The start of the 224th General Assembly of the PC(USA) is a few hours away and in these days of reconfigured meetings, it will be interesting to see how a virtual GA operates. The opening night has been moved from Saturday to Friday and like every year the headline event will be the Election of the Co-Moderators. I posted my intro to the GA last night and I will have more thoughts on the GA coming soon, but first a look at the Moderator Teams, in order of their announcements.
Sandra Hedrick and Moon Lee (Photo from their Moderatorial Facebook Page)
Moon Lee describes a bit of his faith journey in his bio on the website, talking about being a preacher’s kid, part of a family with deep ties to the church, and headed to a career in pastoral ministry himself. Instead, God called him into a different form of ministry in his career in psychology involving neuroscience research and teaching. That did not distract from his church works as he has been active in three different PC(USA) presbyteries in many roles including as moderator, stated clerk, and COM chair. He has served in synod roles as well and also was a member of the Advisory Committee on the Constitution.
Sandra Hedrick’s path was a bit of the reverse as she is a second-career pastor having spent many years as an attorney involved in employment law and dispute resolution. About 15 years ago she sensed a strong call to transition to the ministry and has served as a pastor along with presbytery stated clerk and service on multiple presbytery committees and other bodies.
Their theme is “God’s Call, Our Passion,” and they describe this in an opening paragraph in the Moderator Candidates booklet:
“As co-moderator candidates from opposite coasts, we feel called to serve as ambassadors of our church with all that we are and all that we have! Our vision is a ministry of prayer, presence, listening, encouragement and reconciliation, always seeking to reflect and proclaim the active love, grace and justice of our living God. We see this time in the life of our church as our opportunity and responsibility to reframe our practices and reimagine our role.”
Our prayers are with them and all the commissioners for clarity and discernment in the Moderator elections this evening.
One of the few General Assemblies to be held on schedule this year will be gavelled to order about this time tomorrow and it will be an interesting experience in a number of respects. First, it will be virtual with all business and events happening online. Second, it will be significantly shortened, both in daily schedule and in the length of business meetings. So with the time limitations, a lot of business is getting pushed off to the next Assembly two years from now.
And so, we welcome the 224th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), set to convene at 7 PM Eastern Time tomorrow, Friday, June 19. While the formal business will then take a break for a week there are other events that will be included in the general program during that hiatus. To accommodate time zones the two days of formal business will run from 11 AM to 6 or 6:30 PM EDT. The plan is to do business in two-hour time slots followed by a one-hour break.
The site of the meeting was supposed to be in Baltimore before it got transferred to the ether. Instead, the Presbytery of Baltimore will now be the online host for the meeting
As usual, the source for information on all this business is the on-line PC-Biz system. It is important to remember that with the condensed meeting schedule there will be no committee action this year. The one actual Assembly committee, the Assembly Committee on Business Referrals, has acted upon a recommendation of the standing Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) that has divided all business into three parts: Information (received, no action), items of a critical or necessary nature (to be acted on this year), and everything else (which gets pushed to the 225th General Assembly). Changes to these lists can be made from the floor so keep an eye on that on opening night.
Other items of note on the docket include the election of the Co-Moderators from the three teams standing for the position on Friday night beginning at 9 PM EDT (new time from a meeting today) and the vote to renew the call of the Stated Clerk for another 4-year term on Saturday, June 27, at 11 AM EDT.
The schedule, including the docket and the other events, can be found on PC-Biz under Resources. There is also the Manual Of The General Assembly available there but also a recommendation from COGA for suspension of most of the standing rules and adoption of special rules to apply to this assembly, including that there shall be no new business. Finally, the information booklet on the Moderatorial Candidates can be found there as well.
The commissioners will be operating using videoconferencing technology, and for the rest of us who want to follow along the proceedings will be streamed on the GA website and on the Spirit of GA Facebook page.
The theme for this Assembly is “From Lament to Hope” based upon Lamentations 5:20-21. To go along with the theme a Bible study will be offered online on Wednesday. There are two sessions on Wednesday June 24 at 7 and 10 PM EDT. The study will be led by James Elisha Taneti and Mary Florence Taneti.
In addition, there are a series of video testimonials related to the theme posted on the GA website where various people from around the PC(USA) talk about the GA theme and their experience.
