We are in a couple of busy weeks for General Assemblies and as I work to get caught up on all of them, I will begin with the 50th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America beginning today.

The Assembly is being held in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Committees of Commissioners are gathering today to begin their work which can extend into tomorrow. The Assembly convenes in plenary session tomorrow evening, Tuesday 13 June, at 6:30 PM CDT, and will probably adjourn the evening of Thursday 15 June, but could go on Friday if need be. Being the 50th anniversary of the formation of the PCA there are a number of special events that will be part of the meeting and a special website. The meeting will be live-streamed.

While the full volume of reports is available only to commissioners, the docket, schedule, and overtures are available online. There is also a breakdown of the Committees of Commissioners’ Schedule. And to access all of this on the go the Assembly is again using the Guidebook app.

To track the polity of the PCA, you can access the Book of Church Order (BCO) online, which also contains the Rules of Assembly Operations (RAO). For the hardcore polity wonks, there is Morton Smith’s Commentary on the Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America which is only available in a print edition. (Similar to what some branches call the Annotated Book of (Church) Order. And I see it is currently out of stock.) There is also the new Parliamentary Procedure for Presbyters – a beginner’s guide from the Presbyterian Polity group with a PCA focus and the booklet will be distributed at a luncheon at the meeting. For those of us not present, they might make it available to order. Additional polity resources from the group can be found on the pcapolity.com website

News updates will be posted through the official news website and online publication byFaith.

Turning to social media, you will probably want to keep an eye on the byFaith Magazine Facebook page. There are numerous opportunities to follow the meeting on Twitter including the official feed from byFaith (@PCAbyFaith) and their reporter Megan Fowler (@Fowl_Words). The hashtag for the Assembly is #pcaga although #PCA50 is sometimes used. For pictures, keep an eye on the PCA Flickr site.

Other related Twitter accounts include Reformed University Fellowship (@RUFnational), PCA Discipleship Ministry (@PCACDM), Mission to the World (@mtwglobal), and the Mission to North America (@pcamna). I would also include in this group the denomination’s schools, Covenant College (@CovenantCollege) and Covenant Seminary (@covseminary).

As for individuals to watch – round up the usual suspects. Some who will be at the meeting and are, or will probably be tweeting include Fred Greco (@fredgreco), Ligon Duncan (@LigonDuncan), Sean Michael Lucas (@SeanMLucas), and Melton L. Duncan (@MeltonDuncan). I would also add a former moderator and coordinator of MNA, Irwyn Ince (@Irwyn). For organizations, I will mention Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing (@prpbooks), Greenville Seminary (@GPTseminary), and Reformed Theological Seminary (@ReformTheoSem). Others that I would include on this list are Presbycast (@Presbycast), and Presbyterian Polity (@PCAPolity).

There is a long list of people tweeting (check out the #pcaga hashtag), and I am not sure where to start, but I will mention a few of the early active ones now. Derek Radney (@DerekRadney) is doing us a great service with the detailed tweeting from the Overtures Committee meeting. Others with active accounts at this time include Jared Nelson (@brothernelson), Nick Batzig (@Nick_Batzig), and George Sayour (@GeorgeSayour). For some of the more, shall we say, unusual accounts, so far this year we have activity from Hipster Teaching Elder (@Hipster_TE), and GA Famous (@GA_Famous). Some others that posted something last year but have not been active yet this year include the @PCAPresbyter, Joey Pipa’s Mustache (@jpipasmustache), and PCA Logo (@PCALogo).

There are also a number of seminars being held tomorrow afternoon. I am not seeing live streaming of them but at least some of them should find their way onto the PCA podcast “gifts and graces.”

As usual, the overtures to this Assembly reflect where the PCA is today and what it is concerned about. There are 30 overtures on the Resources page – including one carried over from the last GA – and there are brief summaries of them from byFaith.

It is no surprise that the topic of human sexuality has the most overtures addressing BCO changes this year after most changes were not adopted last year. Three of the five overtures (Overture 9, Overture 16, and Overture 17) ask to modify BCO 7 regarding qualifications of church officers. For those not tracking this issue, the PCA is not just concerned with homosexual practice but with individuals identifying as having same-sex attraction but being celibate as well. In addition, Overture 23 and Overture 24 ask for changes related to this issue of standards in the next chapter of the BCO regarding elders.

There are also multiple overtures related to the roles that women may serve in. Overture 15 would add to the Directory for Worship a section to “Disallow Exhortation, Preaching, or Teaching by Women in Worship” and to make that section constitutionally binding. Another proposed change is in Overture 26, which would add the line, “Furthermore, unordained people should not be referred to as, or given the titles connected to, the ecclesial offices of pastor, elder, or deacon.” As was noted in today’s discussions by the Overtures Committee, this does not include and does not prohibit the title of “minister.”

