Category Archives: General Assembly

Friday Evening At The 224th PC(USA) GA

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Well that was an interesting evening.

The 224th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has begun and the opening session certainly is one for the history books.

Under normal circumstances, the opening session of the General Assembly on Saturday afternoon is mostly training and business done as a formality. This includes the adoption of the Standing Rules, report of the outgoing Co-Moderators, the first report of the Nominating Committee and information on challenging a nomination, and a formal vote on distributing the business to the Assembly commissioner committees. It is mostly routine business to get the meeting going and do the decent and in order stuff to be sure the business and polity is set for the rest of the week. Then everyone comes back Saturday evening to elect the Co-Moderators.

For this Assembly it was already known that things would not be that routine. A special set of standing rules had to be adopted to facilitate a virtual GA with less time to do business. There were none of the regular committees so the business had to be tailored to fit a meeting that was always in plenary. And with the limited time some items had to be removed from the docket so the load was manageable.

The docket originally had scheduled one hour for this work. At a meeting yesterday afternoon the Business Referrals Committee – the only committee at this assembly which will handle the schedule and polity matters – added an extra hour to the opening business. So into tonight we went…

Four and a half hours later the GA finished the opening business. Since it was 11:30 pm on the east coast the Business Referrals Committee recommended adding another session by moving the election of the Co-Moderators to tomorrow night and the commissioners agreed by a vote of 349 to 120. So, another meeting and a change to my dinner plans.

The good news for the week was that only two closely-related items were removed from the list of business that was not considered critical or necessary enough to squeeze into this year’s abbreviated meeting. That is good news in the sense of the business load for this meeting has only increased by a little. It is bad news for the eight commissioners who were waiting in the queue to make motions removing other items from the list to refer. In particular, multiple individuals expressed disappointment that the Family Leave provisions would have to wait a couple more years. (And since it was a Book of Order change, two years beyond that.)

In the midst of all this there we a few interesting polity issues that arose.

The first are the necessary steps to allow this General Assembly to happen online. With an in-person GA not practical for a number of reasons, and with the Book of Order requiring a GA, pretty much the only option was to go online. The problem is that the PC(USA) does not have the bylaws or standing rules in place to make this happen so it was mentioned by a couple of individuals that this meeting is sort of happening outside Robert’s Rules of Order but everyone was trying to be clean and transparent about the whole thing. As the polity wonks know, this can be cleaned up by having the next regular, in-person meeting of the body – which would be the 225th GA in two years – ratify all of the actions taken by this assembly. (And I think it is a good bet that some language will be proposed to provide the option for virtual GA’s again if the need should arise.)

Another polity issue that was of concern and on the floor a couple of times was one of the special standing rules for this meeting that prohibited commissioner resolutions and new business to be brought to the assembly. The first instance was when the rules were being adopted and multiple commissioners had concerns about that prohibition. A motion was made to amend that standing rule to add an exception to allow motions to create “an Assembly-wide committee to discuss how PC(USA) will address social injustice prior to the 225th General Assembly.” The motion was defeated by 132 yes to 335 no. From the debate, the opposition to the amendment included both those who did not think adding such a significant item to a short meeting was wise and those that felt that carving such a narrow loophole was the way to go.

The second instance was when the Business Referrals Committee made a motion to suspend the standing rules to add two items of new business to the list of business for the meeting. That passed with the necessary 2/3 super-majority for suspending the rules. And one of these new business items helps address the issues for which the loophole noted above was concerned with.

And it was pointed out a couple of times that this latter approach is a permissible way for new business to be introduced. If the standing rules don’t allow it then move to suspend the rules and see if you can get the 2/3 vote.

The hot topic of the evening was the relationship of the San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) to the PC(USA) through the Committee on Theological Education (COTE). The first instance was when a commissioner moved that the Dean of SFTS, the Rev Dr Jana Childers, be seated as a corresponding member as the other seminary leaders are. Turning to the Stated Clerk for advice, J. Herbert Nelson explained that when SFTS was “bought” (yes that is the term he used) by the University of Redlands they ceased to have status as a Presbyterian Seminary. As he said, “At this time there is no standing that would allow them to be seated.” The moderator ruled that the motion was out of order and moved on.

