and the digraph "ll" can have their sound changed to represent dialectal pronunciation by under-dotting the letters, resulting in "ḥ" and "digraph ḷḷ"


title: Asturian language

text: Asturian grammar is similar to that of other Romance languages. Nouns have three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter), two numbers (singular and plural) and no cases. Adjectives may have a third, neuter gender, a phenomenon known as matter-neutrality. Verbs agree with their subjects in person (first, second, or third) and number, and are conjugated to indicate mood (indicative, subjunctive, conditional or imperative; some others include "potential" in place of future and conditional), tense (often present or past; different moods allow different tenses), and aspect (perfective or imperfective).


title: Asturian language

text: Adjectives are modified by gender. Most adjectives have three endings: "-u" (masculine), "-a" (feminine) and "-o" (neuter): "El vasu ta fríu" (the glass is cold), "tengo la mano fría" (my hand is cold), "l’agua ta frío" (the water is cold)


title: Asturian language

text: Neuter nouns are abstract, collective and uncountable nouns. They have no plural, except when they are used metaphorically or concretised and lose this gender: "les agües tán fríes" (Waters are cold). "Tien el pelo roxo" (He has red hair) is neuter, but "Tien un pelu roxu" (He has "a" red hair) is masculine; note the noun's change in ending.


title: Asturian language

text: Only before words beginning with "a-": "l’aigla" (the eagle), "l’alma" (the soul). Compare "la entrada" (the entry) and "la islla" (the island).


title: Asturian language

text: The Academy of the Asturian Language has published a grammar describing the Asturian language. It is a comprehensive manual that can be used in schools to facilitate learning.


title: Asturian language

text: Additionally, a translator that can translate English, French, Portuguese and Italian, among a few other languages, into Asturian and vice versa is offered online. This software is funded and maintained by members of the University of Oviedo.


title: Asturian language

text: As with other Romance languages, most Asturian words come from Latin: "ablana, agua, falar, güeyu, home, llibru, muyer, pesllar, pexe, prau, suañar". In addition to this Latin basis are words which entered Asturian from languages spoken before the arrival of Latin (its substratum), afterwards (its superstratum) and loanwords from other languages.


title: Asturian language

text: Although little is known about the language of the ancient Astures, it may have been related to two Indo-European languages: Celtic and Lusitanian. Words from this language and the pre–Indo-European languages spoken in the region are known as the prelatinian substratum; examples include "bedul, boroña, brincar, bruxa, cándanu, cantu, carrascu, comba, cuetu, güelga, llamuerga, llastra, llócara, matu, peñera, riega, tapín" and "zucar". Many Celtic words (such as "bragues, camisa, carru, cerveza" and "sayu") were integrated into Latin and, later, into Asturian.


title: Asturian language

text: Asturian's superstratum consists primarily of Germanisms and Arabisms. The Germanic peoples in the Iberian Peninsula, especially the Visigoths and the Suevi, added words such as "blancu, esquila, estaca, mofu, serón, espetar, gadañu" and "tosquilar". Arabisms could reach Asturian directly, through contacts with Arabs or al-Andalus, or through the Castilian language. Examples include "acebache, alfaya, altafarra, bañal, ferre, galbana, mandil, safase, xabalín, zuna" and "zucre".


title: Asturian language

text: Asturian has also received much of its lexicon from other languages, such as Spanish, French, Occitan and Galician. In number of loanwords, Spanish leads the list. However, due to the close relationship between Castilian and Asturian, it is often unclear if a word is borrowed from Castilian, common to both languages from Latin, or a loanword from Asturian to Castilian. Some Castilian forms in Asturian are:


title: Asturian language

text: Although Spanish is the official language of all schools in Asturias, in many schools children are allowed to take Asturian-language classes from age 6 to 16. Elective classes are also offered from 16 to 19. Central Asturias (Nalón and Caudal comarcas) has the largest percentage of Asturian-language students, with almost 80 percent of primary-school students and 30 percent of secondary-school students in Asturian classes. Xixón, Uviéu, Eo-Navia and Oriente also have an increased number of students.


title: Asturian language

text: According to article six of the University of Oviedo charter, "The Asturian language will be the object of study, teaching and research in the corresponding fields. Likewise, its use will have the treatment established by the Statute of Autonomy and complementary legislation, guaranteeing non-discrimination of those who use it."


title: Asturian language

text: University records indicate an increased number of courses and amount of scientific work using Asturian, with courses in the Department of Philology and Educational Sciences. In accordance with the Bologna Process, Asturian philology will be available for study and teachers will be able to specialise in the Asturian language at the University of Oviedo.


title: Asturian language

text: Asturian government websites, council webpages, blogs, and entertainment webpages exist. Free software is offered in Asturian, and Ubuntu offers Asturian as an operating-system language. Free software in the language is available from Debian, Fedora, Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, VLC, GNOME, Chromium and KDE. Minecraft also has an Asturian translation.


title: Art Linkletter

text: Arthur Gordon Linkletter (born Gordon Arthur Kelly or Arthur Gordon Kelly; sources differ; July 17, 1912 – May 26, 2010) was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of "House Party", which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and "People Are Funny", which aired on NBC radio and television for 19 years. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1942.


title: Art Linkletter

text: Old clips from Linkletter's "House Party" program were later featured as segments on the first incarnation of "Kids Say the Darndest Things". A series of books followed which contained the humorous comments made on-air by children. He appeared in four films.