And just a note that before the pandemic, the chosen theme was “Called to a Movement Beyond Institution,” based upon Romans 12:2.
Another event that will be happening between the business sessions is the Poor People’s Campaign event that was to be a march on Washington but is now a digital rally at 10 AM EDT on Saturday, June 20th. The Stated Clerk, J. Herbert Nelson, will be one of the speakers. Note that there is a registration link, but not clear if registration is required.
There is also the Youth Rising Coalition event at 3 PM EDT on Tuesday, June 23. This is a group in Baltimore that is joining with the GA participants “To hear the voices and stories of Baltimore area youth who have compelling ideas about creating a more just and opportune environment for young people.”
To follow the action on official Twitter feeds the PC(USA) does have a general Twitter account (@Presbyterian). Usually, during the Assembly, the General Assembly feed (@presbyGA) provides more play-by-play, but it has not been active for six months. There is also the Presbyterian News Service on Twitter (@PresbyNews). The hashtag for the meeting is #ga224.
For individuals of note let me start with the accounts for the Co-Moderators (@GAModerators) and for the Stated Clerk (@PCUSAstatedclrk) as well as J. Herbert Nelson’s individual account (@jherbertnelson) which seems to be fresher. Watch the #GA224 hashtag and we will see who else is active for the meeting. (And I will update here.)
Out in the press corps, keep an eye on the Presbyterian Outlook on their website (pres-outlook.org) and Twitter (@presoutlook) as well as their special correspondent Leslie Scanlon (@lscanlon).
I plan to be on all the live-streamed events and tweeting (@ga_junkie) and maybe some live blogging. The Outlook printed one article I wrote for them on business coming to the Assembly related to overtures concerning Constitutional changes but all those items have been referred to the 225th GA. One of the controversial items for this Assembly will be how the Committee on Theological Education has reclassified the San Francisco Theological Seminary following their merger with the University of Redlands. My article for the Outlook on that business looks at the situation, at least at the time of publication. It is an evolving situation and it will be interesting to see how it evolves further in the hands of the GA. I will have a bit more to say on that in a couple of days as well as a couple of other evolving items before the Assembly. I would also mention my Outlook article “GA or Not GA? That is the Question” where I mused about what a virtual GA would look like. Personally, I think I got pretty close.
Finally, I expect this summary to be a living document over the next week and I will update at various points throughout the week as systems and patterns develop. I also hope to get out a modified GA Bingo card appropriately modified for a virtual GA.
So it will be an interesting week in the virtual assembly hall. We pray for patience for all involved as new technology is navigated and technical glitches are confronted. And there is some very important business, like the Way Forward Commission and the Vision 2020 group, that did not make the cut and have had their reports referred to the 225th General Assembly. It will be interesting to see if some other items docketed to be referred do creep back into the agenda for this meeting.
With all that going on we offer our prayers for the commissioners and for the leadership of this meeting. May they be guided by the Holy Spirit, particularly to discern God’s will as a body while not actually gathered in one physical space. It will certainly be an interesting GA week. Blessings upon you.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
In a general sense, the results are predictable – The membership of the two branches that would become the PC(USA) in 1983 peaked in 1965 at 4.25 million members and has been declining ever since. In terms of the direction of change in 2019, it is still a decline. But the good news is that the decline rate has been decreasing. What that means we will get to in a minute.
Specifically, the PC(USA) finished 2019 with 1,302,043 members, a net decrease of 50,635 or 3.7%. There were 45,079 members added to the rolls, roughly half through Professions of Faith and Reaffirmations. There were 91,552 members lost, with about 13% transferring to other churches, 26% moved to the Church Triumphant, and the bulk, almost two-thirds or 56,133 members were deleted from the rolls for other reasons.
The number of churches decreased by 120, or 1.3%, to 9041. The statistics show that 19 were organized, 95 were closed, none transferred in, and 24 transferred out to other denominations. There are also 110 New Church Developments/Fellowships – a decrease of six, and 176 New Worshipping Communities – an increase of 18.