A couple minutes later the motion was made to challenge the ruling of the Moderator and after some discussion and explanation of this parliamentary procedure the ruling of the Moderator was sustained 334 to 133 and the challenge failed.

A bit later in the meeting when the business sorting was before the Assembly, the motion was made to not refer the Assembly Organization for Mission section related to COTE to the 225th GA but to deal with it in this Assembly to help sort out the status of SFTS. This move was defeated by a vote of 102 yes to 363 no.

So, the first plenary of the 224th General Assembly is suspended and will resume at 7 PM tomorrow, Saturday June 20th, with the only item of business being the election of the Co-Moderators.

But in a general sense, this was a slow start to the meeting and it raised some concerns in some peoples minds about whether the pace would pick up later in the week. A couple of the SMADs (Social Media Advisory Delegates) on Twitter wondered if the 224th GA would finish by the time the 225th begins. As I pointed out, at least with a virtual GA there is no convention hall that has a hard limit for the meeting to clear out on Saturday.

So that’s the opening night. Big credit to the Co-Moderators of the 223rd GA who handled the online meeting with grace, humor and a steady hand. Best wishes to them as they finish their term tomorrow – and I hope they enjoy this extra day. And prayers continue for all of those standing for Co-Moderators of the 224th GA. Being ready for the pressure of the election and suddenly having it moved back 24 hours can not be easy. Blessings on you as you regroup and get ready to do it again tomorrow.

Sleep well everyone.

Standing For Co-Moderators Of The PC(USA) GA 3 – Marie Mainard O’Connell & Arthur King Fullerton

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Co-Moderator team of Arthur Fullerton and Marie Mainard O'Connell
Arthur Fullerton and Marie Mainard O’Connell (picture from the PC(USA) GA website)

Arthur K. Fullerton announced his intention to stand as a candidate for Moderator of the PC(USA) 224th General Assembly in the first half of May and he was joined in this Co-Moderator team by Marie Mainard O’Connell about two weeks later. Both candidates have not been endorsed by there presbyteries – a customary but not required step – having not had the opportunity due to the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. UPDATE: As noted in the comments, since the PC(USA) news article both candidates have been endorsed by their presbyteries in virtual meetings.

For detailed information about them and their sense of call to serve as Co-Moderators, there is the regular General Assembly Moderator Candidates Information Booklet and they also have a team Facebook page and team website in Mr. King’s name. The team material lists only Arthur’s personal Twitter account. In addition, there is the Presbyterian News Service story as well as the Outlook’s Q&A piece covering all the Moderator candidates, and a similar piece following their online “Meet the Candidates” event.

Marie Mainard O’Connell is a teaching elder and currently the pastor of Park Hill Presbyterian Church in North Little Rock, Arkansas. According to the website bio, she is a native of Arkansas but grew up in Texas. She holds a Master’s Degree in College Administration and she worked as Program Coordinator for the Office of Student Engagement at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia before going to seminary. She was ordained as the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Little Rock and before moving to Park Hill she served as a Young Adult Volunteer Coordinator in the area. She has worked with community organizations, including the local Industrial Areas Foundation, and served on her presbytery’s Committee for the Future and currently moderates the Committee on Representation.

Arthur K. Fullerton is a ruling elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Albany, New York. According to his bio, he is also a native of Arkansas but his life journey has taken him across the country and he has been active in Presbyterian churches from California, to Florida, to New York City, as well as Arkansas. He has a Harvard MBA and a Master in Applied Positive Psychology from University of Pennsylvania. He has worked and taught in the field of Applied Positive Psychology but also has worked as a consultant and a fundraiser for various organizations. He has served as Moderator of Albany Presbytery and currently serves on the Presbytery PJC.