And in a move that probably has a backstory I have not found yet, Overtures 10 and 14 prohibit “professional counsel” from participating in ecclesiastical judicial cases. Today the Overtures Committee recommended these overtures be answered in the negative but there are indications there may be a minority report.

The PCA General Assembly does not generally take social witness positions as some other more progressive Presbyterian branches do, within their understanding of the Westminster Confession of Faith 31.4. But under that WCF section, a church may tred into civil affairs “by way of humble petition in cases extraordinary.” In the case of Overture 12, it is to “Petition Government to End Sex-change Procedures for Minors.”

And By Faith has posted a news article with all of the actions of the Overtures Committee taken today, 12 June. Spoiler alert – most of the recommendations are to not approve the requested action.

Among the special events for the branch’s 50th, on Wednesday evening, there will be a PCA 50th Celebration Concert with the group Indelible Grace. This group of musicians and composers grew from the church’s college ministry – Reformed University Fellowship or RUF. Personally, I am looking forward to this event which is on the schedule to be live-streamed.

And finally, if you are looking for a new Bingo Card, we can thank @Hipster_TE for that. For the vintage ones, Allan Edwards has given us Bingo Card 2 and Bingo Card 1, and the Selfie Scavenger Hunt.

There’s lots on the docket this week and multiple items that are sure to provide a spirited, and hopefully Spirit-filled, discussion among the commissioners. I have seen enough GA’s to know that predicting the outcome of these debates is difficult, but it will certainly be interesting to follow as the commissioners discern the outcomes together.

Our best wishes and prayers to the commissioners and leaders of the PCA General Assembly for this important meeting and prayers for your discernment in the next few days. May the Spirit guide you in your work.

In this busy GA week, the two next General Assemblies are ramping up with the EPC sessions starting and the PCA committees of commissioners hard at work, particularly the Overtures Committee which has overtures related to a number of important issues on which to make recommendations. And pursuant to my comment that this is the PCA is the largest General Assembly of the year, the @Presbycast twitter feed reports that the enrollement for the meeting has hit 2400.

So here we go…

The 49th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America is starting to get rolling in Birmingham, Alabama. The Assembly convenes in plenary session this evening, Tuesday 21 June, at 6:30 PM CDT, and adjourns no later than noon on Friday. The theme of the Assembly is “Purified to Proclaim.” The meeting will be live-streamed. There is also the GA Guidebook app available for several platforms to follow along, and a ShareFile! app on that page for registered commissioners to download reports and other documents.

While the full volume of reports is available only to commissioners, the docket, schedule, and overtures are available online. There is also a breakdown of the Committees of Commissioners Schedule.

To track the polity of the PCA you can access the Book of Church Order (BCO) online, which also contains the Rules of Assembly Operations (RAO). For the hardcore polity wonks there is Morton Smith’s Commentary on the Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America which is only available in a print edition. (Similar to what some branches call the Annotated Book of (Church) Order.)

News updates will be posted through the official news website and online publication byFaith, including the update from yesterday’s Overtures Committee action.

Turning to social media, you will probably want to keep an eye on the byFaith Magazine Facebook page. There are numerous opportunities to follow the meeting on Twitter including the official feed from byFaith (@PCAbyFaith). The hashtag for the Assembly is #pcaga. For pictures, keep an eye on the PCA Flickr site.

Other related Twitter accounts include Reformed University Fellowship (@RUFnational), PCA Discipleship Ministry (@PCACDM), Mission to the World (@mtwglobal), and the Mission to North America (@pcamna). I would also include in this group the denomination’s schools, Covenant College (@CovenantCollege) and Covenant Seminary (@covseminary).

As for individuals to watch – round up the usual suspects. Some who will be at the meeting and are, or will probably be tweeting include Fred Greco (@fredgreco), Ligon Duncan (@LigonDuncan), Sean Michael Lucas (@SeanMLucas), and Melton L. Duncan (@MeltonDuncan). I would also add a former moderator and coordinator of MNA, Irwyn Ince (@Irwyn). For organizations, I will mention Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing (@prpbooks), Greenville Seminary (@GPTseminary) and Reformed Theological Seminary (@ReformTheoSem).

