Category Archives: OPC

87th General Assembly Of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

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The 87th General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church will convene this evening, Wednesday, 7 July, at 7 PM Central Time on the campus of the Dordt University, Sioux Center, Iowa. The meeting will conclude by noon on Tuesday, 14 July. This represents the complete postponement of the 2020 Assembly.

This GA does not have live streaming but we usually have the next best thing: There is a tradition of very well done running daily reports for the OPC GA and in expecting the tradition to continue see if this works when the assembly gets underway.

The agenda and reports are not posted online but you can access the Book of Church Order and the Standing Rules and Instruments of GA if you need background material. There is also a collection of reports from previous GA’s that have become guidance for the church.

The OPC has elected to keep a perpetual hashtag for their meeting (no sticking a year or GA number in there) so it should once again be #OPCGA. In terms of who to follow, I can start with the OPC Twitter account (@OrthodoxPC) and the OPC Home Missions account (@opchomemissions). You can also follow them on their official Facebook page. For individuals tweeting there are already a number warming up for the meeting. It seems the mantle of the lead live tweeter has been handed to Jim Stevenson (@RevJimOPC) and David Mahaffy (@davidmahaffy) is in the building as well. It is probably worth keeping an eye on the Reformed Forum (@ReformedForum) crew including Camden Bucey (@CamdenBucey) and Jim Cassidy (@jjcassidy). While Forest Braden (@fbraden8) is active he advises us his contributions will not be from on-site. And other OPC related accounts to keep an eye on include D. G. Hart’s feed (@oldlife), maybe The Daily Genevan (@TheDailyGenevan), and an autoretweeter tied to one of their denominational associations, NAPARC. A couple other possibilities include Christopher Drew (@ChristopherDrew), Zach Siggins (@zachsiggins) and David Chism (@chismville). As always I will update as the meeting progresses.

Since reports and detailed agendas are not available to anyone but the commissioners, it is difficult to highlight any particular business items that will be coming to the Assembly in advance of it being considered on the floor. Keep an eye on the running report and maybe Twitter for info on what is being discussed. One tweet by Jim Stevenson does indicate that the GA “has 9 complaints on appeal and 4 appeals of judicial cases.”

So as this General Assembly gets underway, our prayers for the teaching and ruling elders of the OPC as they spend a week reflecting on what the Spirit is doing in their branch and their discernment of the future. May you indeed discern God’s will in your decision making.

[Editorial note: I did not forget about the PCA GA but due to family commitments the week got away from me. I am working on a review and commentary and hope to have it posted in a few days.]

General Assembly Season 2021

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May 1st is my official starting point for General Assembly Season and while I try to have this posted by then some commitments in other areas of my life made that difficult. At this point, as we continue through the GA Season my teaching responsibilities will be trailing off and I hope to be tracking everything more closely.

Looking at this GA season, for the meetings that we have good information on there is a mix of in-person, hybrid, and online meetings. It will be interesting to see how these all go.

So this is the line-up for General Assembly Season as I know it now. Please let me know if I have missed an announcement or a presbyterian branch.

PCT Logo

66th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
Taipei
20-22 April 2021


Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago logo

61st Synod Annual General Meeting
Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago
Hybrid
22-24 April 2021


Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australian logo

Synod
The Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia
Hunter PCEA, Cardiff, NSW
5-7 May 2021


Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad logo


45th General Assembly
Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad
Hybrid, based at Atlanta Vision Church
11 May 2021



Presbyterian Church of Tasmania logo


General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Tasmania
11 May 2021


Covenant Presbyterian Church logo

General Assembly & Family Camp
Covenant Presbyterian Church
Divide, Colorado
12-15 May 2021


Presbyterian Church of Malaysia logo


47th General Assembly
Christian Presbyterian Church of Malaysia
13-14 May 2021

Free Church of Scotland logo

General Assembly
Free Church of Scotland
17-19 May 2021
Videoconference

Korean-American Presbyterian Church of the Americas logo

45th General Assembly
Korean-American Presbyterian Church of the Americas
18-19 May 2021
Videoconference from World Hope Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles


Church of Scotland seal

General Assembly
Church of Scotland
22-27 May 2021
Blended, from the Assembly Hall, Edinburgh



Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) logo

General Assembly
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
24-26 May 2021
Videoconference

General Assembly
United Free Church of Scotland
26-28 May 2021
Hybrid
Milngavie United Free Church
Glasgow

146th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Canada
6-9 June 2021
Videoconference

Synod 2021
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland
7-9 June 2021
Videoconference

