Category Archives: PC Ireland

2021 General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In Ireland

bush

The General Assembly Season continues with a regular GA that has been delayed from the usual week in the Spring.

Tomorrow morning in Belfast the Presbyterian Church in Ireland will convene their 2021 General Assembly in Belfast with a worship service and the installation of the Moderator, the Right Rev David Bruce. If the name sounds familiar, he was installed as Moderator in 2020 but without an Assembly to preside over. It was the consensus of the church that he should serve a second term thus giving him the opportunity to preside over an Assembly.

The Assembly runs through Wednesday 6 June in an Assembly Hall and an overflow conference room with socially distanced seating. There will be no in-house gallery with observers.

Here is some info to help follow along:

There are plenty of social media contact points for the Assembly, beginning with the official Twitter account @PCIAssembly which always provides a detailed and comprehensive report of the Assembly. Please note the comprehensive part, because the level of detail can make the feed very busy. This is generally a good thing but you have been warned that the number of tweets will be very high. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you.) The official moderator’s feed at @PCIModerator has become a great source as well, but don’t count on a lot during the Assembly itself. We will see if Mr. Bruce tweets during GA. The official hashtag for the Assembly is #pciga21. And it is worth keeping an eye on the PCI Facebook page as well. I would add at this point the church’s divinity school, Union Theological College (@UnionTCollege).

My list of others to watch for interesting and useful updates always starts with outside reporter and insightful commentator Alan in Belfast (@alaninbelfast). For following some of the active leadership of the church, I would point to former Moderator Rob Craig (@RobCraig54) and Cheryl Meban (@cherylmeban) who is a university chaplain and has been active on church committees. It is also worth watching the folks at PCIcast (@PCIcast) who do a podcast about the activities of the church. And so far David McCullagh (@wdsmccullagh) has popped up but others have been a bit quiet up to this point. I will be updating over the next day as things get rolling.

The business of the Assembly this year is extensive and for a better review, I would point you to the GA preview news article and the comments there by the Clerk of the General Assembly, the Rev Trevor Gribben. In particular, Tuesday will be a particularly busy day and that specific preview is available as well.

A couple items coming up Tuesday are an extension, or maybe better termed “fallout”, from the 2018 Assembly. One of these is the adoption of language of membership that referred to “a credible confession of faith” for admission to the Sacraments and pastoral guidance in relation to homosexuality. This was a term that caused some confusion and was used without substantial guidance as to what it meant. A task group is bringing a report on this (found in General Council Report – Section 2) which includes two resources on these areas that have already been reviewed by the presbyteries and revised by the task force.

This Section of the General Council Report also includes a resource on Human Identity from another task group which will certainly be closely watched as well.

Another important report from a task group reporting under the General Council Report (this in Section 3) looked at how the General Assembly operates and how controversial items are handled, especially when they are so actively discussed leading up to the GA. Their report on “Decision Making and Dissent within the Presbyterian Church of Ireland” outlines some additional discussion that can occur on the Presbytery level leading up to the Assembly as well as Assembly procedures during the meeting.

To get the 10,000-meter overview you might want to check out the Executive Summary in Section 1. It is important to note that the General Council Report (in four sections) makes up almost one-half of the whole Blue Book.

There is more in the General Council Report so it should be a full day. One other item in the spotlight ahead of the Assembly is the Council on Global Mission’s report including recommendations for a “divest and engage” policy regarding fossil fuels as well as a statement about “Reviewing PCI’s Investment Policy” that talks about the importance of creation care in the how the church invests its money.

There will be lots going on in the next three days and this will be an Assembly to watch closely. Our prayers are with the commissioners and leadership of the Assembly and the church for this meeting and the year ahead.

General Assembly Season 2021

Celtic cross logo

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.


Presbyterian Church In Ireland Moderator-Designate And His Installation

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.

A Very Different General Assembly Season 2020

Celtic cross logo

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 2020Rescheduled 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.


2019 General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In Ireland

bush

So with one live stream going in the background as I write, we turn to get ready for the next one of this busy week and month.