So what does this look like in the context of the last 27 years:
Year
Num Churches
Num Change
% Change
Num Members
Num Change
% Change
Mem/Church
1993
11,416
-40
-0.3%
2,742,192
-38,214
-1.4%
240.2
1994
11,399
-17
-0.1%
2,698,262
-43,930
-1.6%
236.7
1995
11,361
-38
-0.3%
2,665,276
-32,986
-1.2%
234.6
1996
11,328
-33
-0.3%
2,631,466
-33,810
-1.3%
232.3
1997
11,295
-33
-0.3%
2,609,191
-22,275
-0.8%
231.0
1998
11,260
-35
-0.3%
2,587,674
-21,517
-0.8%
229.8
1999
11,216
-44
-0.4%
2,560,201
-27,473
-1.1%
228.3
2000
11,178
-38
-0.3%
2,525,330
-34,871
-1.4%
225.9
2001
11,141
-37
-0.3%
2,493,781
-31,549
-1.2%
223.8
2002
11,097
-44
-0.4%
2,451,969
-41,812
-1.7%
221.0
2003
11,064
-33
-0.3%
2,405,311
-46,658
-1.9%
217.4
2004
11,019
-45
-0.4%
2,362,136
-43,175
-1.8%
214.4
2005
10,959
-60
-0.5%
2,313,662
-48,474
-2.1%
211.1
2006
10,903
-56
-0.5%
2,267,118
-46,544
-2.0%
207.9
2007
10,820
-83
-0.8%
2,209,546
-57,572
-2.5%
204.2
2008
10,751
-69
-0.6%
2,140,165
-69,381
-3.1%
199.1
2009
10,657
-94
-0.9%
2,077,138
-63,027
-2.9%
194.9
2010
10,560
-97
-0.9%
2,016,091
-61,047
-2.9%
190.9
2011
10,466
-94
-0.9%
1,952,287
-63,804
-3.2%
186.5
2012
10,262
-204
-1.9%
1,849,496
-102,791
-5.3%
180.2
2013
10,038
-224
-2.2%
1,760,200
-89,296
-4.8%
175.4
2014
9,829
-209
-2.1%
1,667,767
-92,433
-5.2%
169.7
2015
9,642
-187
-1.9%
1,572,660
-95,107
-5.7%
163.1
2016
9,451
-191
-2.0%
1,482,767
-89,893
-5.7%
156.9
2017
9,304
-147
-1.6%
1,415,053
-67,714
-4.6%
152.1
2018
9,161
-143
-1.5%
1,352,678
-62,375
-4.4%
147.7
2019
9,041
-120
-1.3%
1,302,043
-50,635
-3.7%
144.0
So what is one of the reactions to the 2019 data? The headline on the PC(USA) news article from the Office of the General Assembly is “PC(USA) statistics show a leveling off in membership decline.”
So yes, from the peaks in the 2016 numbers the rate of decline for both churches and members has shown a consistent decrease in the rate of decline. So things are getting better. But are they levelling off? Let’s look a little bit closer.
Both the number of churches and the number of members had a somewhat consistent decline for the first part of this time period through about 2004. The membership decline was creeping up but still hung below 2%/year. The rate of decline in the number of congregations was similar hanging at or below 0.4%/year. Both then show a bit of acceleration up to 2011 with the rate of church decline rising to just below 1%/year and the membership decline rising to a bit over 3%/year. Then in 2012, there was a rapid increase to a plateau that continues in the 2016 data. The rate of decline of the number of congregations was right around 2.0%/year and the decline in total membership was generally above 5%/year. Since 2016 the numbers have been dropping but still hang at numbers above the earlier periods on the chart. Here are the graphs for the number of churches and the number of members.
So is it leveling off? Well, it could be, but a good likely scenario is that it returns to the lower rates of the 1990’s.
Another reaction comes from the Stated Clerk J. Herbert Nelson. The OGA article includes his full statement concerning the 2019 statistics in which he begins by saying “For the first time in more than thirty years, the PC(USA) is not reporting membership losses. Our membership remains at 1.3 million. This is good news!“
So yes, if you work with two significant figures and truncate after the two significant figures that is a correct statement. But, if you use standard scientific practice for significant figures we have to remember that the 2018 number to three significant figures is 1.35×106 (1.35 million members). The rule for rounding is that if the first insignificant figure is a five it gets rounded down if the next number is even and up if the next number is odd. In other words, it gets rounded so that the last significant figure is even. So, in this case, the PC(USA) membership in 2018 to two significant figures is 1.4 million. (Remember, I am a science professor in my other life.)