Their theme is “Preparing the way for a Future Church” and their website has a page dedicated to that. That page is their answer to the first OGA question to the teams about living into the GA theme of “From Lament to Hope.” In their response they say:

Before the virus struck, the PCUSA was like the ancient Israelites wandering in the Wilderness, pining for Egypt. Egypt was the post WWII era of full pews, bouncing children, and overflowing budgets; a reality long past, but still preferred. Of course, that Egypt also oppressed with segregation, marginalized women, and criminalized LGBTQ folks. As a gay man born in 1962 in the segregated South, and a Xennial minister-mom, we’re glad we left Egypt behind. Thinking back, we know God has been with us through many joys and perils, as God is with us now. 

And they continue a bit later in the response:

We are not going back to Egypt. We may still be wandering in the Wilderness, but the coronavirus has given us a glimpse of a potential Promised Land. A future Church focused more on relationships than right beliefs; a Church beyond four walls; a Church that seeks to Love God and Love our Neighbor in more than words. A Church that hears Jesus call us to be fishers of people, not building preservationists. A Church unafraid to try and fail and try again at new technologies and practices to reach seekers old and new.

All three teams give the commissioners something to think about and discern tonight. Several possible firsts among the teams and many cumulative years of experience in the PC(USA) and skills in many different directions. We look forward to the election process as the questions that are asked tell us as much about the commissioners, and by extension about where the church is at right now, as the answers tell us about those standing for the positions of Co-Moderator. Stay tuned, and just maybe more tonight after the election.

Standing For Co-Moderators Of The PC(USA) GA 2 – Elona Street-Stewart & Gregory Bentley

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Co-Moderator Team of Gregory Bentley and Elona Street-Steward
Gregory Bentley and Elona Street-Stewart (Photo from PC(USA) Moderator Candidates Information Booklet)

The team of Elona Street-Stewart and Gregory Bentley – typically using the form “Elona and Gregory” – announced their candidacy in mid-March. Elona is a ruling elder and serves as the Synod Executive of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. (She was endorsed by the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area.) Gregory Bentley is a teaching elder and the pastor of Fellowship Presbyterian Church of Huntsville, Alabama.

For detailed information about them and their sense of call to serve as Co-Moderators there is the regular General Assembly Moderator Candidates Information Booklet and they also have a team Facebook page and team website through the Synod. There is also the team Instagram and Twitter accounts which have not been too active. In addition, there is the Presbyterian News Service story as well as the Outlook’s Q&A piece covering all the Moderator candidates, and a similar piece following their online “Meet the Candidates” event.

Elona Street-Stewart was born and raised in Philadelphia but has also lived in California, Oregon, and now Minnesota. Professionally, she has been involved in education and advocacy on a number of levels. She also has been professional staff at the synod and national levels of the PC(USA) including 11 years as the Associate for Racial Ethnic Ministry. Her many community positions include the distinction of being the first Native American to serve on an urban school board in Minnesota. (She is a member of the Delaware –Nanticoke Tribe.) Other PC(USA) work includes being a long-time member of the Self-Development of Peoples Committee.

Gregory Bentley is a graduate of Stillman College and Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary but did not come directly to the ministry, from reading his bio in the Information Booklet. He worked as a dental assistant in the Army Reserves and a physical science and biology teacher before being ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in 1988. His church work has included serving as the Moderator of the Committee on Representation and the Commission on Ministry and he is a Past-President of the National Black Presbyterian Caucus. He has also been active in community affairs and advocacy including serving as the Chair of Minority Affairs for a local branch of the Democratic Party and the President of the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Their theme is “Learning from the Past… Living in the Present… Looking to the Future!” In the statements in the Moderator Candidates Information Booklet, they often reference the past as in this comment from Elona:

“Gregory and I represent the people who have been a part of this church from the beginning—but often not in roles that have allowed them to bring their full selves.”

Another theme in their responses is the PC(USA)’s Matthew 25 initiative. In response to the question in the booklet about the COVID-19 virus and “How can the church’s witness be strengthened as a result of COVID-19 Gregory responds, in part, by saying:

“In many ways, COVID-19 is the crisis that reveals the crisis we were already in. It has, in a manner of speaking, democratized the suffering of the poor and people of color whose conditions, concerns and challenges have been ignored for generations. With so many more now being affected, it can no longer be ignored. Instead of pining and wishing fora return to the status quo ante, we have to commit ourselves to a fundamentally different way of being in the world that is life giving and life sustaining for all God’s children and all of creation. And the Matthew 25 Initiative of the PCUSA is one of the ways that we readdressing this as a denomination by promoting congregational vitality, the dismantlement of structural racism, and the eradication of systemic poverty.”