title: Art Linkletter

text: Linkletter was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. In his autobiography, "Confessions of a Happy Man" (1960), he revealed that he had no contact with his natural parents or his sister or two brothers since he was abandoned when only a few weeks old. He was adopted by Mary (née Metzler) and Fulton John Linkletter, an evangelical preacher.


title: Art Linkletter

text: When he was five his family moved to San Diego, California, where he graduated from San Diego High School at age 16. During the early years of the Great Depression he rode trains around the country doing odd jobs and meeting a wide variety of people. In 1934 he earned a bachelor's degree in teaching from San Diego State Teachers College (now San Diego State University), where he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. While attending San Diego State he played for the basketball team and was a member of the swimming team. He had previously planned to attend Springfield College, but did not for financial reasons.


title: Art Linkletter

text: In 1935, he met Lois Foerster. They were married at Grace Lutheran Church in San Diego, November 28, 1935. Their marriage lasted until Linkletter's death, 74 years later.


title: Art Linkletter

text: After receiving his teaching degree Linkletter decided to go to work as a radio announcer at KGB in San Diego, because radio paid better than teaching. He directed radio programs for fairs and expositions in the mid-1930s. Afterwards, he moved to San Francisco and continued his radio career. In 1943 Linkletter pleaded guilty to falsely claiming US citizenship; he was fined $500 and permitted to apply for citizenship. In the 1940s Linkletter worked in Hollywood with John Guedel on their pioneering radio show, "People Are Funny", which employed audience participation, contests, and gags. The series served as a prototype for future radio and television game shows. "People Are Funny" became a television show in 1954 and ran until 1961.


title: Art Linkletter

text: Other early television shows Linkletter worked on included "Life With Linkletter" with his son Jack (1969–1970) and "Hollywood Talent Scouts" (1965–1966). He also acted in two movies, "People Are Funny" (1946) and "Champagne for Caesar" (1950). Following an appearance in "No Greater Love" (1960), Linkletter would cease to appear in feature films.


title: Art Linkletter

text: Linkletter declined the opportunity offered by his friend Walt Disney to invest in the Disneyland theme park project, along with building and operating the Disneyland Hotel, due to Linkletter's doubts about the park's prospects. But, out of friendship for Disney, Linkletter volunteered his experience as a live program broadcaster to help organize ABC's coverage of the Disneyland opening in 1955 on what was his 43rd birthday. Besides being an on-air host, he recruited his two co-hosts: Ronald Reagan and Bob Cummings. The park opening experience convinced Linkletter that Disneyland was going to be a huge success. When Disney asked what he could do to show his gratitude for the broadcast's role in the successful launching of the park, Linkletter asked for Disneyland's camera and film concession for its first ten years, a request that was quickly granted. This turned out to be extremely lucrative.


title: Art Linkletter

text: In the 1950s Linkletter hosted a 15-minute series for syndication titled "Art Linkletter and the Kids," seen locally on Saturday mornings in some areas.


title: Art Linkletter

text: On February 23, 1961, Linkletter and his son Jack Linkletter appeared together in "The Bible Man," one of the last episodes of "Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre," which aired for five seasons on CBS. In the storyline, Linkletter is cast as the Reverend Albert Pierce, a traveling evangelist who is estranged from his grown son, Jimmy (Jack Linkletter), because he had tried to avoid telling Jimmy of the real circumstances of the death of Jimmy's mother. The son accused his father of causing the mother's death by burning down her house. However, she was already dead before the fire because a paramour had beaten her to death. The episode ends with the reconciliation of father and son. "The Bible Man" was Jack Linkletter's only dramatic acting appearance. It was the first of two dramatic television appearances by Art Linkletter. His second appearance came in episode 15, season 6 of the series "Wagon Train" in 1962 alongside Nancy Reagan. When on television, he otherwise played himself.


title: Art Linkletter

text: Linkletter appeared for two stints of two weeks each as a guest host of "The Tonight Show" in 1962 between Jack Paar's sudden departure and Johnny Carson's arrival as its new host.


title: Art Linkletter

text: In the 1950s Linkletter became a major investor in and promoter of the hula hoop. In 1963, Linkletter became the endorser and spokesman for Milton Bradley's The Game of Life. His picture appeared on the game's $100,000 bills and also on the box, framed by the statement "I heartily endorse this game."


title: Art Linkletter

text: "Art Linkletter's Kids" was a 1963–64 gag cartoon panel drawn by the prolific cartoonist Stan Fine and distributed by King Features Syndicate.


title: Art Linkletter

text: In the 1960s, Linkletter started a dance school, the Art Linkletter School of Jazz, Tap, and Ballet, in Pomona and Claremont, California.


title: Art Linkletter

text: After three public meetings in 1967, an eight-member Los Angeles City Council committee cleared Linkletter and City Council Member Tom Shepard of charges that they were linked in a scheme to influence city purchase of the "financially troubled" Valley Music Theater in Woodland Hills.


title: Art Linkletter

text: In 1988, he appeared as himself on the syndicated sitcom "Small Wonder" in the episode "Come Fly With Me." At one point he was a spokesman for National Home Life, an insurance company.