However, one of the rules of significant figures is that exact numbers, which a count of the membership of the church would be, has all numbers significant so there is a difference between 1,352,678 and 1,302,043.
OK, now my turn to take the Rorschach test.
Looking at the numbers I see two things. First, I see a decline rate that is returning to mainline/oldline baseline. Over a decade ago I looked at the seven denominations that are classified as the mainline, or sometimes oldline, churches. At the time some of them, like the PC(USA) and the Episcopal Church were heavily embroiled in controversy. Others, like the American Baptist Church and at the time the United Methodist Church, had little internal controversy. My conclusion was that there was a common baseline decline in the branches of a bit less than 1% per year. In addition, the more controversy a denomination was involved with the higher the decline rate. For the PC(USA) this peaked a few years ago with a total decline of 5.7%/year so an additional decline of about 5%/year beyond the baseline rate.
It is probably time to return to that analysis, but the first thing I see, as I mentioned above, is not so much a levelling off of the PC(USA) decline rate but return to the slow steady decline of around 0.5%-1.0% of the late ’90s in the table above.
The second thing I see is in that right-hand column of the table. As the PC(USA) decline continues the church loses members at a proportionally higher rate than churches are closed. Between 1993 and 2019 the average number of members per church has dropped by almost 100 members/church from 240.2 members/church to 144.0 members/church. Graphically, the change looks like this.
To look at this from another point of view, if the 2019 membership change is thought of as the dismissal of 120 churches and their members in 2019, the average number of members dismissed in those 120 churches would be 422 members.
On the one hand there is an important place for small churches. They are important to small rural communities and for niche ministries and settings. However, a denomination full of small churches would challenge the sustainability of the Presbyterian concept of the graded councils from the local to the national level.
The Church of Scotland in the radical restructuring plan that was initiated two years ago and adopted last year realized this. This plan restructures the Kirk broadly so that it is more flexible and sustainable. This restructuring includes consolidating churches and merging presbyteries. But an important difference is that the Church of Scotland has authority for these decisions set at the national level while American Presbyterianism locates ultimate authority at the presbytery level. That makes broad decisions like this more challenging.
There are probably two more topics to mention briefly. The first is the rough projection of where the PC(USA) is headed. If indeed the church is headed towards the mainline decline trend, if in five years it reaches a church decline trend of 0.3%/yr and a membership decline of 1.0% that would suggest that in 50 years the PC(USA) will have about 7,500 churches and 730,000 members and so would have just under 100 members/church.
The other thing to mention is that the PC(USA)’s new model for ministry is not in these numbers. As mentioned earlier it reported 110 new church developments and fellowships in 2019 and 176 New Worshiping Communities. That is a slight decrease in the first and a slight increase in the second. The New Worshiping Communities (NWC) are dynamic, non-traditional forms of community. Many of these are pretty small, some are short-lived, and generally, their creative and dynamic nature means that they don’t have members in the typical sense of Presbyterian churches. So their attendee numbers are not reflected in the annual statistics.
So there we have this year’s statistical report with three views of what is seen in the numbers. Lots of other numbers in that Comparative Summary of Statistics if you want to take the Rorschach test and see what you see in the data. Have fun.
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.
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.
The General Assembly of the Free Church (Continuing) will convene tomorrow, Monday 18 May, as scheduled and directed by the 2019 General Assembly. But, in light of the Covid-19 restrictions and recommendations here is their plan quoted from their news article:
The Assembly should be constituted, as indicted, in Edinburgh on Monday 18th May 2020, with the meeting taking place mainly by teleconference.
At the meeting on 18th May, subject to the agreement of the Assembly, the Assembly will, after a few preliminaries, consider only at that time a Report by the AAN [Assembly Arrangements and Nominations] Committee. The Assembly will then suspend to meet in Inverness on Tuesday 6th October. The fact it is being suspended rather than adjourning to meet will give a degree of flexibility, should it be impossible to meet on the said date.