As the commissioners ask their questions of the candidates this evening our prayers are with them for clarity and discernment and with the candidates as they respond to the questions. God’s blessings on you all.

Standing For Co-Moderators Of The PC(USA) GA 1 – Moon Lee & Sandra Hedrick

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The start of the 224th General Assembly of the PC(USA) is a few hours away and in these days of reconfigured meetings, it will be interesting to see how a virtual GA operates. The opening night has been moved from Saturday to Friday and like every year the headline event will be the Election of the Co-Moderators. I posted my intro to the GA last night and I will have more thoughts on the GA coming soon, but first a look at the Moderator Teams, in order of their announcements.

Sandra Hedrick and Moon Lee - Co-Moderator Team
Sandra Hedrick and Moon Lee (Photo from their Moderatorial Facebook Page)

The first team to announce was Moon Lee and Sandra Hedrick in mid-January. Moon Lee is a ruling elder at Community Church of Seattle in the Presbytery of the Northwest Coast. Alexandra “Sandra” Hedrick is a teaching elder and the pastor of Kirkwood Presbyterian Church of Jacksonville, Florida, and also serves as the stated clerk of the Presbytery of Saint Augustine.

For detailed information about them and their call to serve as Co-Moderators there is the regular General Assembly Moderator Candidates Information Booklet and they also have a team Facebook page and website. In addition, the Outlook included the Presbyterian News Service story as well as a Q&A piece covering all the Moderator candidates, and a similar piece following their online “Meet the Candidates” event.

Moon Lee describes a bit of his faith journey in his bio on the website, talking about being a preacher’s kid, part of a family with deep ties to the church, and headed to a career in pastoral ministry himself. Instead, God called him into a different form of ministry in his career in psychology involving neuroscience research and teaching. That did not distract from his church works as he has been active in three different PC(USA) presbyteries in many roles including as moderator, stated clerk, and COM chair. He has served in synod roles as well and also was a member of the Advisory Committee on the Constitution.

Sandra Hedrick’s path was a bit of the reverse as she is a second-career pastor having spent many years as an attorney involved in employment law and dispute resolution. About 15 years ago she sensed a strong call to transition to the ministry and has served as a pastor along with presbytery stated clerk and service on multiple presbytery committees and other bodies.

Their theme is “God’s Call, Our Passion,” and they describe this in an opening paragraph in the Moderator Candidates booklet:

“As co-moderator candidates from opposite coasts, we feel called to serve as ambassadors of our church with all that we are and all that we have! Our vision is a ministry of prayer, presence, listening, encouragement and reconciliation, always seeking to reflect and proclaim the active love, grace and justice of our living God. We see this time in the life of our church as our opportunity and responsibility to reframe our practices and reimagine our role.”

Our prayers are with them and all the commissioners for clarity and discernment in the Moderator elections this evening.

224th General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

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One of the few General Assemblies to be held on schedule this year will be gavelled to order about this time tomorrow and it will be an interesting experience in a number of respects. First, it will be virtual with all business and events happening online. Second, it will be significantly shortened, both in daily schedule and in the length of business meetings. So with the time limitations, a lot of business is getting pushed off to the next Assembly two years from now.

And so, we welcome the 224th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), set to convene at 7 PM Eastern Time tomorrow, Friday, June 19. While the formal business will then take a break for a week there are other events that will be included in the general program during that hiatus. To accommodate time zones the two days of formal business will run from 11 AM to 6 or 6:30 PM EDT. The plan is to do business in two-hour time slots followed by a one-hour break.