217th Stated Meeting of the General Synod
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
8-10 June 2021
First Presbyterian Church
Columbia, South Carolina



2021 Synod
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America
14-17 June 2021
Indiana Wesleyan University
Marion, Indiana


General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Queensland
Including the Presbytery of South Australia
21-24 June 2021
Living Church, Carina

41st General Assembly
Evangelical Presbyterian Church
22-25 June 2021
Second Presbyterian Church
Memphis

145th General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America
27 June – 2 July 2021
Louisville, Kentucky
Concurrent with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church

190th General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
27 June – 2 July 2021
Louisville, Kentucky
Concurrent with Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America


48th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in America
28 June -2 June 2021
St. Louis

N.S.W. State Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Australia
in the State of New South Wales
5 July 2021 (begins)
Hybrid, from Presbyterian Ladies’ College
Croydon, N.S.W.

87th General Assembly
Orthodox Presbyterian Church
7-14 July 2021
Dordt University
Sioux Center, Iowa

General Assembly
United Reformed Church (UK)
9-12 July 2021
Online
Included as the successor to the English Presbyterian Church


Reformed Presbyterian International Conference
20-16 July 2021
Marion, Indiana
Rescheduled from 2020, Canceled. Next in 2024



84th General Synod
Bible Presbyterian Church
5-9 August 2021
Grace Presbyterian Church, Cape Canaveral, FL

General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand
29 September -3 October 2021
St. Andrews College
Christchurch
(biennial – but rescheduled from 2020)

General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Victoria
4 – 7 October 2021


112th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Western Australia
29 October 2021 (begins)
St. Columba’s Church, Peppermint Grove



Presbyterian Church in Ireland logo


General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Ireland
TBA


Other Branches
Traditionally I have listed only those branches with annual meetings described as synod or general assembly meetings. There are a number of branches with a single judicatory that form themselves as presbyteries. Some of these meet annually, some meet multiple times throughout the year. For information purposes, I am including a list here of some of those branches which I will update regularly as I track Presbyterian dynamics.

So that’s the list I am tracking at the moment. I will update as appropriate. If I have missed one, or have information wrong or incomplete, please provide the appropriate information and I will update the list.

I will again reference the series of articles I wrote as an introduction to Presbyterian General Assemblies nine years ago. My GA 101 series consists of the following

GA101: Preface
GA101: Introduction – Why in the world would anybody want to do it this way?
GA101: Connectionalism – The Presbyterian Big Picture
GA101: The Cast of Characters – A score card to identify the players
GA101: The Moderator – All Things In Moderation
GA101: Where does the GA business come from? – Incoming!
GA101: Doing the business of GA — Decently and in Order

So GA Junkies, this season continues to be a bit different with all combinations of in-person, hybrid or blended, and online meetings.

And it is nice to be back to a full GA season, even if this one is still a bit different. And as I know some denominations found, in finding alternate meeting styles last year the GA season my have been permanently changed. More on that later.

So stay decent and in order my friends.

A Very Different General Assembly Season 2020

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Yesterday May 1 – my official starting point for General Assembly Season. But as many of you are aware, this will be a very different General Assembly Season. With the Covid-19 virus circulating almost all of the early meetings have been cancelled or postponed. Many are simply listed as “postponed” with hopes of rescheduling in 2020. Some have specifically stated that they will not happen this year. Still waiting on a few and I will update as announcements are made.

So this is the line-up for General Assembly Season as I know it now. Please let me know if I have missed an announcement or a presbyterian branch.

Presbyterian Church of Malaysia logo


46th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Malaysia
23-25 March 2020
Postponed, date to be determined.

Presbyterian Church in Taiwan logo

65th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
Taipei
21-24 April 2020
Postponed to a date not yet decided

Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago logo

60th Synod Annual General Meeting
Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago
April 2020 – Postponed Indefinitely


Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australian logo

Synod
The Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia
May 2020 – Postponed


Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad logo

45th General Assembly
Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad
5-7 May 2020
Orlando, Florida
Postponed to 4-6 May 2021
(I am seeing various info on this, still sorting through it)

Covenant Presbyterian Church logo

General Assembly & Family Camp
Covenant Presbyterian Church
5-9 May 2020
Westcliffe, Colorado

Presbyterian Church of Tasmania logo


General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Tasmania
12 May 2020


Korean-American Presbyterian Church of the Americas logo

44th General Assembly
Korean-American Presbyterian Church of the Americas
12-15 May 2020
Cancun, Mexico
To be held by Videoconference

Church of Scotland seal

General Assembly
Church of Scotland
16-22 May 2020
Edinburgh
Cancelled (breaking an over 300 years streak of Assemblies)
There will be a service to install the new Moderator on May 16

Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) logo

General Assembly
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
18 May 2020
Edinburgh
The Assembly shall convene by teleconference and suspend the Assembly to reconvene on or about 6 October in Inverness

Free Church of Scotland logo

General Assembly
Free Church of Scotland
18-21 May 2020
Edinburgh
The Assembly will meet virtually this year with a single session the evening of Monday 18 May.