title: Art Linkletter

text: A registered Republican who campaigned for his old friend Ronald Reagan for President of the United States, Linkletter became a political organizer and a spokesman for the United Seniors Association, now known as USA Next, an alternative to the AARP. As part of this role, Linkletter was active in campaigning for more stringent restrictions on elderly motorists. He was also a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation (which ended in November 2008).


title: Art Linkletter

text: In 1978, he wrote the foreword to the bestselling self-help book "Release Your Brakes!" by James W. Newman, in which he wrote, "I believe none of us should ever stop growing, learning, changing, and being curious about what's going to happen next. None of us is perfect, so we should be eager to learn more and try to be more effective persons in every part of our lives."


title: Art Linkletter

text: In 2005, at the age of 93, he opened the Happiest Homecoming on Earth celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Disneyland. Half a century earlier, he had been the commentator on the opening day celebrations in 1955. For this, he was named a Disney Legend.


title: Art Linkletter

text: Linkletter invested wisely, enabling his considerable philanthropy. A member of Pepperdine University's Board of Regents, Linkletter was also a long-term trustee at Springfield College, where he donated funds to build the swimming center named in his honor, the Art Linkletter Natatorium.


title: Art Linkletter

text: Linkletter received a lifetime achievement Daytime Emmy award in 2003. He was inducted into the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame. He also received honorary degrees from several universities, including his alma mater, San Diego State University; Pepperdine University; and the University of Prince Edward Island. For his contribution to television, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located on 1560 Vine Street. Linkletter received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Lowell Thomas in 1975.


title: Art Linkletter

text: Linkletter had one of the longest marriages of any well-known person in America, at nearly 75 years. It was the longest Hollywood marriage of all time (prior to his death), and it currently ranks as the third-longest Hollywood marriage of all time. He married Lois Foerster on November 25, 1935, and they had five children: Arthur Jack, Dawn, Robert, Sharon and Diane. Lois Foerster Linkletter survived her husband by sixteen months, dying at the age of 95 on October 11, 2011. They outlived three of their five children.


title: Art Linkletter

text: On October 4, 1969, 20-year-old Diane died after jumping out of her sixth-floor kitchen window. Linkletter claimed that her death was drug-related because she was on, or having a flashback from, an LSD trip (toxicology tests later determined there were no drugs in Diane's system at the time of her death). After Diane's death, Linkletter spoke out against drugs to prevent children from straying into a drug habit. On October 24, 1969, he said "Anybody who has said anything which would encourage my daughter to take LSD was unwittingly a part of being her murderer." His record, "We Love You, Call Collect", recorded before her death, featured a discussion about permissiveness in modern society, along with a rebuttal by Diane, titled "Dear Mom and Dad". The record won a 1970 Grammy Award for the "Best Spoken Word Recording".


title: Art Linkletter

text: Son Robert Linkletter died in an automobile accident on September 12, 1980. Another son, Arthur, died from lymphoma in 2007.


title: Art Linkletter

text: In early 2008, Linkletter suffered a mild stroke. He died on May 26, 2010, at age 97 at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California.


title: Art Linkletter

text: After his death, Phyllis Diller stated, "In a couple of months Art Linkletter would have been 98 years old, a full life of fun and goodness, an orphan who made it to the top. What a guy." He was survived by his wife Lois, and daughters Dawn Griffin and Sharon Linkletter, as well as seven grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. Alexis Linkletter, his oldest great grandchild, has pursued a career in broadcasting and hosts a number of popular crime podcasts and produces documentary television.


title: Lusia Harris

text: Lusia Mae Harris (February 10, 1955 – January 18, 2022) was an American professional basketball player. Harris is considered to be one of the pioneers of women's basketball. She played for Delta State University and won three consecutive Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championships, the predecessors to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, from 1975 to 1977. In international level, she represented the United States' national team and won the silver medal in the 1976 Olympic Games, the first women's basketball tournament in the Olympic Games. She played professional basketball with the Houston Angels of the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) and was the first and only woman ever officially drafted by the National Basketball Association (NBA), a men's professional basketball league. For her achievements, Harris was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.


title: Lusia Harris

text: Lusia Mae Harris was born in Minter City, Mississippi, to Ethel Harris and Willie Harris, a sharecropper in the cotton fields. She was the fourth of five daughters and the tenth of eleven children, all of whom attended Amanda Elzy High School near Greenwood, Mississippi. All of her brothers and one of her older sisters, Janie, also played basketball.


title: Lusia Harris

text: Harris played basketball under coach Conway Stewart in high school. She won the most valuable player award three years in a row, served as team captain, and made the state All-Star team . She scored a school record 46 points in one game and led her school to the state tournament in Jackson, Mississippi.


title: Lusia Harris

text: After her high school graduation, she had planned to attend Alcorn State University, which did not have a women's basketball team. However, she was recruited by Melvin Hemphill to play for Margaret Wade, who was restarting a collegiate women's team at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. She attended school on a combination of academic scholarships and work study funds, since this was prior to Title IX.


title: Lusia Harris

text: In her first year at Delta State, 1973–74, Harris helped the Lady Statesmen to a 16–2 record. However, they finished third in the regional tournament and failed to qualify for the national tournament.