Shortly before I post this, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland will convene their 2019 General Assembly in Belfast with a worship service and the installation of the new Moderator, the Right Rev William Henry. The Assembly runs through Friday 7 June. Here is some info to help follow along:

  • The live stream is embedded in the 2019 Assembly Overview page along with links to other resources.
  • The 2019 General Assembly Page has a summary docket of report dates and times. And one of these two pages will probably have video clips of highlights of the Assembly.
  • The special Wednesday evening program is themed “Enjoying God” – the new Moderator’s theme for the year – and will be live streamed. The special speaker for the evening is the Rev Glen Scrivener, the Director of the charity Speak Life.
  • Wednesday evening before the worship service, the PCI Youth Assembly will be holding a Fringe Event around the theme of “Developing and building unity, within congregations and beyond.” In addition, following the Assembly’s adjournment there will be the traditional Youth Night on Saturday evening, which will probably be live streamed. The theme is “CALLED – Hearing God’s Voice. Bearing God’s Name.”
  • Most of the resources for the Assembly be found on, or linked from, the Assembly Overview page. The Blue Book reports and Supplementary reports will be posted there on Tuesday morning. The Daily Minutes will also be posted there along with daily previews. There is a detailed list of business that is posted on its own page.
  • The polity documents include the main document, The Code, as well as the helpful A Guide to Assembly Procedure.
  • The News page will carry official press releases and news items including the pre-Assembly press release which contains a rundown of the major moments and business at the Assembly this year.

There are plenty of social media contact points for the Assembly, beginning with the official Twitter account @PCIAssembly which always provides a detailed and comprehensive report of the Assembly. Please note the comprehensive part, because the level of detail can make the feed very busy. This is generally a good thing but you have been warned that the number of tweets will be very high. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you.) The official moderator’s feed at @PCIModerator has become a great source as well, but don’t count on a lot during the Assembly itself. We will see if Mr. Henry tweets during GA and how much he shares in his moderatorial year. The official hashtag for the Assembly is #pciga19. And it is worth keeping an eye on the PCI Facebook page as well. I would add at this point the church’s divinity school, Union Theological College (@UnionTCollege).

Other ministries of the church that have Twitter accounts are Presbyterian Women (@PWinIreland), Mission Ireland (@MissionIreland) and PCI Global Missions (@PCIOverseas). I include these for the sake of completeness, but they all have been pretty quiet for a while.

The other set of social media contacts to keep an eye on are those related to the Youth Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Following them on their Facebook page is probably the best, although they do have the Youth and Children’s Ministry account @PCIYAC. on Twitter, but that has not been active for a while.

My list of others to watch for interesting and useful updates always starts with outside reporter and insightful commentator Alan in Belfast (@alaninbelfast). He has already published on his blog an interesting piece on his blog “Browsing a Bygone Blue Book – a look back at the Presbyterian Church in Ireland in 1927” which is a great snapshot of where the church was then, and how some things don’t seem to change. For following some of the active leadership of the church, I would point to former Moderator Rob Craig (@RobCraig54) and Cheryl Meban (@cherylmeban) who is a university chaplain and has been active on church committees. Others have been a bit quiet up to this point and will be updating over the next day as things get rolling.

The business of the Assembly this year is extensive and for a better review, I would point you to the GA preview news article and the comments there by Clerk of the General Assembly, the Rev Trevor Gribben. I will highlight a few items that I have been following in the past year and the lead-up to the Assembly.

The first of these is the doctrinal stand that the Assembly has been reaffirming the past few years and which was stated very strongly last year: A divided Assembly affirmed the traditional view of marriage between a man and a woman and carried that over not just to the standards for ordination but to some rights of membership as well. This led to breaking ties with other churches who were moving away from this position, notably the Church of Scotland. The relationship with the Church of Scotland will be reviewed this year and it will be interesting to hear how the body’s thought has aged in the past year. This stand was also widely publicized in the public media and led to some significant protest so this Assembly is being widely watched for that. This position has also resulted in the dismissal of the Rev. Prof. Laurence Kirkpatrick from the faculty of Union Theological College, another action which hit the mainstream media. (BBC, Belfast Telegraph, Irish Times).

Speaking of Union Theological College, over the last year Queens University, Belfast, the institution that hosted Union and three other smaller religious schools in its Institute of Theology, decided to close the Institute and break the ties with the churches. The estimate of the shortfall for the PCI from lost fees is £250,000 by 2022. As Mr. Gribben says in the preview article, “The Assembly will be taking time to reflect on that change, but will also be looking forward to hearing of the emerging plans for a new and potentially exciting future for the College.”