Presbyterian Church in Ireland logo


General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Ireland
1-4 June 2020
Belfast
A Virtual meeting of the 2019 Assembly cancelled the 2020 Assembly – this is a break in a 180 year sting

87th General Assembly
Orthodox Presbyterian Church
3-9 June 2020
Eastern University
St. Davids, Pennsylvania
The 87th General Assembly has been postponed and will now convene on 2 June 2021

146th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Canada
7-11 June 2020
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, Ontario
The Assembly has been cancelled.

145th General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America
7-12 June 2020 – Rescheduled 27 June – 2 July, 2021
Louisville, Kentucky
Concurrent with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church

190th General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
7-12 June 2020 – Rescheduled 27 June – 2 July, 2021
Louisville, Kentucky
Concurrent with Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America

216th Stated Meeting of the General Synod
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
9-11 June 2020 – Rescheduled 18-21 August 2020
Bonclarken Conference Center
Flat Rock, North Carolina


General Assembly
United Free Church of Scotland
10 June 2020
Perth
The Meeting has been cancelled


48th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in America
15-19 June 2020
Birmingham
Postponed to 29 June – 2 July 2021

224th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
20-27 June 2020
Baltimore
Will be held on-line with plenaries on June 19, 26, and 27

General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Queensland
Including the Presbytery of South Australia
22 June 2020 – Rescheduled for September2020, date pending
Brisbane Boys’ College
Brisbane

40th General Assembly
Evangelical Presbyterian Church
23-26 June 2020
Hope Church, Cordova, TN
Rescheduled to September 17-18, 2020


189th Synod
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America
23-26 June 2020
Indiana Wesleyan University
Marion, Indiana
Cancelled as of 30 April

N.S.W. State Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Australia
in the State of New South Wales
13 July 2020 (begins)
Presbyterian Ladies’ College
Croydon, N.S.W.

Reformed Presbyterian International Conference
28 July to 3 August 2020
Indiana Wesleyan University
Marion, Indiana
Not an assembly or synod but a significant quadrennial gathering of Reformed Presbyterians
At this time still accepting reservations but may be cancelled shortly

Convocation of Sessions
Vanguard Presbytery
30 July 2020
Stephens Valley Church
Nashville, Tennessee
A meeting that is part of the development of a new denomination

84th General Synod
Bible Presbyterian Church
6-10 August 2020
Bible Presbyterian Church, Grand Island, NY

General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Victoria
5 – 8 October 2020

General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand
7-11 October 2020
Lindisfarne College
Hastings
(biennial)
The Assembly has been postponed until October 2021

113th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Western Australia
23 October 2020 (begins)
St. Columba’s Church, Peppermint Grove


So that’s the list I am tracking at the moment. I will update as appropriate. If I have missed one, or have information wrong or incomplete, please provide the appropriate information and I will update the list.

I will again reference the series of articles I wrote as an introduction to Presbyterian General Assemblies eight years ago. My GA 101 series consists of the following

GA101: Preface
GA101: Introduction – Why in the world would anybody want to do it this way?
GA101: Connectionalism – The Presbyterian Big Picture
GA101: The Cast of Characters – A score card to identify the players
GA101: The Moderator – All Things In Moderation
GA101: Where does the GA business come from? – Incoming!
GA101: Doing the business of GA — Decently and in Order

So GA Junkies, this is a very different season. By my count, there are currently seven Assemblies or Synods that are still on as scheduled, seven that appear to be postponed to later in the year, two to happen by videoconference approximately as scheduled (not counting electronic meetings to decently and in order reschedule the meeting), and twelve that appear to be cancelled/rescheduled for next year. I am still collecting info and some of the later ones may yet be rescheduled as well. We will see.

So with that, I pray that you stay safe and healthy at this time and may it pass quickly. And for the hard-core GA Junkies out there may the withdrawal symptoms not be too bad and may you find something else to do to fill the time.

And finally, with the prospect of video GA’s coming up, I will start working on a Bingo Card for the occasion. Let me know if you have one and I will share all that I find.

So stay decent and in order my friends.