title: Lusia Harris

text: In the 1974–75 season, the Lady Statesmen qualified for the national tournament at Harrisonburg, Virginia. They went all the way to the final, where they met the Mighty Macs of Immaculata University who had won the last three consecutive AIAW championships. In the final, Harris scored 32 points and recorded 16 rebounds to lead Delta State past Immaculata 90–81. The 1975 championship game was televised nationally (albeit delayed). This was the first year that women's basketball games were nationally televised by a major network. That season, Delta State went undefeated with a 28–0 record, the only undefeated college season that year (men or women). Harris scored a total of 138 points and 63 rebounds in four games at the national tournament and was named as the tournament's most valuable player.


title: Lusia Harris

text: In the 1975–76 season, Delta State and Immaculata met again in the national tournament final. Harris again led Delta State with 30 points and 18 rebounds in a 69–64 victory. That season, she led the nation in scoring with 1,060 points and 31.2 points per game average, including a 58-point game against Tennessee Tech.


title: Lusia Harris

text: In her senior, 1976–77, season, Delta State played a game in the Madison Square Garden in which Harris scored 47 points. This was one of the first women's basketball games ever played there. In 1977, Delta State went to the national tournament final for the third year in a row. In the final, Harris achieved 23 points and 16 rebounds as Delta State defeated Louisiana State University 68–55 for their third consecutive national title.


title: Lusia Harris

text: Harris was named the national tournament's most valuable player; she was also named to the All-American first team during Delta State's three winning seasons. Her college career record was 109–6, and included victories over later NCAA Division I powerhouses such as Immaculata University, University of Tennessee, Baylor University, University of Mississippi, Louisiana State University and Louisiana Tech University. Harris finished her college career with 2,981 points and 1,662 rebounds, averaging 25.9 points and 14.5 rebounds per game. She also graduated holding fifteen of eighteen of Delta State's team, single game, and career records. In 1977, she won the inaugural Honda Sports Award for basketball, as well as the Broderick Cup, an award for outstanding female athletes in college.


title: Lusia Harris

text: In 1975, Harris was selected to the United States national team in the FIBA World Championship for Women in Colombia and the Pan American Games in Mexico City, Mexico. She teamed up with high school star Nancy Lieberman and fellow college stars Ann Meyers and Pat Head. In the FIBA World Championship, the United States compiled a 4–3 record and finished in eighth place. In the Pan American Games, the United States team went unbeaten in seven games to win the gold medal, their first win since 1963. They averaged 86.7 points per game with an average winning margin of 34.4.


title: Lusia Harris

text: The following year, Harris was selected to represent the United States in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, the first women's basketball tournament in the Olympic Games. She used the number seven on her Olympics jersey. She teamed up with most of her teammates in the 1975 Pan American Games, including Lieberman, Meyers and Head. In the opening game against Japan, Harris scored the first ever points in women's Olympic basketball tournament. The United States team won three games and lost two games against Japan and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union team went undefeated and won the gold medal, while the United States team won the silver medal. Harris played in all five games, averaging 15.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.


title: Lusia Harris

text: In the seventh round of the 1977 NBA draft, the New Orleans Jazz selected Harris with the 137th pick overall. She became the second woman ever drafted by an NBA team, after Denise Long, who was selected by the San Francisco Warriors in the 1969 draft. However, the league voided the Warriors' selection, thus Harris became the first and only woman ever officially drafted. Harris did not express an interest to play in the NBA and declined to try out for the Jazz. It was later revealed that she was pregnant at the time, which made her unable to attend the Jazz's training camp. She was selected ahead of 33 male players, including the Jazz's eighth round selection, Dave Speicher from the University of Toledo.


title: Lusia Harris

text: Harris never played in the NBA or any other men's basketball league but played professional basketball briefly in the 1979–80 season with the Houston Angels of the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL). She was initially picked as the number one free agent by the Angels in 1978, the league's inaugural season.


title: Lusia Harris

text: Harris graduated from Delta State University with a bachelor's degree in health, physical education and recreation in 1977. After graduation, she worked for Delta State as an admissions counselor and assistant basketball coach. She earned a master's degree in education from Delta State in 1984. After leaving the assistant coaching post in Delta State, she served as the head coach at Texas Southern University in Houston for two years. She then returned to her native Mississippi where she worked as a high school teacher and coach at her alma mater Amanda Elzy High School in Greenwood, at the Greenville Public School District, and at Ruleville Central High School.


title: Lusia Harris

text: Harris married George E. Stewart on February 4, 1977. They had four children, two sons and twin daughters. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.


title: Lusia Harris

text: Harris died at a therapy facility in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, on January 18, 2022, less than a month before her 67th birthday.


title: Lusia Harris

text: For her achievements and contributions to the Delta State University, Harris was inducted to the Delta State's Hall of Fame in 1983. In 1992, she became the first African-American woman inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1999, Harris, along with her college coach, Margaret Wade, and her teammates in the national team, Nancy Lieberman, Ann Meyers and Pat Head, were among the 26 inaugural inductees to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She has also been named to the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.


title: Lusia Harris

text: "The Queen of Basketball", a film about Harris, won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject); it was produced and directed by Canadian filmmaker Ben Proudfoot, with Shaquille O'Neal and Stephen Curry as executive producers. It was released June 10, 2021, seven months before her death.


title: Financial adviser

text: A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory body in order to provide advice.


