The 49th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) met in Birmingham, AL from June 21-24. In attendance were a record number of commissioners (2,385). We gathered for worship three times, heard reports from our permanent committees and agencies, and acted on matters and requests sent to us. While there was vigorous debate and discussion at times, there was an overall spirit of collegiality and collaboration. You can find an extensive report here. So, I will share only a few, brief highlights.

The stated clerk of the denomination, TE Bryan Chapell, gave a report on the overall state of the PCA. We are aging as a body (average member age is 55). For a third straight year, we have experienced a slight decline in membership, mainly due to the effects of the pandemic, with average attendance only at about 70% of pre-pandemic levels. We are experiencing what some are calling “the great attendance shuffle” as we seek to minister in a country where average church attendance is half of what it was 20 years ago.

The news is not all bleak.  Here are some encouraging signs:

• Our church planting efforts are still strong. Though down from pre-Covid rates, we are still seeing a rate of one new church planted every two weeks.
• We still maintain one of the largest per capita foreign missions groups among denominations today. Efforts are on the way to care for our existing and new missionaries through small group cohorts as well as larger gatherings for worship, encouragement, and training. We have also worked to reduce the administrative costs associated with supporting our missionaries.
• Our college ministry (RUF) is now on 148 campuses in 41 states. In addition, there are 18 RUF-International ministries, which seek to reach out to international students who come to the states for their education but who will return to their home countries after graduation, many in positions of leadership and influence. Seven RUF-Global ministries are up in running, in places like Mexico City and L’viv, Ukraine.
• We continue to provide excellent discipleship material for children, youth, men, and women. We also hold conferences that seek to train leaders in those areas of ministry.
• While both of our educational institutions, Covenant College and Covenant Theological Seminary, experienced enrollment downturns due to the pandemic, there are encouraging signs of that trend reversing. Both the college and the seminary used creative means to continue their missions during the pandemic and continue to be sources of future church members and leaders.

One major focus of our time together was hearing the report from the Ad Interim Committee on Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault. Unlike the report at the Southern Baptist Convention which came out prior to our meeting and dealt with investigation into actual situations, our report examined the biblical and theological foundations for understanding abuse and assault as well as providing helpful suggestions and resources for how to practically handle these matters if and when they occur in one’s church. The report is well done and helpful and I commend it to you for your reading. It is likely that the next Assembly will be considering overtures which request that we do an audit of our churches on these matters so that we can have a better sense of where we are doing well and where we need to improve.

The other significant focus was on responding to overtures. Overtures are requests (usually from presbyteries) that the Assembly take a certain action or amend the Constitution of the PCA (Westminster Confession of Faith, Larger and Shorter Catechisms, Book of Church Order). Such amendments, if approved, would then be sent to the presbyteries for a vote. There were over 40 overtures sent to this year’s Assembly, some dealing with similar topics.  I can’t cover them all but there are a few I would highlight.

• It was approved that the PCA withdraw from the National Association of Evangelicals. The argument to leave centered mainly on the NAE holding positions that did not reflect the views of many of our members and churches.
• Several overtures for changes to our Book of Church Order were passed that deal with how to address the issue of men seeking ordination who have had or have struggles with same sex attraction. As I have noted before, there is no move in the PCA to declare that homosexual acts and desires are not sinful nor to forego ministry to those who have such struggles.
• The issue of how to care for both accuser and accused in judicial processes involving accusations of abuse generated numerous overtures, most of which were approved and sent down to the presbyteries.

There is much more I could say but that is a pretty good starting point. Again, you can go to the link provided at the beginning if you want more details. If you have particular questions, please feel free to send them to me. And, saints, thank you for praying. There are hard issues facing our denomination and at times the way forward is unclear. Your prayers are needed, so keep asking our great King and Savior, Jesus Christ, to watch over us and lead us in wise, good, and righteous paths.