86th General Assembly Of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

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The 86th General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church will convene this evening, Wednesday, 5 June, at 7 PM Central Time on the campus of the University of Texas in Richardson (Dallas), Texas. The meeting will conclude by noon on Tuesday, 11 June.

[UPDATE 2: The running daily updates are there now!] This GA does not have live streaming but we usually have the next best thing: There is a tradition of very well done running daily reports for the OPC GA and in expecting the tradition to continue watch this page when the assembly gets underway.

The agenda and reports are not posted online but you can access the Book of Church Order and the Standing Rules and Instruments of GA if you need background material. There is also a collection of reports from previous GA’s that have become guidance for the church.

The OPC has elected to keep a perpetual hashtag for their meeting (no sticking a year or GA number in there) so it should once again be #OPCGA. In terms of who to follow, I can start with the brand new OPC Twitter account (@OrthodoxPC) with all of two tweets, both from yesterday. You can also follow them on their official Facebook page. In addition, the OPC Home Missions (@opchomemissions) has an active feed. From here, I’ll just list the usual suspects and update once things get rolling.  The list would include Christopher Drew (@ChristopherDrew), and it is probably worth keeping an eye on the Reformed Forum (@ReformedForum) crew including Camden Bucey (@CamdenBucey) and Jim Cassidy (@jjcassidy). Early Twitter action suggests Forest Braden (@fbraden8) and Chris Dickason (@Cad_lib) will be tweeting. In addition, we might see comments on D. G. Hart’s feed (@oldlife), maybe The Daily Genevan (@TheDailyGenevan), and an autoretweeter tied to one of their denominational associations, NAPARC. UPDATE: After a day of business, I would add Jim Stevenson (@RevJimOPC) and Sean G. Morris (@mrseangmorris) to the follow list.

Since reports and detailed agendas are not available to anyone but the commissioners, it is difficult to highlight any particular business items that will be coming to the Assembly in advance of it being considered on the floor. Keep an eye on the running report and maybe Twitter for info on what is being discussed.

And in light of recent developments, it should be mentioned that one topic that will be on many people’s minds is the April shooting at the Chabad Synagogue outside San Diego. If you are not aware, the shooter was a member of the nearby Escondido Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The OPC released a statement on the shooting. A response piece by OPC pastor and college professor Carl Trueman, “Who’s to blame when the shooter is one of our own?” got some wide distribution, and there are other related pieces from D. G. Hart, and Shane Anderson on the Daily Genevan.

So as this General Assembly gets underway, our prayers for the teaching and ruling elders of the OPC as they spend a week reflecting on what the Spirit is doing in their branch and their discernment of the future. May you indeed discern God’s will in your decision making.

General Assembly Season 2019

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Has it been a year already? Time to get my act together for the new season. So buckle up – here we go.

Today is May 1 – my official starting point for General Assembly Season. Yes, a few Assemblies have already come and gone, but now we start to ramp up to the really busy season. Here is a look at what is coming.

As always, this is the line-up as I know it – I will update as I clarify additional Assembly and Synod meetings. Let me know if I have missed one.


45th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Malaysia
26-27 March 2019

63rd General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
Taipei
24-26 April 2019


59th Synod Annual General Meeting
Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago
25-27 April 2019

Synod
The Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia
7-10 May 2019
Manning PCEA Church, Taree, N.S.W.


General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Tasmania
14 May 2019

General Assembly & Family Camp
Covenant Presbyterian Church
15-19 May 2019
Dayton, Iowa


General Assembly
Church of Scotland
18-24 May 2019
Edinburgh



General Assembly
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
20-23 May 2019
Edinburgh

General Assembly
Free Church of Scotland
20-23 May 2019
Edinburgh

43rd General Assembly
Korean-American Presbyterian Church
21-24 May 2019
Los Angeles

General Assembly
United Free Church of Scotland
29-31 May 2019
Perth

145th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Canada
2-6 June 2019
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, Ontario


General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Ireland
3-6 June 2019
Belfast


86th General Assembly
Orthodox Presbyterian Church
5-11 June 2019
University of Texas
Richardson (Dallas), Texas

144th General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America
9-12 June 2019
Huntsville, Alabama
Concurrent with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church

189th General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
9-14 June 2019
Huntsville, Alabama
Concurrent with Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America


188th Synod
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America
10-14 June 2019
Geneva College
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
Concurrent with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church

215th Stated Meeting of the General Synod
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
11-13 June 2019
Geneva College
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
Concurrent with the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America

39th General Assembly
Evangelical Presbyterian Church
18-21 June 2019
Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church
Denver

General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Queensland
Including the Presbytery of South Australia
23-27 June 2019
Brisbane Boys’ College
Brisbane


47th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in America
25-28 June 2019
Dallas


N.S.W. State Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Australia
in the State of New South Wales
15 July 2019 (begins)
Presbyterian Ladies’ College
Croydon, N.S.W.

