Standing For Moderator Of The PC(USA) – Eliana Maxim and Bertram Johnson

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As we approach the convening of the 223rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) this Saturday afternoon, we look forward to the election of the Moderator(s) on Saturday evening. There are three teams that have declared and been endorsed, two co-moderator teams and a moderator/vice-moderator team. All three announced and were endorsed in quick succession last December. I am going to present these in three consecutive posts over the next two days and will do so in the order they announced, or more precisely the order their announcements appeared in the PC(USA) news outlet of record 😉 , the Presbyterian Outlook. So we being with…

Eliana Maxim and Bertram Johnson

The first team to announce was Eliana Maxim and Bertram Johnson. An extensive amount of information about them can be found on their moderatorial web site, as well as a Facebook group for their candidacy. Their information and responses to questions is the second set in the Moderators Handbook put out for the General Assembly, beginning on page 10 of the PDF file.

 

Teaching Elder Eliana Maxim is currently serving as the associate executive of Seattle Presbytery, a position she has held for the last seven years. She began exploring her call to professional ministry by serving as director of children and family ministries at Mercer Island Presbyterian Church. Her ministerial training began at Union Seminary in Richmond, VA, before transferring to Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry where she completed her MDiv.

She is a native of Colombia and her family emigrated when she was a young child, settling in the Los Angeles area. Her service in ordained ministry is a second career, having first completed a communication arts degree at Loyola Marymount University and then working as a news producer at CNN.

Currently, she also serves as a faculty member of the Transitional Ministry Workshop at Menucha, Oregon. Her service to the denomination includes the 220th GA’s Committee on the Belhar Confession, the 222nd General Assembly’s Way Forward Commission, the Committee on the Office of General Assembly, and vice-moderator of the National Hispanic/Latino Caucus of the PC(USA).

She can be followed on Twitter at @elianamaxim.

Teaching Elder Bertram Johnson serves as Minister of Justice, Advocacy, and Change at The Riverside Church in the City of New York and is a member of the Presbytery of New York City. While working on his BA at the University of Florida he volunteered for youth ministry with Young Life. Following graduation he spent a year serving youth and families at a neighborhood community center in Washington, D.C., as an intern with Sojourners.

He did his formal ministerial training at Princeton Theological Seminary where he completed an MDiv and Rutgers University where he completed an MSW. He then moved to the Pacific Northwest and continued working in church employment. His web site bio continues his faith journey:

When the denomination’s polity regarding LGBTQ ordination became more restrictive, although he was certified to receive a call and was working at Mt. Baker Park Presbyterian, Bertram decided to withdraw from the ordination process.

After work as an oncology chaplain and directing spiritual and practical care programs for people living with HIV/AIDS, he was led back to the ordination process and was ordained as a teaching elder at Madrona Grace Presbyterian Church in January 2014. He has served on the GA Nominating Committee and is a member of the NEXT Church Leadership Team.

One of the possible questions for the moderatorial teams to answer in the Handbook asks them to describe the church of tomorrow. Eliana and Bertram begin their answer saying:

The church of tomorrow is less concerned with membership and denominational pedigree than it is with incarnational faith, community engagement, and authentic relationships. There seems to be a desire to return to a parish model, where the church is involved in the life of the surrounding community and mission partnerships are determined not on large programmatic commitments made through denominational channels, but on local ecumenical, interfaith and secular allies.

And they balance this with

Lack of membership or affiliation desire can also mean lack of pledging and tithing for our local churches and this obviously impacts the financial health every body in our denomination from the local church through the mid-councils and onto our per capita funds that support the mission and ecclesial arms of the PCUSA.

Lots of good stuff in their answers to the questions and I encourage you to have a look at the full answer to this one and the answers to the others.

Best wishes to Eliana and Bertram in their standing for this position and prayers for the commissioners as they discern the next moderatorial team. We can meet the candidates Saturday morning and I look forward to the press conference with the successful team following the election Saturday evening.