In an update from last week, there are more details about the meeting, including that it will be preceded by a one-hour prayer meeting with remarks by the 2019 Moderator. From there the business portion of the meeting will convene. The meeting will be public and the Zoom meeting information is included in that update.
Based on these updates it must be presumed that the induction of the Moderator-designate the Rev. John MacLeod as the Moderator of the 2020 General Assembly is postponed until at least the indicated October date when the Assembly hopes to re-convene.
We look forward to an update following tomorrow’s teleconference. Our prayers are with them for their meeting.
In a normal year, this is an interesting and active week in Edinburgh with three General Assemblies in session at the same time in the early part of the week. Not so this year. We will see what God has in His Providence for us going forward.
In this unique year of General Assembly and Synod meetings, there are a small handful of branches that will be meeting by video conference to consider a limited number of items of business that are considered essential, urgent, or time-critical.
One of those meetings is the 2020 General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland which will meet tomorrow evening, Monday 18 May, at 6 pm Edinburgh time. The Assembly will consider a limited docket of business and intends to suspend the meeting with hopes to resume the meeting in October for a more traditional in-person meeting.
In light of the unique circumstances and limited business at this meeting, the Moderator-Designate Rev Neil MacMillan will not be installed. As the news article says “it is expected that a delay on the new appointment will be put in place until a formal service appointment can be conducted.” It is recommended to the Assembly that the 2019 Moderator, Rev. Donnie G. Macdonald, will continue as the 2020 Moderator to run the meetings this year and that Mr MacMillan’s appointment be deferred to the 2021 General Assembly.
There are five reports which contain business considered “urgent and time-critical.”
Assembly Business Committee – approving the arrangements, the programme (agenda), and the handling of documents related to the meeting.
The Assembly Clerk’s Office – proposing nominations, alternate arrangements for required annual general meetings of certain groups within the church, and approving “Arrangements for Exceptional Circumstances” to help the various bodies within the church as a whole operate during these exceptional times.
Edinburgh Theological Seminary – In addition to the usual thanks to all those involved with the operation of the Seminary there are items to act upon to resolve inconsistencies within the ETS governing documents.
Mission Board – two actions, one to change the pastoral staffing arrangement at a church and an action to change the status of a church plant to “a fully sanctioned charge.”
Board of Ministry – Seven varied actions including thanks to the Board, noting with sadness the death of a former Clerk to the Board, an appointment to the Board, and asking the church to continue to pray for God to raise up more Gospel workers. There is also an item to note the ongoing review of the Board and action to make changes to the composition of the Board.
There will be a private session related to the Board of Ministry as a minister wishing to transfer to the Free Church is introduced and examined. As there is confidential information involved those documents are not distributed in the reports and will be read by the chair of the Board in the private session.
It will be interesting to see how this meeting goes, both in terms of limited business and technology. If there is Twitter activity we can expect to see tweets from the official church account @freechurchscot. The customary hashtag would be #fcga20 although the hashtag #fcos is typically in use as well.
We keep this Assembly in our prayers and look forward to joining you tomorrow evening. May your deliberations be guided by the Holy Spirit and the time productive for the advancement of The Kingdom. Best wishes to all.
In just about 12 hours the Church of Scotland will install the new Moderator who will serve for the coming year. Never mind that there is no Assembly this year to actually moderate – we can hope that next year’s Moderator gives him ample chance to show those skills off the next time the General Assembly convenes.
The Moderator-Designate of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Rev Dr Martin Fair (source: Church of Scotland)
While he first did youth work for churches in Leeds and Barbados (as he maintains, “it was a tough job but someone had to go!”) he was ordained to his current position in 1992.
In 2006 he and his congregation set up a mental health and addiction service which has helped around 1000 people. He has a real concern for this ministry and it is no surprise that it will be an area he hopes to focus on in his moderatorial year. He is quoted in the Church of Scotland news article as saying “The biggest success stories we have had in getting people clean is folk who have understood that their freedom is in Christ and for me, that is the Kingdom of God.”
In terms of his free time, the church website profile tells us “When time permits, he loves nothing better that to ‘head for the hills’, whether to walk, climb or backpack. He plays some football and golf and has tried his hand at most other sports along the way!” However, the Kirk news article does provide a qualification that due to an accident in 2017 where he broke his left arm and it did not properly healed he has lost most function in that arm and requires adaptive technology and assistance for some regular tasks. He says a goal is to learn to play golf one-handed.