83rd General Synod
Bible Presbyterian Church
1-5 August 2019
Tacoma Bible Presbyterian Church, Washington

National Youth Assembly
Church of Scotland
16-19 August 2019
Stirlingshire
(Technically not a governing
body, but still an Assembly I track)


General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Australia
9 September 2019 (begins)
(trienniel)



General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Victoria
7 – 10 October 2019


112th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Western Australia
25 October 2019 (begins)
St. Columba’s Church, Peppermint Grove


 

Thanks to the list from the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council, I would add these additional two meetings that I don’t have more information on yet:

So that’s the list I am tracking at the moment. I will update as appropriate. If I have missed one, or have information wrong or incomplete, please provide the appropriate information and I will update the list.

And, to make the GA season complete here are two more items…

The first is the series of articles I wrote as an introduction to Presbyterian General Assemblies seven years ago. My GA 101 series consists of the following

GA101: Preface
GA101: Introduction – Why in the world would anybody want to do it this way?
GA101: Connectionalism – The Presbyterian Big Picture
GA101: The Cast of Characters – A score card to identify the players
GA101: The Moderator – All Things In Moderation
GA101: Where does the GA business come from? – Incoming!
GA101: Doing the business of GA — Decently and in Order

Yes, what started as a six-part series expanded into seven completed articles with two more unfinished ones (still) in the queue.

And finally, on to the ridiculous. Lest we take ourselves too seriously, a couple years ago I had a little fun with the General Assembly and in the post passed along the GA drinking game and GA Bingo. In addition, Allan Edwards has posted an alternate Bingo card reflecting the polity of the Presbyterian Church in America and Neil MacLennan has created one that reflects the idiosyncrasies of the Church of Scotland. Please play responsibly. 😉

So GA Junkies, it is open season so enjoy! May you have an exciting experience over the next few months of watching us do things decently and in order!

85th General Assembly Of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

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210px-OrthodoxPresbyterianChurchlogoThe 85th General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church will convene tomorrow, Monday, 11 June, at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, and is being held concurrently with the URCNA Synod. The meeting will conclude the evening of Friday, 15 June.

This GA does not have live streaming but we usually have the next best thing: There is a tradition of very well done running daily reports for the OPC GA and expecting the tradition to continue watch this page when the assembly gets under way.

The agenda and reports are not posted on-line but you can access the Book of Church Order and the Standing Rules and Instruments of GA if you need background material. There is also a collection of reports from previous GA’s that have become guidance for the church.

The OPC has elected to keep a perpetual hashtag for their meeting (no sticking a year or GA number in there) so it should once again be #OPCGA. In terms of who to follow let me list the usual suspects and update once things get rolling.  The list would include Ryan Cook (@ryanlawdawg), Christopher Drew (@ChristopherDrew), and maybe Rachel Stevenson (@whatshewrote). It is probably worth keeping an eye on the Reformed Forum (@ReformedForum) crew including Camden Bucey (@CamdenBucey) and Jim Cassidy (@jjcassidy). In addition we might see comments on D. G. Hart’s feed (@oldlife), maybe The Daily Genevan (@TheDailyGenevan), and one of their denominational associations, NAPARC.

Since reports and detailed agendas are not available to anyone but the commissioners, it is difficult to highlight any particular business items that will be coming to the Assembly in advance of it being considered on the floor. The URCNA has put out a full schedule showing the times of joint meetings. These include opening and closing worship, but it also has a session highlighting their joint work on the new Psalter Hymnal. I would add that once again the Rev. Todd Smith at Faith Bible OPC, Brick, NJ, has put together a brief and general summary of the meeting. Check back on that blog for his thoughts afterwards.

So prayers for the teaching and ruling elders of the OPC as they spend a week reflecting on what the Spirit is doing in their branch and their discernment of the future. May you indeed discern God’s will in your decision making.

General Assembly Season 2018

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Ah, the circle of life – overtures and moderator candidates are put forward, the General Assembly or General Synod has its say, and the descending overtures are considered by the presbyteries… And it begins all over again.

So here we are on May 1. And while a few Assemblies have already come and gone, we start to ramp up to the really busy season. What is headed our way? Let’s have a look…

First, this is simply the list – further detail will be necessary on a number of important and interesting items of business that will come before the various GA’s this year.