Moving on… Team #2 coming up later

46th General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In America

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As I write this the committees of commissioners are hard at work, the book sellers are apparently plying their wares, and the Twitter hashtag has started to get busy.

Yes, the 46th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America is starting to get rolling and they will convene in plenary session tomorrow afternoon, 13 June, in Atlanta. The meeting is scheduled to adjourn at noon on Friday 15 June. The theme of the Assembly is “Love God and Love Neighbor.” The meeting will be live streamed and they have their GA app available for several platforms to follow along. There is also a ShareFile! app there for registered commissioners to download reports and other documents.

While the full volume of reports is available only to commissioners, the docket and overtures are available on-line. A more general schedule of events is also available. There is a nice page with links to all the forms and schedules for the meeting.

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).

News updates will be posted through the official news website and online publication byFaith, including the update from today’s 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), Melton L. Duncan (@MeltonDuncan), and Jemar Tisby (@JemarTisby). For organizations I will mention Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing (@prpbooks), Greenville Seminary (@GPTseminary) and Reformed Theological Seminary (@ReformTheoSem). (And as a note, there are other Twitter accounts for the different RTS campuses.) There is a long list of people tweeting (check out the #pcaga hashtag) but I will throw in Elder’s Wife (@Titus_1_wife),  and three accounts that have some overlap: More in PCA (@MoreinPCA) – a grassroots organization of REs, Chortles Weakly (@ChortlesWeakly) and Presbycast (@Presbycast). It doesn’t look like Allan Edwards (@edwardsae1) is actively tweeting from the meeting, but worth remembering that in past years he has given us the Bingo Card and the Selfie Scavenger Hunt. And for a Twitter feed that is posted decently and in order there is the @PCAPresbyter himself.

One of the new elements of this Assembly are opportunities to live into the theme of the Assembly with what are being called Love Neighbor Ministry Opportunities. Two opportunities are being offered to get out into the community and help with ministry. The first was Tuesday afternoon with a trip to a local area with a concentration of refugees to participate in a neighborhood block party. The second is Wednesday morning to work with the Restore Life community development organization in West Atlanta.

The overtures to this Assembly will provide a lot of opportunity for discussion, debate and discerning God’s will for the church. ByFaith has put together a summary of the overtures and earlier today the Overtures Committee has made their recommendation on many of them.

One of the closely watched sets of overtures relate to the traditional definition of marriage. While the Westminster Confession of Faith is clear about that and chapter 59 of the Book of Church Order is similar, there is concern that while that is satisfactory on ecclesiastical grounds it may not be enough if challenged in civil courts. The proposals center around raising chapter 59 to full constitutional strength to help protect pastors in the denomination. (Yes, it is an interesting polity feature that not all sections of the Book of Church Order have constitutional status.) The Overtures Committee is recommending against approval of these overtures but word is that a minority report will be presented.

Another big theme in some quarters is the participation and role of Ruling Elders in the denomination. The summary article covers this as well as I could:

Since the first General Assembly in 1973, the percentage of ruling elders who attend has declined. In an effort to boost their participation, Calvary Presbytery has proposed the following: 1) Require that at least three ruling elders serve on all Ad Interim committees, and 2) reduce the GA registration fee to $100 for ruling elders.

The Overtures Committee has so far only dealt with the first of those and recommends it be answered in the negative.

And in response to the adoption last year of the study on Women Serving in Ministry, there is a request to clarify in the report to make it clear that when a church has assistants to the deacons, those individuals are not in an ordained position and do not have a vote with the Deacons’ Board. Again, the Overtures Committee is recommending the overture be answered in the negative.

There is also a special report being presented this year, the report of the Ad Interim Committee on Racial and Ethnic Reconciliation. This report will be presented Thursday morning following a seminar on Racial and Ethnic Reconciliation.

All this and more is on the table for the next three days. It should be an interesting meeting and some of the overtures I just mentioned, as well as some other business, will be a guide to where the PCA is at the present time and where it may be headed. Get ready to prognosticate.

Our best wishes 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.