title: Financial adviser

text: In the United States, a financial adviser carries a Series 7 and Series 66 or Series 65 qualification examination. According to the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), qualification designations and compliance issues must be reported for public view. Details of formal compliance issues can be found on the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) website and details of non-formal issues can be found on Onesta. FINRA specifies the following groups who may use the term "financial advisor:" brokers, investment advisers, private bankers, accountants, lawyers, insurance agents and financial planners. Financial advisors need to be able to take the full picture of the client's financial situation into account.


title: Financial adviser

text: Financial advisers typically provide financial products and services, depending on the qualification examinations they hold and the training they have. Financial advisers are registered, not licensed. For example, a licensed insurance agent may be qualified to sell both life insurance and variable annuities, because the insurance agent holds an insurance license and holds the Series 7 qualification examination. A broker (Series 7) may also be a financial planner. Any advisor can say they are a financial planner; they do not have to hold the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designation to do so. A financial adviser may create financial plans for clients or sell financial products, or a combination of both. They may also provide insight on savings.


title: Financial adviser

text: A financial adviser is generally compensated through fees, commissions, or a combination of both. For example, a financial adviser may be compensated in one or more of the following ways:


title: Financial adviser

text: Both spellings, "advisor" and "adviser", are accepted and denote someone who provides advice. According to one textbook, "adviser" and "advisor" are not interchangeable in the financial services industry, since the term "adviser" is generally used "when referring to legislative acts and their requirements and "advisor" when referring to a practitioner. Since [a financial advisor's practice] is never described as an advisery practice, advisor is preferable when not referencing the law." Congress and the Securities Exchange Commission refer to "investment advisers" when discussing regulation of them in the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.


title: Financial adviser

text: Advisors typically fall into two separate categories: broker-dealers (BD) who typically earn a commission from sales and registered investment advisers (RIAs) who typically charge a fee based upon assets under management while serving as fiduciaries and are registered at the state or federal level. Additionally, an advisor can be either affiliated with a large firm ("wirehouse") or be independent (e.g., independent broker-dealer or IBD). There are also "hybrid RIAs" who are both broker-dealers and registered.


title: Financial adviser

text: The number of independent broker-dealer firms has declined from 1175 in 2007 to 819 in 2018, while RIA firms have grown from 9,538 to 15,645 over the same time period. As of 2016, the largest IBD firm by revenue was LPL Financial followed by Ameriprise Financial and Raymond James Financial. Edward Jones is another large broker-dealer, and in 2017 stopped selling commission-based funds in response to a best interest fiduciary rule by the Department of Labor (DOL). As of 2019, Merrill Lynch had not adopted an RIA model while Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs had opened up to the business model. As of 2019, the largest fee-only RIA firm was Edelman Financial Engines with over $200 billion in assets under management, under the ownership of private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. Other large fee-only RIA firms include Fisher Investments, which has over $120 billion in assets under management. As of 2019, 80% of the $4 trillion managed by RIAs were on one of four platforms: Fidelity Investments, Schwab, and Pershing LLC. Some RIAs operate inside "RIA aggregators" which provide institutional support similar to a wirehouse.


title: Financial adviser

text: In the United States, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regulates and oversees the activities of brokerage firms, and their registered representatives. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulates investment advisers and their investment adviser representatives. Insurance companies, insurance agencies and insurance producers are regulated by state authorities. Investment Advisers may be registered with state regulatory agencies, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or pursuant to certain exemptions, remain unregistered.


title: Financial adviser

text: The anti-fraud provisions of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and most state laws impose a duty on Investment Advisors to act as fiduciaries in dealings with their clients. This means the adviser must hold the client's interest above its own in all matters. The SEC has said that an adviser has a duty to:


title: Financial adviser

text: Since the financial crisis in 2008, there has been great debate regarding the fiduciary standard and to which advisers it should apply. In July 2010, The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act mandated increased consumer protection measures, including enhanced disclosures and authorized the SEC to extend the fiduciary duty to include brokers rather than only advisers regulated by the 1940 Act. As of July 2016, the SEC has yet to extend the fiduciary duty to all brokers and advisers regardless of their designation. However, in April 2016, the Department of Labor finalized a thousand-page rule holding all brokers, including independent brokers, working with retirement accounts (IRAs, 401(k)s, etc.) to the fiduciary standard.


title: Financial adviser

text: In June 2016, as a way to address adviser conflicts of interest, the DOL ruled in a redefinition of what constitutes financial advice, and who is considered a fiduciary. Prior to 2016, fiduciary standards only applied to Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs), and did not impact brokers, who previously operated under a less strict "suitability" standard that provided leeway to provide education without "advice". The new ruling requires all financial advisers who offer advice for compensation to act as fiduciaries and meet the fiduciary standard, but only when dealing with retirement accounts such as IRA or 401(k) accounts. The ruling includes one exemption for brokers, Best Interest Contract Exemption, which can be allowed if the broker enters into a contract with the plan participant and meets certain behavioral requirements. The new ruling does not impact the advice or investment product sales pertaining to non-retirement accounts.


title: Financial adviser

text: Opposition to the fiduciary standard maintains that the higher standard of fiduciary duty, vs the lower standard of suitability, would be too costly to implement and reduce choice for consumers. Other criticisms suggest that consumers with smaller retirement accounts may be less able to access personalized advice due to advisor/broker compensation models, many of which have been restructured to comply with the fiduciary rule.


