As General Assembly week continues in Edinburgh, we move on to the next Assembly, the 180th General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland.
The meeting began this evening, Monday 22 May, at 6 pm at St. Columba’s Free Church in Edinburgh with worship, the installation of the new Moderator, Prof. Bob Akroyd, and a few pieces of initial business.
This is an appropriate place to note the participation of individuals and churches in North America in this Assembly. Prof. Akroyd grew up in New Jersey and came to Scotland for graduate work in history. He got connected to the Free Church, which led to his studying for the ministry and teaching at Edinburgh Theological Seminary. The other connection is a Presbytery of North America – with churches in the Maritime Provinces of Canada – whose two commissioners will be participating in the Assembly virtually. The virtual connection was approved for this year, but the church has established that their commissioners should be present in person in 2024 and every third year after that. And in case you have not noticed the historical point here, the new Moderators of the Free Church and the Church of Scotland are both originally from America.
The meeting will be live-streamed for our viewing pleasure, both on the Free Church website and on their YouTube channel. The 2023 General Assembly Reports volume is available as a PDF document. And there is a schedule available.
For the polity wonks, the Acts of the Assembly can be found at the bottom of the General Assembly page, and there is an online version of “Church Practice and Procedure – Free Church of Scotland.”
To follow along on social media, you should check the official Free Church Facebook page and their Twitter feed @freechurchscot. The host church can be followed at @stcsfreechurch, and the hashtag will be #fcga23, although sometimes tweets slip by with #fcga or #fcga2023. (At the time of writing, none have.) The seminary, Edinburgh Theological Seminary (@ETS_Edinburgh) can also be followed.
And important happenings at the Assembly may have an article appear in the Newsfeed.
And for others in the Free Church to follow on Twitter I would recommend David Meredith (@DCM_FreeChScot) and maybe we will see Gordon Matheson (@Jedirev) in the thread.
Much of the business before the Assembly is of a routine nature, as it is with most General Assemblies of different branches in the Presbyterian world. One of the items that jumped out at me was the final report of the Psalmody and Praise Committee, which concluded that they have fulfilled their original remit and that the ongoing publication and copyright work can easily be done by one authorized individual. In their deliverance, besides the request to discharge the committee with thanks, is a group of reminders to churches, including this one:
- The General Assembly remind Congregations that the Book of Psalms is a unique manual of praise, which should be given a central place in our worship services. They again urge upon Precentors, Congregations and Ministers, a duty of intelligent and skilful psalm-singing, and the maintenance overall of a high standard of praise.
Another report that caught my attention was a final step regarding a business item I mentioned last year to revise the discipline process in the church. Having initial concurrence from the Assembly last year, the Program Management Group operating under the Trustees is bringing a final version of the policy regarding Conduct, Complaints, and Discipline of Office-bearers for Assembly approval and action to send it for Presbytery approval under the Barrier Act. It can be found in the Trustees’ Supplementary Report beginning on page 79 and going for the next 21 pages..
Last year I also mentioned the report from the Committee on the Establishment Principle in the Twenty-First Century. This year’s report is again an interim report, but they say they expect the final report to come to next year’s Assembly. It does take on significance this year with the ascension of a new monarch who has sworn to protect the church. It will also be interesting to see what comments the Lord High Commissioner makes concerning the monarch when Lord Hodge addresses the Assembly on Wednesday, 24 May, around noon.
The Assembly continues until Thursday, 25 May. So with that, we will keep this Assembly in our prayers and look forward to following along over the next few days. May your deliberations be guided by the Holy Spirit and the time productive for the advancement of The Kingdom. Best wishes to all.