There is a long list of people tweeting (check out the #pcaga hashtag) but I will mention a few of the early active ones now. Derek Radney (@DerekRadney) is doing us a great service with the detailed tweeting from the Overtures Committee meeting. Others with active accounts at this time include Dr Kara Million (@darterdancer), Jared Nelson (@brothernelson), Nick Batzig (@Nick_Batzig), Chris Hutchinson (@CAHutch1990), and Tim Inman (@Tim_Inman). There are also three accounts that have some overlap: More in PCA (@MoreinPCA) – a grassroots organization of REs, Chortles Weakly (@ChortlesWeakly) and Presbycast (@Presbycast). Traditionally we have a bingo card from Allan Edwards (@edwardsae1) but he has endorsed a nice scavenger hunt from Chris Baker (@theAcerbicMonk). In the past, Allan has given us Bingo Card 2 and Bingo Card 1 and the Selfie Scavenger Hunt. And for a Twitter feed that is posted decently and in order there is the @PCAPresbyter himself although he has not tweeted yet this year. And don’t forget Joey Pipa’s Mustache (@jpipasmustache), PCA Logo (@PCALogo) but no tweeting yet, Hipster Teaching Elder (@Hipster_TE), and GA Famous (@GA_Famous). And I find it interesting that the PCA seems to have more of these sorts of accounts than any other branch.

I will mention that there are also a series of seminars at the GA this year although I am posting too late for the ones today. However, the one tomorrow, Wednesday 22 June, at 8 AM sounds interesting. It is titled “The Future Glory of the Church: The PCA We Envision for Christ’s Purposes (Ruling Elder Perspectives).”

As usual, the overtures to this Assembly reflect where the PCA is today and what it is concerned about. There are a number of continuing concerns in the 47 overtures the GA will be discussing and discerning, and a couple of new ones. The overtures can be found on the Resources page and there are brief summaries of them from byFaith.

The topic of human sexuality and how the 2018 Revoice Conference was handled continue to have related business. There is a request to change the Book of Church Order (BCO) chapter 7 by adding an explicit prohibition on “Men who identify as homosexual, even those who identify as homosexual and claim to practice celibacy in that self-identification” from holding office. There are also four overtures to add a paragraph 16-4 to the BCO to have the standards for ordination include confession of sinful desires, among other things. The Overtures Committee overwhelming voted to answer the chapter 7 change and the four chapter 16 changes with an amended version of Overture 29 which includes the phrase that those seeing ordination “must affirm the sinfulness of fallen desires, the reality and hope of progressive sanctification, and be committed to the pursuit of Spirit-empowered victory over their sinful temptations, inclinations, and actions.”

There are also multiple overtures to have the General Assembly through their Standing Judicial Commission take original jurisdiction in two disciplinary cases where other presbyteries consider that the original presbyteries have mishandled the cases. One of these is the case of TE Greg Johnson who is at the center of the Revoice controversy. (Such as Overture 37) The other is the case of TE Dan Herron whose allegations of sexual abuse, harassment and cover-up made national news. (Such as Overture 39.) I have yet to see an Overtures Committee action on these.

One of the interesting Overtures from the Session of Bethel Church in Chicago notes rising tensions in the church and factions that are “secretive and exclusive.” It asks that:

Therefore, be it resolved that the 49th General Assembly call all Teaching Elders and Ruling Elders to not participate in secretive and exclusive political groups for the purpose of influencing or manipulating the church courts according to a particular agenda, but rather to engage in good faith with the brothers in their own sessions and presbyteries, for the purity, peace, and unity of the church.

And an overture to withdraw from the National Association of Evangelicals is once again being considered.

One topic that was referred from a previous Assembly is when there is a judicial case that comes forward because the defendant self-accuses. In these cases without process, the question is whether they have the right to appeal. (On a side note, having been involved with these in another branch usually part of the self-accusal process is a negotiation about the degree of censure. It is sort of a plea deal where the outcome is probably known.) There is also an interesting question for judicial cases about expanding witness eligibility.

And there are a number more items on the overture docket related to judicial process as well as a Statement on Political Violence, Petition to the US Government to End Abortion, and to make a Statement that Critical Race Theory is Flawed. There is also the usual sort of housekeeping overture to move a presbytery boundary.

There’s lots on the docket this week and multiple items that are sure to provide a spirited, and hopefully Spirit-filled, discussion among the commissioners. I have seen enough GA’s to know that predicting the outcome of these debates is difficult, but it will certainly be interesting to follow as the commissioners discern together the outcomes.

Our best wishes and prayers to the commissioners and leaders of the PCA General Assembly for this important meeting and prayers for your discernment the next few days. May the Spirit guide you in your work.

[Ed. note: No, I have not forgotten about the EPC and Presbyterian Church in Ireland General Assemblies. Working on those next.]