title: Financial adviser

text: The decision has caused a massive shift in the financial community. One survey found that 73% of advisors were concerned the rule would have an adverse impact on how they do business, 71% anticipated increased client frustration, and 66% planned to reevaluate the products they recommend.


title: Financial adviser

text: Enforcement of the rule began on 9 June 2017 but is no longer enforced since the DOL fiduciary rule was officially vacated on 21 June 2018 by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. On 5 June 2019, the SEC adopted Regulation Best Interest, establishing a new standard of conduct under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) for broker-dealers, with compliance due to begin 30 June 2020.


title: Financial adviser

text: In July 2020, the DOL proposed a new fiduciary rule, and made two changes to guidance and regulation.


title: Financial adviser

text: A Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) refers to an IA that is registered with the SEC or a state's securities agency and typically provides investment advice to a retail investor or registered investment company such as a mutual fund, or exchange-traded fund. Registered Investment Advisors are regulated by either the SEC or by the individual states, depending on the amount of assets under management.


title: Financial adviser

text: The financial adviser role in Canada is varied. Most financial advisers carry licenses to sell life insurance, securities, or mutual funds, or some combination of all three. The life insurance license is obtained through successful completion of the life license qualification program, except in Quebec, where licensing is completed through the Autorité des marchés financiers. There are three distinct securities licenses available. Completion of the Canadian Securities Course (CSC) allows the sale of most types of securities, including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. More advanced licensing is required for the sale of derivatives and commodities. Completion of a mutual funds course allows the adviser to sell mutual funds only, excluding certain types of very specialized funds and importantly, exchange-traded funds (ETFs)—although recently non-securities licensed financial advisers have gained access to ETFs through new mutual fund products. The third possible license is the exempt securities license.


title: Financial adviser

text: In many, but not all, cases, licensing requires the support of a dealer or insurer. It is also mandatory for advisers to carry errors and omissions insurance. The term financial adviser can refer to the entire spectrum of advisers. In general, the industry in Canada is segmented into three channels of advisers: MGA, MFDA and IIROC. However, there is little regulatory control exercised over use of the term, and, as such, many insurance brokers, insurance agents, securities brokers, financial planners and others identify themselves as financial advisers.


title: Financial adviser

text: Many financial advisers in Canada are also financial planners. While there are numerous financial planning designations, the most common is the Certified Financial Planner designation although the Registered Financial Planner (R.F.P.) and Personal Financial Planner designations are also popular in Canada. There is no regulation, outside of Quebec, of the term "Financial Planner".


title: Financial adviser

text: There are three main bodies awarding qualifications for financial advisers in the UK. The main one is the Chartered Insurance Institute, which offers professional financial services qualifications all the way from beginner to degree levels. The IFS School of Finance offers alternative courses/qualifications in certain specialist areas such as mortgages and equity release. The Institute of Financial Planning offers the Certified Financial Planner.


title: Financial adviser

text: Financial advisers need to pass a series of exams and receive a Diploma in Financial Planning (or, prior to the Retail Distribution Review, a Financial Planning Certificate) and also authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, a UK government qango that must be satisfied that the adviser is a “fit and proper person” before they may practice. Typically a diploma qualified adviser will have DipFA or DipPFS after their name.


title: Financial adviser

text: Financial advisers are either restricted or independent. An independent financial adviser is free to select a suitable solution for the client from all the products and providers in the market. An adviser that is not free to select from the entire market, for whatever reason, is restricted. An adviser may be restricted because they only advise on a specific area, for example pensions, or because they only advise on products from one company such as a bank.


title: Financial adviser

text: "Best advice" is a concept that was never more than a heading in the FSA/PIA/NASDIM regulations (and is now withdrawn in favour of the 'appropriate' standard) and which refers to the general obligation under Contract Law (Agency) that a broker has to find the correct 'financial product' to match a client 'need'. A provider firm must not make a recommendation unless it has a suitable product to offer. If it offers no suitable products then none should be recommended. A multi-tied firm must not make any recommendations unless it has access to a suitable product from the providers on their panel. In the UK many believe impartial advice can be obtained only by consulting an independent financial adviser.


title: Financial adviser

text: The QFA ("qualified financial advisor") designation is awarded to those who pass the Professional Diploma in Financial Advice and agree to comply with the ongoing "continuous professional development" (CPD) requirements. It is the recognised benchmark designation for financial advisers working in retail financial services. The qualification, and attaching CPD programme, meets the "minimum competency requirements" (MCR) specified by the Financial Regulator, for advising on and selling five categories of retail financial products:


title: Financial adviser

text: The National Certificate in Financial Services [Financial Advice] [Level 5] is currently being introduced in New Zealand. All Individuates and registered legal entities providing financial services must be registered as a (Registered Financial Service Provider). Their Directors, retail and sales staff are required to gain the national certificate.


title: Financial adviser

text: The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) in conjunction with industry groups via the ETITO administers a qualifications frame work for the qualification. Registrations and examinations are conducted by the ETITO. All financial advisers are required to register with the ETITO by March 31, 2011.


title: Financial adviser

text: The Qualifications Framework consists of a core set of competencies sets, A B C followed by 2 electives covering specialist areas such as Insurance and Residential Property Lending. Certain NZQA approved qualifications such as an Accountancy degree may exempt students from competency set A NZQA approved training. The certificate is offered by the accredited organizations.


