McGowan said churches in his group “consider any music newer than 100 years old as liberal and almost heretical.”

The Rev. Charles McGowan is hoping for an atypically calm annual meeting for his denomination this week.

McGowan serves on the host committee for the General Assembly of the PCA, which began Tuesday night at the Nashville Convention Center.

More than 1,300 local church representatives around the country are on hand, including leaders from 19 local congregations. They are discussing money, missions, and the role of women in the church, as well as a new strategic plan.

“In light of some of the arguments we’ve had in the past — this is a mild meeting,” said McGowan, former pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville.

The denomination was founded in the 1970s, mostly by people who left the Presbyterian Church USA (sic). That 2 million member group remains the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States.

The groups disagree on issues such as whether woman can be ministers — the Presbyterian Church in America says no — and on how much control the denomination should have over local churches. The Presbyterian Church in America also sees the larger group as too liberal in its theology.

Until recently, the Presbyterian Church in America was one of the fastest growing Protestant groups in the nation. The group saw its first membership decline in its history two years ago, but rebounded this year to 346,408, with most of the new members coming from 47 new churches opened this year. Still, there’s a sense that some momentum has been lost.

“The denomination was conceived as a reaction against liberalism,” said McGowan. “So there was a cause to rally around and a lot of momentum in the early stages. Now it’s not growing as fast.”

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