The site of the meeting was supposed to be in Baltimore before it got transferred to the ether. Instead, the Presbytery of Baltimore will now be the online host for the meeting

As usual, the source for information on all this business is the on-line PC-Biz system. It is important to remember that with the condensed meeting schedule there will be no committee action this year. The one actual Assembly committee, the Assembly Committee on Business Referrals, has acted upon a recommendation of the standing Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) that has divided all business into three parts: Information (received, no action), items of a critical or necessary nature (to be acted on this year), and everything else (which gets pushed to the 225th General Assembly). Changes to these lists can be made from the floor so keep an eye on that on opening night.

Other items of note on the docket include the election of the Co-Moderators from the three teams standing for the position on Friday night beginning at 9 PM EDT (new time from a meeting today) and the vote to renew the call of the Stated Clerk for another 4-year term on Saturday, June 27, at 11 AM EDT.

The schedule, including the docket and the other events, can be found on PC-Biz under Resources. There is also the Manual Of The General Assembly available there but also a recommendation from COGA for suspension of most of the standing rules and adoption of special rules to apply to this assembly, including that there shall be no new business. Finally, the information booklet on the Moderatorial Candidates can be found there as well.

For the doctrine and polity documents, you can get the Book of Confessions and the Book of Order as free downloads from the PC(USA) Store, or you can find them at this handy website.

The commissioners will be operating using videoconferencing technology, and for the rest of us who want to follow along the proceedings will be streamed on the GA website and on the Spirit of GA Facebook page.

The theme for this Assembly is “From Lament to Hope” based upon Lamentations 5:20-21. To go along with the theme a Bible study will be offered online on Wednesday. There are two sessions on Wednesday June 24 at 7 and 10 PM EDT. The study will be led by James Elisha Taneti and Mary Florence Taneti.

In addition, there are a series of video testimonials related to the theme posted on the GA website where various people from around the PC(USA) talk about the GA theme and their experience.

And just a note that before the pandemic, the chosen theme was “Called to a Movement Beyond Institution,” based upon Romans 12:2.

Another event that will be happening between the business sessions is the Poor People’s Campaign event that was to be a march on Washington but is now a digital rally at 10 AM EDT on Saturday, June 20th. The Stated Clerk, J. Herbert Nelson, will be one of the speakers. Note that there is a registration link, but not clear if registration is required.

There is also the Youth Rising Coalition event at 3 PM EDT on Tuesday, June 23. This is a group in Baltimore that is joining with the GA participants “To hear the voices and stories of Baltimore area youth who have compelling ideas about creating a more just and opportune environment for young people.”

To follow the action on official Twitter feeds the PC(USA) does have a general Twitter account (@Presbyterian). Usually, during the Assembly, the General Assembly feed (@presbyGA) provides more play-by-play, but it has not been active for six months. There is also the Presbyterian News Service on Twitter (@PresbyNews). The hashtag for the meeting is #ga224.

News items will also appear on the GA224 news feed as well as the Presbyterian News Service feed. There are also updates on the Facebook page.

For individuals of note let me start with the accounts for the Co-Moderators (@GAModerators) and for the Stated Clerk (@PCUSAstatedclrk) as well as J. Herbert Nelson’s individual account (@jherbertnelson) which seems to be fresher. Watch the #GA224 hashtag and we will see who else is active for the meeting. (And I will update here.)

Out in the press corps, keep an eye on the Presbyterian Outlook on their website (pres-outlook.org) and Twitter (@presoutlook) as well as their special correspondent Leslie Scanlon (@lscanlon).

I plan to be on all the live-streamed events and tweeting (@ga_junkie) and maybe some live blogging. The Outlook printed one article I wrote for them on business coming to the Assembly related to overtures concerning Constitutional changes but all those items have been referred to the 225th GA. One of the controversial items for this Assembly will be how the Committee on Theological Education has reclassified the San Francisco Theological Seminary following their merger with the University of Redlands. My article for the Outlook on that business looks at the situation, at least at the time of publication. It is an evolving situation and it will be interesting to see how it evolves further in the hands of the GA. I will have a bit more to say on that in a couple of days as well as a couple of other evolving items before the Assembly. I would also mention my Outlook article “GA or Not GA? That is the Question” where I mused about what a virtual GA would look like. Personally, I think I got pretty close.