title: Financial adviser

text: In South Korea, the Korea Financial Investment Association oversees the licensing of investment advisers.


title: Financial adviser

text: Financial advisors in Australia must have passed a RG146 qualifying and hold a license that is overseen by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. It ought to be noted that financial advisers in Australia will need to undergo transitional arrangements as new educational requirements will be in place on 1 January 2019. Additionally, financial advisers in Australia are subject to fiduciary obligations.


title: Financial adviser

text: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the regulator for the securities market in India.


title: Financial adviser

text: In India, SEBI registered investment advisor is referred, when an investor who would like advice on where to invest in share market or an investor. SEBI has put certain guidelines before giving RIA license to any individual, corporate or firms. In India, there are 1160 RIAs as of 31 January 2020, who are registered with SEBI as registered investment advisor (2013) regulations.


title: Life on Venus

text: The possibility of life on Venus is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to Venus's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no definitive evidence has been found of past or present life there. In the early 1960s, studies conducted via spacecraft demonstrated that the current Venusian environment is extreme compared to Earth's. Studies continue to question whether life could have existed on the planet's surface before a runaway greenhouse effect took hold, and whether a relict biosphere could persist high in the modern Venusian atmosphere.


title: Life on Venus

text: With extreme surface temperatures reaching nearly and an atmospheric pressure 92 times that of Earth, the conditions on Venus make water-based life as we know it unlikely on the surface of the planet. However, a few scientists have speculated that thermoacidophilic extremophile microorganisms might exist in the temperate, acidic upper layers of the Venusian atmosphere. In September 2020, research was published that reported the presence of phosphine in the planet's atmosphere, a potential biosignature. However, doubts have been cast on these observations.


title: Life on Venus

text: As of 8 February 2021, an updated status of studies considering the possible detection of lifeforms on Venus (via phosphine) and Mars (via methane) was reported. On 2 June 2021, NASA announced two new related missions to Venus: "DAVINCI+" and "VERITAS".


title: Life on Venus

text: Because Venus is completely covered in clouds, human knowledge of surface conditions was largely speculative until the space probe era. Until the mid-20th century, the surface environment of Venus was believed to be similar to Earth, hence it was widely believed that Venus could harbor life. In 1870, the British astronomer Richard A. Proctor said the existence of life on Venus was impossible near its equator, but possible near its poles. Science fiction writers were free to imagine what Venus might be like until the 1960s. Among the speculations were that it had a jungle-like environment or that it had oceans of either petroleum or carbonated water.


title: Life on Venus

text: Microwave observations published by C. Mayer "et al." in 1958 indicated a high-temperature source (600 K). Strangely, millimetre-band observations made by A. D. Kuzmin indicated much lower temperatures. Two competing theories explained the unusual radio spectrum, one suggesting the high temperatures originated in the ionosphere, and another suggesting a hot planetary surface.


title: Life on Venus

text: In 1962, Mariner 2, the first successful mission to Venus, measured the planet's temperature for the first time, and found it to be "about 500 degrees Celsius (900 degrees Fahrenheit)." Since then, increasingly clear evidence from various space probes showed Venus has an extreme climate, with a greenhouse effect generating a constant temperature of about on the surface. The atmosphere contains sulfuric acid clouds. In 1968, NASA reported that air pressure on the Venusian surface was 75 to 100 times that of Earth. This was later revised to 92 bars, almost 100 times that of Earth and similar to that of more than deep in Earth's oceans. In such an environment, and given the hostile characteristics of the Venusian weather, life as we know it is highly unlikely to occur.


title: Life on Venus

text: Scientists have speculated that if liquid water existed on its surface before the runaway greenhouse effect heated the planet, microbial life may have formed on Venus, but it may no longer exist. Assuming the process that delivered water to Earth was common to all the planets near the habitable zone, it has been estimated that liquid water could have existed on its surface for up to 600 million years during and shortly after the Late Heavy Bombardment, which could be enough time for simple life to form, but this figure can vary from as little as a few million years to as much as a few billion. Recent studies from September 2019 concluded that Venus may have had surface water and a habitable condition for around 3 billion years and may have been in this condition until 700 to 750 million years ago. If correct, this would have been an ample amount of time for the formation of life, and for microbial life to evolve to become aerial.


title: Life on Venus

text: There has been very little analysis of Venusian surface material, so it is possible that evidence of past life, if it ever existed, could be found with a probe capable of enduring Venus's current extreme surface conditions, although the resurfacing of the planet in the past 500 million years means that it is unlikely that ancient surface rocks remain, especially those containing the mineral tremolite which, theoretically, could have encased some biosignatures.


title: Life on Venus

text: It has been speculated that life on Venus may have come to Earth through lithopanspermia, via the ejection of icy bolides that facilitated the preservation of multicellular life on long interplanetary voyages. "Current models indicate that Venus may have been habitable. Complex life may have evolved on the highly irradiated Venus, and transferred to Earth on asteroids. This model fits the pattern of pulses of highly developed life appearing, diversifying and going extinct with astonishing rapidity through the Cambrian and Ordovician periods, and also explains the extraordinary genetic variety which appeared over this period."


title: Life on Venus

text: Between 700 and 750 million years ago, a near-global resurfacing event triggered the release of carbon dioxide from rock on the planet, which transformed its climate. In addition, according to a study from researchers at the University of California, Riverside, Venus would be able to support life if Jupiter hadn't altered its orbit around the Sun.


