The 41st General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church beginning today will be gathering at Second Presbyterian Church, in Memphis. Today, and most of Wednesday, there are workshops and classes as part of the annual Leadership Institute. Business sessions convene Wednesday afternoon, 23 June, and will continue through Friday afternoon, as needed.
Due to local capacity restrictions and COVID-19 protocols, the facility has a capacity for 400 commissioners, so the GA will be a hybrid event with both on-site and virtual participants. The Assembly will make the necessary adjustments to the Rules for Assembly to facilitate the arrangement.
The Assembly meeting will be live-streamed on the web and through the General Assembly app. This will include not just the business sessions but the plenary talks of the Leadership Institute.
There is a lot of information online, most linked through the Documents page and the GA 2021 page. Here are some of the links for information about Assembly business and operation:
- There are the Schedule and the Docket (being issued in daily segments) so you know when the business sessions are and what is being covered.
- There is also the Commissioners Handbook by parts or as a full download from that page.
- Also, keep an eye on the EP Connection News Blog for news items from the Assembly.
- And don’t forget the current Book of Order and the Rules for Assembly.
As for social media, there is a bit of that out there. There is a Facebook page for the EPC that is currently being updated regularly with Leadership Institute and Assembly items. The official EPC Twitter feed is @EPChurch and the active official hashtag (#epc2021ga) has sprung to life. There are other official but inactive Twitter accounts for EPC Student Ministries (@EPCStudentMin), EPC World Outreach (@EPCWO) and the Stated Clerk Jeff Jeremiah (@Jeff_Jeremiah ) so not much to follow there.
As for individuals, based on the lead-up to the GA we can expect coverage from Zach Hopkins (@Zhop59) and Joey Sherrard (@jhsherrard) has checked in as well. There is also activity from a former Moderator Case Thorp (@casethorp) and my friend Brandon Queen (@BQPhotos). There is an account from the host church that might provide helpful information (@2pcmemphis). And maybe we will see a bit more color and correction from Decent & In Order (@Decent_Orderly) although he has been quiet since the last EPC GA. I will update you here as the meeting progresses.
The theme of the Assembly is “God Will Restore,” based on Joel 2:25-27. The theme will be reflected in the worship services throughout the meetings.
There is a good summary of all the action items coming to the Assembly this year. A couple of items of business stand out. One that caught my eye was an overture from the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic that it be divided into three new presbyteries. Another is a report by the Theology Committee that addresses the definition and meaning of the terms “connectional” and “connectionalism.” The report concludes with this statement:
“Perhaps the best definition of connectionalism in the EPC can be found in Book of Government 5-6A. In this section, any church seeking entry into the EPC must affirm that ‘[T]he congregation and its governing body have concurred in the request, and have agreed to walk together as a church, based upon the faith and government of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, to be faithful to one another, to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, to the support of the whole Church, to be obedient to the order and doctrines of our faith, submitting themselves to the government and discipline of the Church, and promising to promote its purity and peace‘ [emphasis added].”
It will be an interesting week and we wish the EPC commissioners well and we will be lifting them up in our prayers as they meet.