Finally, I expect this summary to be a living document over the next week and I will update at various points throughout the week as systems and patterns develop. I also hope to get out a modified GA Bingo card appropriately modified for a virtual GA.

So it will be an interesting week in the virtual assembly hall. We pray for patience for all involved as new technology is navigated and technical glitches are confronted. And there is some very important business, like the Way Forward Commission and the Vision 2020 group, that did not make the cut and have had their reports referred to the 225th General Assembly. It will be interesting to see if some other items docketed to be referred do creep back into the agenda for this meeting.

With all that going on we offer our prayers for the commissioners and for the leadership of this meeting. May they be guided by the Holy Spirit, particularly to discern God’s will as a body while not actually gathered in one physical space. It will certainly be an interesting GA week. Blessings upon you.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17

Presbyterian Church In Ireland Moderator-Designate And His Installation

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In a few hours is when the Presbyterian Church in Ireland General Assembly would have convened. However, due to the covid-19 virus it, like a good number of other General Assemblies, has been cancelled for this year. In the case of the PCI this will break a streak of 180 years of consecutive GA’s.

However, to represent the church throughout the coming year a Moderator is needed, and having nominated a Moderator-designate back on the first Tuesday in February the nominee will be installed for this coming year. Since the nominee needs to be formally elected that will be done by the Standing Commission of the General Assembly as part of the Opening Night formalities.

David Bruce - Moderator-Designate for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland
Photo from the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

The Moderator-designate is the Rev. David Bruce, nominated by a significant margin back in February with the support of 14 out of 19 presbyteries. The other three candidates split the remaining five presbytery votes.

Mr Bruce currently serves as the Secretary to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s Council for Mission in Ireland. That is one of multiple mission-related posts he has held as well as some time spent in parish ministry in Ballymena and Dublin. Besides the Mission in Ireland work, he has served Scripture Union, both in Northern Ireland and in the former Soviet republics.

He started off heading for the business world with a BSSc in Business Administration and Accounting from Queen’s University, Belfast in 1979. But coming to a personal saving faith during that time in college changed his plans and he then went to the University of Aberdeen for a Bachelor of Divinity. Following a year at Union Theological College he was licensed to parish work and the next year, 1984, was ordained to serve as Secretary to Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (now Christian Unions Ireland).

Leading up to his installation the PCI published a wide-ranging interview with Mr Bruce that included his thoughts on Presbyterianism in Ireland, particularly from his perspective from the Council on Mission in Ireland. Among his comments about the future he said:

“We reimagine, reconfigure what a Presbyterian presence looks like in the city, and that’s the route we are taking.” says David. He goes on, his eyes shining as he contemplates the future. “It may mean that Presbyterian presence no longer resembles what we have understood Presbyterianism to be in the past, you know, a congregation, a manse, a GB, a BB, a church hall, all of those things.”

David Bruce and his wife Zoe have four adult children and one grandchild. Going forward he will be tweeting on the Moderator account (@pcimoderator) but you can follow him on his personal account as well (@irishbruce). In addition, there is a little bit of traffic on the hashtag #pciga20.

The Opening Night service with the installation will begin at 7:00 PM Belfast time. There will be four individuals – the incoming Moderator, the outgoing Moderator, the Clerk and the Deputy Clerk – plus the technical crew in person in the Assembly Hall. Others will join by video. It is being livestreamed.

We wish Rev David Bruce the best on his moderatorial year and our prayers are with him in these most unusual times.

General Assembly Of The Free Church Of Scotland (Continuing) 2020

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As we Presbyterians say, we value doing our business “decently and in order.”

So, in that spirit and for the sake of completeness I will honor the trifecta and bring you a brief note about the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) and their General Assembly.

Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) logo

The General Assembly of the Free Church (Continuing) will convene tomorrow, Monday 18 May, as scheduled and directed by the 2019 General Assembly. But, in light of the Covid-19 restrictions and recommendations here is their plan quoted from their news article:

The Assembly should be constituted, as indicted, in Edinburgh on Monday 18th May 2020, with the meeting taking place mainly by teleconference.