As always, this is the line-up as I know it – I will update as I clarify additional Assembly and Synod meetings. Let me know if I have missed one.


44th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Malaysia
2-4 April 2018

 

 


22nd General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of East Africa
9-14 April 2018
St. Andrew Parish Hall, Nairobi, Kenya
(Triennial assembly)

 

 

 

200px-Presbyterian_Church_in_Taiwan
63rd General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
17-20 April 2018

 

 

Synod Annual General Meeting
Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago
26-28 April 2018
Naparima College, San Fernando
Celebrating the church’s sesquicentennial

 

pcea_logo
Synod
The Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia
1-3 May 2018
Manning PCEA Church, Taree, N.S.W.

 

pca_tasmania_logo
General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Tasmania
15 May 2018 (begins)

 

Logo_of_the_Church_of_Scotland
General Assembly
Church of Scotland
19-25 May 2018
Edinburgh

 

 


General Assembly
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
21-24 May 2018
Edinburgh

 

General Assembly
Free Church of Scotland
21-24 May 2018
Edinburgh

 

42nd General Assembly
Korean-American Presbyterian Church
22-25 May 2018
New York City

 

General Assembly & Family Camp
Covenant Presbyterian Church
22-26 May 2018
Trinity, Texas

 

144th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Canada
3-6 June 2018
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, Ontario

 

bush

General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Ireland
4-7 June 2018
Belfast

 

arpc_2846216
214th Stated Meeting of the General Synod
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
5-7 June 2018
Bonclarken
Flat Rock, North Carolina

 

ufcscot_logo
General Assembly
United Free Church of Scotland
6-8 June 2018
Perth

 

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85th General Assembly
Orthodox Presbyterian Church
11-15 June 2018
Wheaton College
Wheaton, Illinois

 


46th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in America
12-15 June 2018
Atlanta

 


223rd General Assembly
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
16-23 June 2018
St. Louis
(Biennial)

 

143rd General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America
17-21 June 2018
Norman, Oklahoma
Concurrent with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church

 

cplogosmallwithtext200x200188th General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
17-21 June 2018
Norman, Oklahoma
Concurrent with Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America

 


38th General Assembly
Evangelical Presbyterian Church
19-22 June 2018
Hope Church
Memphis, Tennessee

 

pca-logo-4b-small
General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Queensland
Including the Presbytery of South Australia
24-28 June 2018
Brisbane Boys’ College
Brisbane

 

Reformed_Presbyterian_Church_of_North_America_(banner)
187th Synod
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America
26-29 June 2018
Indiana Wesleyan University
Marion, Indiana

 

 

pca-logo-4f-small
N.S.W. State Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Australia
in the State of New South Wales
9 July 2018 (begins)
Croydon, N.S.W.

 

International Congress
Free Presbyterian Church
30 July – 3 August 2018
Philadelphia

 

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82nd General Synod
Bible Presbyterian Church
2-6 August 2018
Bible Presbyterian Church of Lakeland, Florida

 

NYA_0National Youth Assembly
Church of Scotland
17-20 August 2018
Stirlingshire
(Technically not a governing
body, but still an Assembly I track)

 


General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand
3 – 7 October 2018
St. Andrews College, Christchurch
(Biennial)

 

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General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Victoria
8 – 12 October 2018

 

 

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111th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Western Australia
28 October 2018 (begins)
St. Columba’s Church, Peppermint Grove

 

Thanks to the list from the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council, I would add these additional two GA’s that I don’t have more information on yet:

  • Presbyterian Reformed Church, 6-8 June 2018, Jasper, Indiana
  • Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad, 30 Oct – 2 Nov 2018, Philadelphia

These are the ones that I am tracking at the moment. I will update as appropriate. If I have missed one, or have information wrong or incomplete, please provide the appropriate information and I will update the list.

And, to make the GA season complete here are two more items…

The first is the series of articles I wrote as an introduction to Presbyterian General Assemblies seven years ago. My GA 101 series consists of the following

GA101: Preface
GA101: Introduction – Why in the world would anybody want to do it this way?
GA101: Connectionalism – The Presbyterian Big Picture
GA101: The Cast of Characters – A score card to identify the players
GA101: The Moderator – All Things In Moderation
GA101: Where does the GA business come from? – Incoming!
GA101: Doing the business of GA — Decently and in Order

Yes, what started as a six part series expanded into seven completed articles with two more unfinished ones (still) in the queue.