What’s Shaking In St. Louis?

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One of my idiosyncratic sets of posts are those before various PC(USA) General Assembly meetings looking at the geologic hazards for the host city. So you are thinking “What could go wrong in St. Louis?”, besides the Big Muddy flooding of course. Well, geologically it is quieter than our last venue which was right between an active volcano and a megathrust, but it still has its own unique risk.

It turns out that St. Louis sits fairly close to the north end of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, a set of structures famous for four large earthquakes over the winter of 1811-1812. These events are thought to be in the upper half of the 7 magnitude range, possibly into the low 8’s. Yes, massive earthquakes in what was then the middle of nowhere. There was a bit of civilization around then and they tell harrowing stories, including a short stretch of the Mississippi River flowing backwards for a few hours. And the original town of New Madrid… it is submerged in the river. And for the record, I have some experience in the area having published a couple of papers on my work there. ( Paper 1, Paper 2)

The good news is that from a human time scale these are rare events, something that happens about every 500 years, or maybe every 1000 years, and we are only 200 years out from the last ones. But there is a low level of activity around as well, mostly in the bootheel region and around Memphis. This is my favorite map to keep an eye on it.

The real concern of course is not the earthquakes themselves but the seismic strength of the buildings in the area. You can see from the seismic hazard maps for building codes that Memphis is a level 3 while St. Louis is a level 2A. (And for reference, my house in California is solidly in a highest level 4 zone.) But these are relatively new and many historic buildings don’t have the seismic reinforcing that newer buildings have. So something to keep in mind.

So, look forward to seeing you in St. Louis and let’s be careful out there.

 

Rebranding In The Free Church Of Scotland – “Dress For The Job You Want.”

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Today the Free Church of Scotland rolled out a rebranding of their mission work. When I heard the preview of this at their GA three weeks ago it reminded me of that old corporate and job-search advice

“Dress for the job you want, not the one you have.”

More on that in a minute. But first…

Welcome to Generation

This is the new name and logo for the Mission Board of the Free Church of Scotland. It includes branded printed material as well as their new website, generation-mission.org.

As I said, this was previewed at the 2018 General Assembly and the branding presentation can be viewed on the archived GA recordings for the Wednesday Morning session. (Begins at the 1:50:00 mark).

Overall, this represents a nice consistent branding effort for the mission outreach, home and world, for the Free Church. While yellow is not my favorite colour, the yellow/black pallet works surprisingly well. The four areas – Church Planting, Church Development, Church Equipping, and Global Mission – have their areas and presentations. Looks like some work could be done on the html header and metadata for the web site, but I am sure that will get caught at some point. In addition, there seems to be a minimum of linkage between the new branded web site and the existing Free Church site. I am curious to see how that develops.

Now, in the original GA presentation one thing caught my eye and gets back to the quote at the beginning. As they were describing the development process they gave examples of other logos that inspired them. Here is the screen capture of that point from the video:

To list the four examples given they are 20 Schemes, 9 Marks, Redeemer City to City, and Acts 29. If you are not familiar with them, they are all parachurch organizations. While I have no fundamental issues with them, it raises the question – for me at least – of what the goal is. As that advice says: “Dress for the job you want, not the one you have.” Is this opening the door to the Mission Board distancing itself from the Free Church in its branding and moving toward a more autonomous model?

To be clear, there was no hint of this in the discussion at GA – the intent was clearly to establish a brand that would help the Mission Board promote the work that it is doing. But when I saw the company it was looking to keep it raised personal red flags when there were all parachurch organizations and at least three of the four are usually viewed as part of what has come to be known in the States as the Evangelical Industrial Complex. (I know 20 Schemes as a church planting/revitalization effort in Scotland and one whose work I have come to respect. They are however associated with an American non-profit according to their about page.)

And as a historical note, my own view may hold a bit of caution because of a similar effort in the PC(USA) that about four years back became a bit of an issue. It should be noted that the church planting entity is still there and is still in the church  planting business.