One of the major moments in the Assembly will be an Alternative Presentation on Thursday titled Life Always Matters. As the preview article says:

[I]t seeks to speak into the professional world and public square on the dignity of human life. Through specially commissioned video, a presentation and an informal panel discussion involving three Presbyterian elected representatives, the General Assembly will be looking at dementia care, end of life care and child and adolescent mental health services.

And one more item of the many – The report by the Dealing with the Past Task Group. This group, which has been working for three years, is looking at how Presbyterians responded to the Troubles. From the preview article:

The aim of this significant undertaking is to tell a wider story than has been available to date. The stories of ordinary Presbyterians that have emerged from the 100-plus interviews will be published in a book towards the end of the year, and the Church will be seeking to learn from this significant project.

In the article, Mr. Gribben says of this report, “There are, however, occasions when substantial pieces of work, like that of the Dealing with the Past Task Group, can have positive impact beyond the doors of the denomination itself.” One reason it caught my attention is that in conversations I have had about the PCI and its actions, I have been advised that the Troubles are one of the lenses that must be considered when analyzing even current actions.

So much I could mention, but time is limited. I am looking forward to the significant discussions ahead of the PCI in this Assembly. As always, our prayers are with the Assembly and the Moderator for the work ahead and their discernment and guidance by the Holy Spirit. We look forward to following their work.

General Assembly Season 2019

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!


Election Of The Moderator For The Presbyterian Church In Ireland 2019 General Assembly

In the second Moderator selection of the day yesterday, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland conducted their annual voting process where all of the presbyteries meet on the same night – the first Tuesday in February – and vote for their next GA Moderator.

This year there were four nominated candidates:

So, when the dust settled last night Mr Henry was the overwhelming favourite, being endorsed by 11 of the 19 presbyteries. Mr Bruce was endorsed by four presbyteries, Ms Stanfield by three presbyteries, and Mr Rankin by one.

The Rev William Henry, Moderator-Designate for the PCI 2019 General Assembly. (source: PCI)

Mr Henry has been the installed pastor at Maze Presbyterian Church for almost 22 years, moving there in 1997 after being ordained as an assistant pastor at Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church in 1994. In 2001 he was given the additional responsibility of serving as the Stated Supply minister of near-by Ballinderry Presbyterian Church.

He was born in Belfast and grew up in Mallusk, County Antrim. He began his higher education at Queen’s University, earning a BSc in Chemistry. Sensing a call to ministry he prepared at Union Theological College in Belfast. He was licensed to preach at his home congregation, Hyde Park Presbyterian Church.

Mr Henry has served the wider church as convener of the Home and Irish Mission/Strategy for the Mission Committee for six years beginning in 2006. He also served as convener of the Union Commission beginning in 2012 and continued when it became the Linkage Commission in 2015. His service there concluded last year.

At the age of 50, he will be the youngest Moderator of the General Assembly in, as the press release puts it, “living memory.” (At this morning’s press conference it was confirmed that the youngest Moderator was Very Rev Dr Gilbert Patton, who was 49 when he began his term as Moderator in 1930-31. )

If you are interested in hearing Mr Henry preach, you can find an archive of sermons on the church website.

His nomination has received good coverage in the mainstream media including the BBC Northern Ireland, the Belfast News Letter, the Belfast Telegraph, and itv.

In the follow-up coverage on the Wednesday morning press conference, the topics predictably included the church’s stance on same-sex relationships, Brexit, and the relationship between Union Theological College and Queen’s University as one of the constitute schools in the Institute of Theology.

Regarding Brexit, he declined to answer the question from the News Letter reporter about where he stood but included in his remarks “We’re an all-Ireland church [with an] all-island perspective. We’d be wanting to make sure there is something workable on both sides, in both jurisdictions…”

The BBC coverage of the press conference was terse and focused almost exclusively on the church’s stance on same-sex relationships. Their lede is:

The next moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) said he supports the church’s opposition to gay marriage.

But, he added the church “abhors” homophobia and is “open and welcome to anyone”.

Regarding Queen’s University suspending enrollment in Union Theological College over concerns of the breadth and diversity of teaching, the News Letter has this quote from Mr Henry responding to inquiries about that:

“I’m certainly disappointed with the decision, because what that does is it denies some of our young people the choice to follow their dream, and to study theology at the highest academic level…

“My middle daughter had an 18th birthday just recently. Even at a relatively small gathering in our house… in that one social gathering, there were three 18-year-olds who wanted to apply to study theology at Queen’s this year and that’s been denied.”

