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

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

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

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

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

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

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