Martin and his wife Elaine grew up together on the same street and were married in 1987. They have three adult sons.
As his moderatorial year progresses you can follow along on the official Church Moderator (@churchmoderator) Twitter account or his personal account @wmartinfair.
He will be installed in a special service on Saturday morning 16 May which will be live-streamed for us to follow along.
We wish Mr Fair well on the year that is ahead of him. Our prayers are with him.
And he brings great optimism to the position. As he says in the news article:
“As I travel round the country even now, I see green shoots of growth and live in hope for what is going to come. What we will see emerge will be fresh and new and to quote a phrase, God is not finished with Scotland or His Church.”
As I was contemplating titles for this post the good old “And now for something completely different” came to mind. The only problem is that this year the whole GA season would resemble that remark.
But in the midst of this quiet year for the GA there are still two GA-related events that will occur: The installation of the Moderator and an online Heart and Soul event.
While there is no GA to preside over, the role of the GA Moderator in the Kirk goes well beyond the meeting and is a full-year commitment. Unlike other branches, such as the Presbyterian Church in Canada where the moderator will continue for another year until the next meeting, the Church of Scotland will pass the symbols of office to their Moderator Designee Rev Dr Martin Fair. He will be installed in a special service at 11 AM Edinburgh time on Saturday 16 May, about the time the GA was scheduled to open. It will be live-streamed.
The service will be unique as only five individuals will be participating and there will be no audience or congregation present. Besides Mr Fair, there will be the outgoing Moderator, the Rt Rev Colin Sinclair, and the Principal Clerk the Rev Dr George Whyte who, we are told, “will ensure the correct process is followed.” In addition, the incoming and outgoing Moderators’ wives, Elaine Fair and Ruth Sinclair will be part of the group. The ring and the cross will not so much be passed as they will be present to be put on at the appropriate time. In addition, a socially distanced BSL translator and a technology crew will also be present for the live streaming. The live stream will be available on the Church GA streaming page and the Facebook page.
A major event at recent General Assemblies has been the Sunday afternoon Heart and Soul festival in Princes Street Gardens. This year there will be an online version with some of the same features. It will begin with a replay of the installation of the Moderator, it will include some musical components and a number of conversations about the church and its work in social care and social justice issues. The program begins at 2 PM local time and will last two hours. The streaming will be available from the same sites, the Church GA streaming page and the Facebook page.
Finally, it should be mentioned that while there will not be a full GA, there is still the hashtag. So follow along at #GA2020.
So there is the line-up. It gives us something to look forward to on this lockdown or safer at home weekend.
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.
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)
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
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
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
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.
For all the saints, who from their labours rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed. Alleluia, Alleluia!
As is my custom on All Saints Day, I pause and give thanks – both privately and here on the blog – for those that I know who passed from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant the past 12 months.
This year was not an easy one and there are so many names on this list that I deeply miss and their passing to be with the Lord leaves a spot missing on this side of eternity.
Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might; Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight; Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light. Alleluia, Alleluia!
This year I remember and give thanks for the lives of:
Zachary – A faithful pastor who showed care and concern for many in the midst of his own challenges – physical and otherwise.
Leon – An icon of the church in this region and a mentor to lots of pastors over many years
Ray – One of my family’s oldest and best friends, a gentle spirit and a devoted husband
Bob – a faithful and active pastor, always ready to help out
Cliff – A character – one of a kind. He was a pillar of our church and a faithful, hard working long-time volunteer and leader there, a dear friend of our family whose decline was frustrating for him and very painful for the rest of us to experience as we walked alongside him.
Vera – a Presbyterian’s Presbyterian. Faithful and active ruling elder serving many years as clerk of session. And someone who always seemed to have a smile.
Tom – a pastor in so many senses of the word
O blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. Alleluia, Alleluia!
As they have joined the mighty cloud of witnesses my life has been enriched by knowing and serving with each one of them. Well done good and faithful servants.
But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day; The saints triumphant rise in bright array; The King of glory passes on His way. Alleluia, Alleluia!
From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast, Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost: Alleluia, Alleluia!