At the meeting on 18th May, subject to the agreement of the Assembly, the Assembly will, after a few preliminaries, consider only at that time a Report by the AAN [Assembly Arrangements and Nominations] Committee. The Assembly will then suspend to meet in Inverness on Tuesday 6th October. The fact it is being suspended rather than adjourning to meet will give a degree of flexibility, should it be impossible to meet on the said date.

In an update from last week, there are more details about the meeting, including that it will be preceded by a one-hour prayer meeting with remarks by the 2019 Moderator. From there the business portion of the meeting will convene. The meeting will be public and the Zoom meeting information is included in that update.

Based on these updates it must be presumed that the induction of the Moderator-designate the Rev. John MacLeod as the Moderator of the 2020 General Assembly is postponed until at least the indicated October date when the Assembly hopes to re-convene.

We look forward to an update following tomorrow’s teleconference. Our prayers are with them for their meeting.

In a normal year, this is an interesting and active week in Edinburgh with three General Assemblies in session at the same time in the early part of the week. Not so this year. We will see what God has in His Providence for us going forward.

General Assembly Of The Free Church Of Scotland 2020

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In this unique year of General Assembly and Synod meetings, there are a small handful of branches that will be meeting by video conference to consider a limited number of items of business that are considered essential, urgent, or time-critical.

Free Church of Scotland Logo

One of those meetings is the 2020 General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland which will meet tomorrow evening, Monday 18 May, at 6 pm Edinburgh time. The Assembly will consider a limited docket of business and intends to suspend the meeting with hopes to resume the meeting in October for a more traditional in-person meeting.

In light of the unique circumstances and limited business at this meeting, the Moderator-Designate Rev Neil MacMillan will not be installed. As the news article says “it is expected that a delay on the new appointment will be put in place until a formal service appointment can be conducted.” It is recommended to the Assembly that the 2019 Moderator, Rev. Donnie G. Macdonald, will continue as the 2020 Moderator to run the meetings this year and that Mr MacMillan’s appointment be deferred to the 2021 General Assembly.

The meeting will be live-streamed. The 2020 General Assembly Reports volume is available as well.

There are five reports which contain business considered “urgent and time-critical.”

  • Assembly Business Committee – approving the arrangements, the programme (agenda), and the handling of documents related to the meeting.
  • The Assembly Clerk’s Office – proposing nominations, alternate arrangements for required annual general meetings of certain groups within the church, and approving “Arrangements for Exceptional Circumstances” to help the various bodies within the church as a whole operate during these exceptional times.
  • Edinburgh Theological Seminary – In addition to the usual thanks to all those involved with the operation of the Seminary there are items to act upon to resolve inconsistencies within the ETS governing documents.
  • Mission Board – two actions, one to change the pastoral staffing arrangement at a church and an action to change the status of a church plant to “a fully sanctioned charge.”
  • Board of Ministry – Seven varied actions including thanks to the Board, noting with sadness the death of a former Clerk to the Board, an appointment to the Board, and asking the church to continue to pray for God to raise up more Gospel workers. There is also an item to note the ongoing review of the Board and action to make changes to the composition of the Board.
  • There will be a private session related to the Board of Ministry as a minister wishing to transfer to the Free Church is introduced and examined. As there is confidential information involved those documents are not distributed in the reports and will be read by the chair of the Board in the private session.

It will be interesting to see how this meeting goes, both in terms of limited business and technology. If there is Twitter activity we can expect to see tweets from the official church account @freechurchscot. The customary hashtag would be #fcga20 although the hashtag #fcos is typically in use as well.

We keep this Assembly in our prayers and look forward to joining you tomorrow evening. May your deliberations be guided by the Holy Spirit and the time productive for the advancement of The Kingdom. Best wishes to all.

Moderator-Designate For The Church Of Scotland 2020

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In just about 12 hours the Church of Scotland will install the new Moderator who will serve for the coming year. Never mind that there is no Assembly this year to actually moderate – we can hope that next year’s Moderator gives him ample chance to show those skills off the next time the General Assembly convenes.