title: Life on Venus

text: Although there is little possibility of existing life near the surface of Venus, the altitudes about above the surface have a mild temperature, and hence there are still some opinions in favor of such a possibility in the atmosphere of Venus. The idea was first brought forward by German physicist Heinz Haber in 1950. In September 1967, Carl Sagan and Harold Morowitz published an analysis of the issue of life on Venus in the journal "Nature".


title: Life on Venus

text: In the analysis of mission data from the "Venera", Pioneer Venus and "Magellan" missions, it was discovered that carbonyl sulfide, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide were present together in the upper atmosphere. "Venera" also detected large amounts of toxic chlorine just below the Venusian cloud cover. Carbonyl sulfide is difficult to produce inorganically, but it can be produced by volcanism. Sulfuric acid is produced in the upper atmosphere by the Sun's photochemical action on carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and water vapor. The re-analysis of Pioneer Venus data in 2020 has found part of chlorine and all of hydrogen sulfide spectral features are instead phosphine-related, meaning lower than thought concentration of chlorine and non-detection of hydrogen sulfide.


title: Life on Venus

text: Solar radiation constrains the atmospheric habitable zone to between 51 km (65 °C) and 62 km (−20 °C) altitude, within the acidic clouds. It has been speculated that clouds in the atmosphere of Venus could contain chemicals that can initiate forms of biological activity and have zones where photophysical and chemical conditions allow for Earth-like phototrophy.


title: Life on Venus

text: It has been speculated that any hypothetical microorganisms inhabiting the atmosphere, if present, could employ ultraviolet light (UV) emitted by the Sun as an energy source, which could be an explanation for the dark lines (called "unknown UV absorber") observed in the UV photographs of Venus. The existence of this "unknown UV absorber" prompted Carl Sagan to publish an article in 1963 proposing the hypothesis of microorganisms in the upper atmosphere as the agent absorbing the UV light.


title: Life on Venus

text: In August 2019, astronomers reported a newly discovered long-term pattern of UV light absorbance and albedo changes in the atmosphere of Venus and its weather, that is caused by "unknown absorbers" that may include unknown chemicals or even large colonies of microorganisms high up in the atmosphere.


title: Life on Venus

text: In January 2020, astronomers reported evidence that suggests Venus is currently (within 2.5 million years from present) volcanically active, and the residue from such activity may be a potential source of nutrients for possible microorganisms in the Venusian atmosphere.


title: Life on Venus

text: In 2021, it was suggested the color of "unknown UV absorber" match that of "red oil" - a known substance comprising a mix of organic carbon compounds dissolved in concentrated sulfuric acid.


title: Life on Venus

text: Research published in September 2020 indicated the detection of phosphine (PH) in Venus's atmosphere by Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) telescope that was not linked to any known abiotic method of production present or possible under Venusian conditions. A molecule like phosphine is not expected to persist in the Venusian atmosphere since, under the ultraviolet radiation, it will eventually react with water and carbon dioxide. PH is associated with anaerobic ecosystems on Earth, and may indicate life on anoxic planets. Related studies suggested that the detected concentration of phosphine (20 ppb) in the clouds of Venus indicated a "plausible amount of life," and further, that the typical predicted biomass densities were "several orders of magnitude lower than the average biomass density of Earth’s aerial biosphere.” , no known abiotic process generates phosphine gas on terrestrial planets (as opposed to gas giants) in appreciable quantities. The phosphine can be generated by geological process of weathering an olivine lavas containing inorganic phosphides, but this process requires an ongoing and massive volcanic activity. Therefore, detectable amounts of phosphine could indicate life. In July 2021, a volcanic origin was proposed for phosphine, by extrusion from the mantle.


title: Life on Venus

text: In a statement published on October 5, 2020, on the website of the International Astronomical Union's commission F3 on astrobiology, the authors of the September 2020 paper about phosphine were accused of unethical behaviour and criticized for being unscientific and misleading the public. Members of that commission have since distanced themselves from the IAU statement, claiming that it had been published without their knowledge or approval. The statement was removed from the IAU website shortly thereafter. The IAU's media contact Lars Lindberg Christensen stated that IAU did not agree with the content of the letter, and that it had been published by a group within the F3 commission, not IAU itself.


title: Life on Venus

text: By late October 2020, the review of data processing of the data collected by both ALMA used in original publication of September 2020, and later James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) data, has revealed background interpolation errors resulting in multiple spurious lines, including the spectral feature of phosphine. Re-analysis of data with a proper subtraction of background either does not result in the detection of the phosphine or detects it with concentration of 1ppb, 20 times below original estimate.


title: Life on Venus

text: On 16 November 2020, ALMA staff released a corrected version of the data used by the scientists of the original study published on 14 September.


title: Life on Venus

text: On the same day, authors of this study published a re-analysis as a preprint using the new data that concludes the planet-averaged PH abundance to be ~7 times lower than what they detected with data of the previous ALMA processing, to likely vary by location and to be reconcilable with the JCMT detection of ~20 times this abundance if it varies substantially in time. They also respond to points raised in a critical study by Villanueva et al. that challenged their conclusions and find that so far the presence of no other compound can explain the data. The authors reported that more advanced processing of the JCMT data was ongoing.