And finally, on to the ridiculous. Lest we take ourselves too seriously, a couple years ago I had a little fun with the General Assembly and in the post passed along the GA drinking game and GA Bingo. In addition, Allan Edwards has posted an alternate Bingo card reflecting the polity of the Presbyterian Church in America and Neil MacLennan has created one that reflects the idiosyncrasies of the Church of Scotland. Please play responsibly. 😉

So GA Junkies, it is open season so enjoy! May you have an exciting experience over the next few months of watching us do things decently and in order!

Info Related To Hurricane Harvey Disaster Relief From American Presbyterian Branches

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As the catastrophe of Hurricane, now Tropical Storm, Harvey continues to develop, American Presbyterian branches are responding with aid and prayers. Here are links to the latest information I am aware as well as a brief summary from each branch that I have found has posted online:  [Update with MSM links and some church info 8/30/17; more MSM links and church updates 8/31/17]

Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
In a pre-landfall update they named the leaders and members of Good Shepherd ARPC in Houston, Hope Presbyterian ARPC in Pearland, and Faith Fellowship in Cypruss TX for prayer. A post-landfall report yesterday gives an update and a link to donate through their Good Samaritan Relief fund.

Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians
Nothing obvious on the web site but an email/Twitter bulletin when out before landfall seeking prayers and updates. After landfall they have retweeted to help with relief through World Renew. You can get updates from World Renew on Twitter from @WorldRenew_net.

Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Information on donations is in both an EP Connections article as well as on their Emergency Relief page.

Orthodox Presbyterian Church
They have posted a number of resources for prayer and contributions including the article on the main site, the OPC Disaster Response Facebook page, and the OPC Short-Term Mission and Disaster Response web site. They ask us to keep in prayer the leaders and members of Cornerstone OPC in Houston and Providence OPC in Kingwood, TX. For updates keep an eye on the Facebook page.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is deployed on scene and beginning their work. There is PC(USA) coverage in a couple of articles posted on that site – Aug 27, and Aug 28. The Presbyterian Outlook has just posted a detailed article about PDA’s work there and options for supporting the efforts. The PDA site also includes worship resources for churches including a bulletin insert about the recovery work. Updates from PDA can be seen on their Twitter feed @PDAcares. Update: New article from PC(USA) on the work by PDA

Presbyterian Church in America
The PCA’s Mission to North America (MNA) Disaster Response team is also deploying to the area. There is a page with Disaster Updates that also has information for Prayer, Giving, Sending Supplies, and Preparing to Go to serve. Updates can be found on the Twitter feed @pcamna. Update: New update added to the Disaster Updates page.

That is the information I have found at this point. Let me know if you have additional resources and I will update as appropriate.

Our prayers and support go out to all those affected by this disaster.

UPDATE: Adding some links from the mainstream media that involve Presbyterians. Plenty that mention Presbyterian disaster relief organizations in where to give lists, but beyond that, some others I have seen:

 

84th General Assembly Of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

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210px-OrthodoxPresbyterianChurchlogoThe 84th General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church will convene today, Wednesday, 31 May, in just a couple hours at Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, Illinois. The meeting will conclude no later than noon next Tuesday, 6 June.

This GA does not have live streaming but we usually have the next best thing: There is a tradition of very well done running daily reports for the OPC GA and expecting the tradition to continue watch this page when the assembly gets under way.

The agenda and reports are not posted on-line but you can access the Book of Church Order and the Standing Rules and Instruments of GA if you need background material. There is also a collection of reports from previous GA’s and it is possible that last year’s report on Republication might be the topic of some additional discussion this year.

The OPC has elected to keep a perpetual hashtag for their meeting (no sticking a year or GA number in there) so it should once again be #OPCGA. In terms of who to follow let me list the usual suspects and update once things get rolling.  The list would include Ryan Cook (@ryanlawdawg), “Toad” (@oldprinceton), and Rachel Stevenson (@whatshewrote). It is probably worth keeping an eye on D. G. Hart’s feed (@oldlife), maybe The Daily Genevan (@TheDailyGenevan) will have more, and @chortlesweakly has been commenting in the lead-up to the meeting. Will also include one of their denominational associations, NAPARC.

Since reports and detailed agendas are not available to anyone but the commissioners, it is difficult to highlight any particular business items that will be coming to the Assembly in advance of it being considered on the floor. I would simply pass along the blog post from Rev. Todd Smith at Faith Bible OPC, Brick, NJ, who mentions two items for his congregation to pray about. The first is a number of judicial cases and appeals that the Assembly will have to render judgement upon this week. As that is done in closed session we can expect to hear almost nothing further on that. The second is a concern for a denomination that they are in fraternal relations with which is considering changes to their ordination standards to include the ordination of women. I suspect we will hear more of that as the week progresses.

