Next week, I will be traveling to Birmingham, AL to gather with over 2000 other elders for our annual meeting of the General Assembly (GA). The assembly is one of three “courts” or governing bodies in our system of church government. The other two are the presbytery and the session (the elders of a particular congregation). At GA, we will worship together. We will fellowship over meals. We will hear reports from the committees and agencies of the PCA, such as Mission to the World and Reformed University Fellowship. And we will consider and debate requests (called overtures) from presbyteries for changes to how we conduct our life together as a denomination.
So, I wanted to give you a brief overview of some of the issues and matters that will be before this GA. Perhaps the most noteworthy item will be hearing and acting on the report from the Ad Interim Committee on Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault (https://pcaga.org/aic-report-abuse/). I mentioned this report in a sermon a couple of weeks ago. The link will take you to a web page from which you can download and read the report. The committee was formed by the 47th GA not in response to any particular allegations within our churches but in recognition of the pervasiveness of these sins in general and a desire to provide resources so that we might be proactively prepared to handle such situations when they inevitably will arise.
The other hot topic will center around homosexuality and same sex attraction. As a pastoral warning, you may hear some say that the PCA is debating homosexuality, as if there is a move in our denomination to embrace and legitimize it. Let me, as your pastor, be clear. The PCA affirms that such practice and desires are sinful. I am unaware of any elder or movement that states differently. The PCA also affirms the need for gospel ministry to those who struggle with such sins. The more narrow question we will be discussing is whether or not a man who has struggled or currently struggles with such attractions but is resisting such temptations and not acting upon them is a viable candidate to be ordained as an elder or deacon in our churches. Several overtures are seeking to change our Book of Church Order to include wise parameters to assist in answering this question. If you have questions about this, please speak with me and I will try and clarify and answer to the best of my ability.
Other overtures before the GA include:
- Numerous overtures which seek to perfect our judicial process to make it clearer and more just
- A request to withdraw from the National Association of Evangelicals
- A petition for the United States government to end abortion
- A statement on political violence
- Changes to how congregational and presbytery meetings function
- Request for the Standing Judicial Commission of GA (like the Supreme Court of the PCA) to assume responsibility for two judicial situations, one involving Teaching Elder Greg Johnson and one concerning Central Indiana Presbytery and their handling of a judicial matter involving a Teaching Elder
Saints, as you can see, there are numerous weighty matters before the 49th General Assembly. So, I have two requests for you. First, if you hear or read something about this GA that raises concerns, please reach out to me so we can discuss them together. Unfortunately, like so much of news these days, even the actions of the GA are often conveyed with a touch of spin to them. Second, please pray. Pray for wisdom that only comes from above. Pray for the presence and work of the Spirit. Pray that we will be ruled by the love of Christ, even in our disagreements. Pray that our speech in our deliberations will be full of grace and seasoned with salt, so that we would truly speak the truth in love. And pray that God, in His grace, would continue to lead and guide the PCA into ever greater conformity with His will.