[UPDATE 7 Feb 2019: Expanded coverage of the press conference appeared today in the Belfast Telegraph. And this story made their front page. They also have an editorial titled “New Moderator William Henry will prove a steady hand.” The piece begins by listing the issues in the PCI in the last year and then states, “But if [William Henry] continues in the vein displayed in his first major interview in this newspaper today, he may well be a healing balm in an institution in need of cool heads and strategic thinking.”]

Returning the original press release, Mr Henry speaks in there about his perspective on the PCI and that it has a specific purpose in 21st century Ireland. He includes this comment

“Our younger generation, and how they demonstrate their commitment to Jesus, will be key to that future. Having observed plenty of examples in my own congregation of the vital and real faith our young people demonstrate, I will want to highlight many more demonstrations of this throughout our wider church. I pray that God might equip me with the gifting I need to model servant leadership in His Church this year,”

Speaking more broadly, elsewhere in the press release he is quoted as saying:

“For me it comes down to this experience of ‘Enjoying God,’ and perhaps that is what I’d like to develop into a theme for my year in office. When we enjoy God, prayer and worship become real and meaningful because there is a sense that God has come near. That will result in practical service for Jesus.

“Encountering God is always radical and disruptive. However, the Church can become casual and forgetful of the presence of God; and wider society has a tendency to be self-contained or self-reliant – the effect for both is that they attempt to live without a recognition of dependence upon God.

“I would wish to use the year ahead that I have to speak about this message and explore with people what it means to ‘Enjoy God,’ both to the Church and wider society. I want to bear witness to what I might call the surprising and unsettling presence of God – the one who offers fullness in Jesus.”

We wish the Rev William Henry well on his Moderatorial year of sharing the message of Enjoying God. Our prayers for him as he prepares for, and moderates the GA beginning on 3 June 2019.

General Assembly Season 2018

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

 

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

 

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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

 

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

 

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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)

 

pcv_logo
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!

Last Week In The Presbyterian Church In Ireland: Everyday Disciples And Essentials

Last week was a busy one for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland with their Special Assembly on Everyday Disciples and in that the roll-out of the new Essentials discipleship program. A close look at the Essentials material in a moment, but first a brief review of the Special Assembly.

Beginning on Monday of last week, over 600 people gathered at Ulster University in Coleraine for this Special Assembly around the theme Everyday Disciples and focusing on discipleship. It was not a deliberative assembly but a four-day event to prepare and energize members in their own discipleship walks as well as reaching out to others. In the church’s news article in advance of the Assembly the Moderator of the GA, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Noble McNeely is quoted as saying:

As Christians, Jesus calls us to be His disciples in all aspects of our lives. The title and theme of our Special Assembly is in recognition of the increasing necessity for today’s followers of Jesus to be equipped by the Church to be effective disciple-makers in their various spheres of everyday life.

Many of us however, recognise that we have perhaps concentrated too much on programmes and activities in our churches and have not been as strong on providing the essentials to facilitate making mature disciples.

The daily keynote addresses from our two principal speakers and the range of seminars available will help us to consider seriously the need for daily discipleship. It will also help us to understand better how we can be involved in a 21st century reformation of church and society.

The two principal speakers were pastors from U.S. churches who spoke on the theme of discipleship with an emphasis on a believer’s life and the local church. The first speaker was Rev. Randy Pope, pastor of Perimeter Church (with the PCA) in Atlanta. The second speaker was the Rev. Dr. Ray Ortlund, Jr., pastor of Immanuel Church in Nashville. More on the speakers from both the PCI news article as well as one from the Belfast Telegraph.

I saw no indication of a live stream of the event but there was a healthy (OK, one non sequitur has crept in) and helpful Twitter presence so I would encourage you to check out the hashtag #everydaydisciples. And tracking there, from all that I saw the conference had a laser-sharp focus on the topic of discipleship and good quality keynote sessions and workshops. I appreciated the high quality of the stream of tweets but have resisted pasting any in here.

At the end of the Special Assembly a new discipleship program called Essentials was rolled out. I have purchased a copy and am favorably impressed with the focus, quality and helpfulness of this resource.

So, for your £12 you get the eight videos and five participants books with additional books £1 each. There is also a leader’s guide and a preaching plan included. And with the purchase you get access to the videos online for download in a number of different formats.