So prayers for the teaching and ruling elders of the OPC as they spend a week reflecting on what the Spirit is doing in their branch and their discernment of the future. May you indeed discern God’s will in your decision making.

General Assembly Season 2017

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It is May 1st – Already? We have once again returned to the date on my calendar that marks the beginning of the General Assembly Season. Where has the time gone?

This is simply the list – further detail will be necessary on a number of important and interesting items of business that will come before the GA’s this year.

As always, this is the line-up as I know it – I will update as I clarify additional Assembly and Synod meetings.

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62nd General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
18-21 April 2017

 

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Synod
The Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia
2-4 May 2017
Mt. Druitt, N.S.W.

 

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General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Tasmania
16 May 2017 (begins)

 

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General Assembly
Church of Scotland
20-26 May 2017
Edinburgh

 

 

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General Assembly
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
22-25 May, 2017
Edinburgh

 

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General Assembly
Free Church of Scotland
22-25 May 2017
Edinburgh

 

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General Assembly
United Free Church of Scotland
31 May – 2 June 2017
Perth

 

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84th General Assembly
Orthodox Presbyterian Church
31 May – 6 June 2017
Trinity Christian College
Palos Heights, Illinois

 

Presbyterian_Church_in_Canada_(logo)143rd General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Canada
4-7 June 2017
Queen’s University
Kingston, Ontario

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General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Ireland
5-9 June 2017
Belfast

 

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213th Stated Meeting of the General Synod
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
6-8 June 2017
Bonclarken
Flat Rock, North Carolina

 


45th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in America
12-16 June 2017
Greensboro, North Carolina

 

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General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Queensland
18-22 June 2017
Fairholme College Toowoomba
Toowoomba
Note: The Presbyterian Church of South Australia will not hold an Assembly again this year and operates as a presbytery of PCQ

 

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142nd General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America
18-21 June 2017
Innisbrook Resort
Tampa, Florida
Concurrent with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church

 

cplogosmallwithtext200x200187th General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
18-23 June 2017
Innisbrook Resort
Tampa, Florida
Concurrent with Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America


37th General Assembly
Evangelical Presbyterian Church
20-23 June 2017
Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church
Fair Oaks, California

 

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186th Synod
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America
28-30 June 2017
Indiana Wesleyan University
Marion, Indiana

 

 

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N.S.W. State Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Australia
in the State of New South Wales
3 July 2017 (begins)
Croydon, N.S.W.

 

NYA_0National Youth Assembly
Church of Scotland
21-24 July 2017
Stirlingshire
(Technically not a governing
body, but still an Assembly I track)

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81st General Synod
Bible Presbyterian Church
3-7 August 2017
Edmonton BPC, Edmonton, Alberta

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General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Victoria
9 – 13 October 2017

 

 

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General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Western Australia
27 October 2017

 

These are the ones that I am tracking at the moment. I will update as appropriate. If I have missed one, or have information wrong or incomplete, please provide the appropriate information and I will update the list.

And, to make the GA season complete here are two more items…

The first is the series of articles I wrote as an introduction to Presbyterian General Assemblies seven years ago. My GA 101 series consists of the following

GA101: Preface
GA101: Introduction – Why in the world would anybody want to do it this way?
GA101: Connectionalism – The Presbyterian Big Picture
GA101: The Cast of Characters – A score card to identify the players
GA101: The Moderator – All Things In Moderation
GA101: Where does the GA business come from? – Incoming!
GA101: Doing the business of GA — Decently and in Order

Yes, what started as a six part series expanded into seven completed articles with two more unfinished ones (still) in the queue.

And finally, on to the ridiculous. Lest we take ourselves too seriously, a couple years ago I had a little fun with the General Assembly and in the post passed along the GA drinking game and GA Bingo. In addition, Allan Edwards has posted an alternate Bingo card reflecting the polity of the Presbyterian Church in America and Neil MacLennan has created one that reflects the idiosyncrasies of the Church of Scotland. Please play responsibly. 😉

One other thing is that you may have noticed a new tab on the top navigation bar for a Calendar of Presbyterian and Reformed General Assemblies, Synods and Other Events. I have just begun to populate it but hope that within the week I will have most of the items in this post, plus a few more, entered into that calendar. It is an attempt to provide a resource for those times when someone asks about a GA date well before my May 1 date for publishing this list.

So GA Junkies, go for it. It is GA season so enjoy! May you have an exciting experience over the next few months of watching us do things decently and in order!