The Moderator-Designate of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Rev Dr Martin Fair (source: Church of Scotland)

The Moderator Designate for 2020 is the Rev Dr Martin Fair, or if you prefer the full title from his church website, the Rev. Dr. W. Martin Fair B.A. B.D. D. Min. He is the pastor of St Andrew’s Parish Church in Arbroath, Angus, where he has served for 28 years. He grew up in the Glasgow area and did his BA degree at Strathclyde University studying Politics and Geography. His theological training was at the University of Glasgow and he has since then completed a Doctor of Ministry degree at Princeton Theological Seminary.

While he first did youth work for churches in Leeds and Barbados (as he maintains, “it was a tough job but someone had to go!”) he was ordained to his current position in 1992.

In 2006 he and his congregation set up a mental health and addiction service which has helped around 1000 people. He has a real concern for this ministry and it is no surprise that it will be an area he hopes to focus on in his moderatorial year. He is quoted in the Church of Scotland news article as saying “The biggest success stories we have had in getting people clean is folk who have understood that their freedom is in Christ and for me, that is the Kingdom of God.”

In terms of his free time, the church website profile tells us “When time permits, he loves nothing better that to ‘head for the hills’, whether to walk, climb or backpack. He plays some football and golf and has tried his hand at most other sports along the way!” However, the Kirk news article does provide a qualification that due to an accident in 2017 where he broke his left arm and it did not properly healed he has lost most function in that arm and requires adaptive technology and assistance for some regular tasks. He says a goal is to learn to play golf one-handed.

Martin and his wife Elaine grew up together on the same street and were married in 1987. They have three adult sons.

As his moderatorial year progresses you can follow along on the official Church Moderator (@churchmoderator) Twitter account or his personal account @wmartinfair.

He will be installed in a special service on Saturday morning 16 May which will be live-streamed for us to follow along.

We wish Mr Fair well on the year that is ahead of him. Our prayers are with him.

And he brings great optimism to the position. As he says in the news article:

“As I travel round the country even now, I see green shoots of growth and live in hope for what is going to come. What we will see emerge will be fresh and new and to quote a phrase, God is not finished with Scotland or His Church.”

Church of Scotland: It’s Not A GA, But It Will Do For This Year

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As I was contemplating titles for this post the good old “And now for something completely different” came to mind. The only problem is that this year the whole GA season would resemble that remark.

The bottom line, of course, is that the Church of Scotland, along with a good number of other branches, will not have a General Assembly this year.

But in the midst of this quiet year for the GA there are still two GA-related events that will occur: The installation of the Moderator and an online Heart and Soul event.

While there is no GA to preside over, the role of the GA Moderator in the Kirk goes well beyond the meeting and is a full-year commitment. Unlike other branches, such as the Presbyterian Church in Canada where the moderator will continue for another year until the next meeting, the Church of Scotland will pass the symbols of office to their Moderator Designee Rev Dr Martin Fair. He will be installed in a special service at 11 AM Edinburgh time on Saturday 16 May, about the time the GA was scheduled to open. It will be live-streamed.

The service will be unique as only five individuals will be participating and there will be no audience or congregation present. Besides Mr Fair, there will be the outgoing Moderator, the Rt Rev Colin Sinclair, and the Principal Clerk the Rev Dr George Whyte who, we are told, “will ensure the correct process is followed.” In addition, the incoming and outgoing Moderators’ wives, Elaine Fair and Ruth Sinclair will be part of the group. The ring and the cross will not so much be passed as they will be present to be put on at the appropriate time. In addition, a socially distanced BSL translator and a technology crew will also be present for the live streaming. The live stream will be available on the Church GA streaming page and the Facebook page.

A major event at recent General Assemblies has been the Sunday afternoon Heart and Soul festival in Princes Street Gardens. This year there will be an online version with some of the same features. It will begin with a replay of the installation of the Moderator, it will include some musical components and a number of conversations about the church and its work in social care and social justice issues. The program begins at 2 PM local time and will last two hours. The streaming will be available from the same sites, the Church GA streaming page and the Facebook page.

Finally, it should be mentioned that while there will not be a full GA, there is still the hashtag. So follow along at #GA2020.

So there is the line-up. It gives us something to look forward to on this lockdown or safer at home weekend.