As you might have guessed it is an eight session program with each session taking the participants through a step in the journey of Jesus with his disciples. Here is a breakdown of the sessions:

  1. Come – COME AND SEE: Discipleship starts with awareness of Jesus before activity for Him
  2. Call – FOLLOW ME: The essential call of discipleship is to follow our Master Jesus
  3. Community – SHARE LIFE: We can’t do discipleship alone. We learn to follow Jesus as part of His church
  4. Culture – STEP OUT: Disciples don’t escape or embrace culture, but engage with it as they follow Jesus
  5. Courage – SPEAK UP: Disciples aren’t just called to live well in culture, but also to speak up for Jesus
  6. Cost – DENY YOURSELF: Following Jesus brings a cost in every area of our lives
  7. Challenge – GO MAKE: The challenge of becoming disciples who make disciples
  8. Continue – LOOK UP: We never graduate from needing Jesus but continue following him in every age and stage of life

I really liked this progression and thought it was a useful and logical way to develop the concept of discipleship. And it should be clear from the progression above that this resource, like the Special Assembly, was about both our own discipleship as well as equipping disciples to make disciples of others. I also liked that this is not a prescribed formula for doing discipleship but a journey and way of life from which helping others develop as disciples is an integral part.

Each session has a Before You Watch opening discussion with some intro questions and the Bible reading. The book gives a basic idea to keep in mind during the video and provides space in the book to jot down thoughts or comments. And in the After You Watch section a time to respond and discuss based on the five concepts of React, Reflect, Apply, Story, and Respond.

Each video is about 15 minutes long (plus or minus about one minute) and are all follow the same pattern, opening with a brief intro, then the Bible passage followed by a couple of individuals commenting and reflecting on the Bible reading. Finally, just under half the video is a member, or in a couple cases two members together, telling a part of their spiritual journey relevant to the topic of that session. The videos are well produced, the timing of them and the segments in them right for the audience and generally interesting to watch. The almost four minute promo video on the web page uses segments from all the videos and gives you a flavour for them.

It is worth saying up front that this series is not intended for a world-wide audience as it is produced for individuals from Ireland with themes and stories that resonate within their cultural setting and experience. For example, near the beginning of video three as the speaker talks about Christian community he makes reference to a number of experiences in that society in saying “Doesn’t Jesus know this is Ireland… We do division really well.” The cultural focus is definitely a benefit in getting the material out to the intended audience. For me it detracted little from the videos but if used in another setting some interpretation may be necessary if viewers are unfamiliar with the cultural themes.

Overall I was very favorably impressed with this resource. High quality and well thought out. I can only say that I went through the whole thing on my own and not with a group but it seems like it should work well. It is not high-pressure and the spiritual journeys shared in the everyday members of the church are well chosen and engaging and would seem to give plenty to talk about in a group discussion.

There were a couple of minor items that did jump out at me: One was that the scripture passages which, while appropriate, were not in chronological order. While session one and session two did come from early in the Gospels, session 3 then jumps to the end of John and the High-Priestly Prayer to talk about community. If the over-arching framework is disciples on their journey being developed by Jesus something more in order might have been more powerful. The second is pretty minor and that is a mention by the person in session 5 in telling his story talking about leading someone to Christ and the Sinners Prayer. It is a quick passing reference and not in the spirit of “this is how its done” but in some Reformed circles that particular prayer is not highly regarded for various reasons. (e.g. Ligonier, TGC)

Finally a couple of nice touches I liked in the series. First, the series is bookended in forming disciples – at the beginning the call to become one and at the end the commission to go and make them. And second, the final session ends in prayer – a good conclusion and reminder of where, as disciples, we are grounded.

Bottom line – I liked the series and found it a good framework and model for such a resource. Clearly some significant thought and testing has gone into designing it and producing it. Yes, it is produced with a particular cultural setting in mind but I think the value of this outweigh’s the downside of portability. And you can’t argue with the cost and I have not figured out if the production budget is depending on volume of sales or subsidy, but I suspect the latter. However, I can say I enjoyed working through the series on my own and can say I was stretched a bit by it.

