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Hope to set the record straight here. I have been a member of the church for about 12 years...

The CP church is a mixture of liberal and conservative thought and beliefs. The church is firmly centered on Jesus the Christ as the son of God. The church breaks from some traditional Presbyterian beliefs in several areas. These differences in belief are best understood in knowing the reasons for the founding of the church.

The church was founded by the Presbyterians on the Cumberland plateau who were ill served by their home synod in Kentucky. The folks in Ky. were very slow to send ministers to the difficult backwater of the Cumberland plateau. At the same time a great revival was sweeping the US. The CP folks were unable to participate due to their beliefs. As the church was a huge part of social life on the Cumberland plateau, the churches had difficulty competing with the Baptists and other churches.

The CP churches being practical started appointing their own ministers. This caused their ejection from the Kentucky synod. At the same time they ditched the predestination beliefs and participated in the revivalism movement. This of course is a vast simplification....

Conservative beliefs...
1. Focus on Jesus as the Christ, son of God.
2. Focus on the Bible as the inerrant word of God.
3. Focus on the Church community as a fellowship of believers.
4. Focus on marriage being between a man and woman... ordained by the scriptures and blessed by Jesus.

Liberal beliefs...
1. The CP church ordains women as ministers... This is not new. The first was ordained in the 1880s.
2. Women are allowed to serve as Elders. (Though our elders are actually deacons for the most part)

So, the church is spiritually very conservative, but socially liberal if you rank it by the ordination of women.

I like the church because of its focus on Jesus Christ. All other issues are subordinated to the gospel message of salvation through Jesus. The worship service is fairly traditional.

As to other concerns addressed here.
1. Ministers untrained. This was concern... in the 1840s. Now our ministers are some of the best educated of any Protestant denomination.
2. Affiliation with the liberal PC church. We have a good relationship with PC USA church. This is a good thing and new. Our relationship has been tarnished in the past by bitter feelings. These have been aside and forgiveness has triumphed. We however will never merge with them because of our serious theological differences. I pray for them to get their house in order.

As to the actual churches themselves... The congregations tend to be small. We feature all sorts of worship services, though most tend to be traditional. If the Praise and Worship movement appeals to you, some of the churches have this type of worship. Most however are traditional.
The church also is very welcoming to many different denominations. We have actually had a Baptist preacher one Sunday. One of our pastors converted to Catholicism. He is still welcomed and loved by our church.

I hope this helps your understanding......