My thoughts for what they are worth. Your mileage may vary… (to use one of our cultural idioms 😉 )

2017 General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In Ireland

bushAt this point it seems a bit like juggling where you keep adding one more ball to the collection that are in the air. It started with the OPC General Assembly. Add the 143rd GA of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Today we add the next one…

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland convened their 2017 General Assembly in Belfast a little while ago with a worship service and the installation of the new Moderator, the Right Rev Dr Noble McNeely. The Assembly runs through Friday 9 June. With the meeting under way here is some info to help follow along:

  • The live stream is embedded in the main Assembly page and further down the page a few of the streaming highlights for the week and even further down a summary docket of report dates and times.
  • The special Wednesday evening program is themed “Everyday Disciples” – the new Moderator’s theme for the year – and will be live streamed. In addition, following the Assembly’s adjournment there will be the traditional Youth Night on Saturday evening, which will also be live streamed. It’s theme is “(UN) Faithful – A faithful God and His unfaithful people, lessons from Hosea
  • More background for the Assembly can be found on the Assembly Resources page and the reports coming to the Assembly can be viewed individually on the Reports Page or as a whole by downloading the Blue Book.
  • The polity documents include the main document, The Code, as well as the helpful A Guide to Assembly Procedure.
  • The News page will carry official press releases and news items including the pre-Assembly press release which contains a rundown of the major moments and business at the Assembly this year.

There are plenty of social media contact points for the Assembly, beginning with the official Twitter account @PCIAssembly which always provides a detailed and comprehensive report of the Assembly. Please note the comprehensive part, because the level of detail can make the feed very busy. This is generally a good thing but you have been warned that the number of tweets will be very high. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you.) The official moderator’s feed at @PCIModerator has become a great source as well. We will see if Rev. McNeely tweets during GA and how much he shares in his moderatorial year. (He does have an almost unused personal feed @mcneelynoble, but I don’t think we will see much there this week, or maybe even this year.) The official hashtag for the Assembly is #pciga17. And it is worth keeping an eye on the PCI Facebook page as well.

Other ministries of the church that have Twitter accounts are Presbyterian Women (@PWinIreland), Mission Ireland (@MissionIreland) and PCI Global Missions (@PCIOverseas). Fair warning that I have included the latter two only for the sake of completeness, but they have been dormant for a while.

The other set of social media contacts to keep an eye on are those related to the Youth Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. They can be followed at a couple of different Twitter handles including the Youth Assembly account for PCI SPUD (@pcispud), and the Youth and Children’s Ministry account @PCIYAC. They have previously hosted Fringe Events and you can watch their Facebook page to see what they might be up to this year.

My list of others to watch for interesting and useful updates always starts with outside reporter and insightful commentator Alan in Belfast (@alaninbelfast). He has indicated that he won’t be around the GA as much this year, but still worth keeping an eye on his feed. For those active in leadership in the church I would point to former Moderator Rob Craig (@RobCraig54) and Cheryl Meban (@cherylmeban) who is active with WCRC and PCI board leadership. So far there seems to be potential from Stuart Morrow (@stuart_morrow), Niall Lockhart (@BallyhenryPres) and Ballygilbert Church (@ballygilbert). And while the PCI does not send a representative to Edinburgh for the Church of Scotland GA, the Kirk Moderator is present at this Assembly and tweeting @ChurchModerator. Will update with others as appropriate. UPDATE: To this list I would add Peter Bovill (@peterbovill) as he had been actively contributing to the feed. And while I have not seen him on the GA feed, please note the recommendation in the comments below for ongoing comments about the PCI.)

In looking at the business of the Assembly a few reports caught my eye. One of these is from the Council for Congregational Life and Witness. In looking at fostering revival in the denomination they are presenting the goal as Fruitfulness and many of the actions in agricultural terms. For example, one of the action items is “Clearing the ground for fruitfulness – Asking the hard questions.” I am encouraged when the stage is set to realize there are no easy answers and that change, particularly rebuilding from a biblical foundation, is called for. A consideration that plays into this and which is mentioned in multiple reports is the decline in those training for the ministry. (see the Council for Training in Ministry report) Another interesting report is the on Relationships with Other Denominations which is Appendix 3 in the General Council Report (starting on the 107th page in the Blue Book). One of the denominations discussed is the relationship with the Church of Scotland and it’s trajectory (and that is the word used in the report). The report also contains the PCI position on human sexuality and marriage (page 114). And the report presents a possible path to work through the differences in the section titled Principles for Pursuing Mutual Reform. It will certainly be an interesting discussion.

As always, our prayers are with the Assembly and the Moderator for the work ahead and their discernment and guidance by the Holy Spirit. We look forward to following their work.