So at this point, enjoy the brand and prayers and best wishes to the Mission Board in their work. I don’t know with any certainty whether separately branding an effort within a denomination is a beneficial way to go, so we look forward to seeing how this effort develops.

85th General Assembly Of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

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210px-OrthodoxPresbyterianChurchlogoThe 85th General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church will convene tomorrow, Monday, 11 June, at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, and is being held concurrently with the URCNA Synod. The meeting will conclude the evening of Friday, 15 June.

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 expecting the tradition to continue watch this page when the assembly gets under way.

The agenda and reports are not posted on-line 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 let me list the usual suspects and update once things get rolling.  The list would include Ryan Cook (@ryanlawdawg), Christopher Drew (@ChristopherDrew), and maybe Rachel Stevenson (@whatshewrote). It is probably worth keeping an eye on the Reformed Forum (@ReformedForum) crew including Camden Bucey (@CamdenBucey) and Jim Cassidy (@jjcassidy). In addition we might see comments on D. G. Hart’s feed (@oldlife), maybe The Daily Genevan (@TheDailyGenevan), and one of their denominational associations, NAPARC.

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. The URCNA has put out a full schedule showing the times of joint meetings. These include opening and closing worship, but it also has a session highlighting their joint work on the new Psalter Hymnal. I would add that once again the Rev. Todd Smith at Faith Bible OPC, Brick, NJ, has put together a brief and general summary of the meeting. Check back on that blog for his thoughts afterwards.

So 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.

144th General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In Canada – Some Notes After The Fact

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After a week off from live streaming General Assemblies we were back at it again this week with two live streams and three meetings total to track. The first to kick off was the 144th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.

I have been swamped with various items this week – Presbyterian and otherwise. So I will do some minimalist notes on each of the meetings, and noting that this one concluded yesterday, but the information could be useful.

The theme for the meeting is “With Glad and Generous Hearts”.

The Assembly had a presence on social media through the PCConnect Facebook page and through their official Twitter feed @PCConnect. The hastag for the meeting was #pccga2018.

Again this year a closely watched topic were the overtures and items related to human sexuality. From the many proposals and requests the updates give two important action items. The first was that a special listening committee called the Rainbow Communion, had their terms of reference amended so a broader range of people could provide input in their work. In addition, “The Assembly also suspended indefinitely censure for LGBTQI minister and elders who serve on the committee and/or tell their stories, allowing them to participate freely and honestly in the work of the special committee.” And yesterday the Assembly agreed with a proposal to form another special committee composed of the last 12 GA moderators “to review the issue and propose a way ahead that allows for the mission and ministry of the PCC to continue.” It is expected to report back at next year’s General Assembly. I would add that in my following the live stream I was aware that a significant process for the commissioners was listening to each other, and reflecting in silence.

There are the quick notes. Check the reports, minutes and updates for more.

Free Church Of Scotland (Continuing) General Assembly – May 22, 2018

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of observing the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) as they met in their first full day of business. This is a group that knows what they believe and are very forthright and clear about that in their conversations, their business, and their preaching.

I think a bit of context is helpful before I start discussing the Assembly itself. The Presbyterian Church in Scotland has almost as many splits and reunions as the American Presbyterians do. Focusing specifically on the Free Church of Scotland, the denomination was formed in The Disruption of 1843 when just over a third of the pastors walked out of the Church of Scotland General Assembly and a few days later constituted their own GA. After the Free Church went through a couple of unions it then, in 1929, reunited with the Church of Scotland. But there were a number of congregations that resisted the union with the United Presbyterian Church and continued as the Free Church of Scotland, essentially the Free Church body that is present today.

Then, in January 2000, in the midst of a church discipline case, a group within the Free Church walked out of the Commission of Assembly meeting when they regarded that church discipline was not properly exercised in the case of a leader in the church. This was the causative incident but differences had been building for a number of years. (And as expressed to me yesterday, the doctrinal gap between the two groups has been widening in the 18 years since.) As the Moderator put it in his address yesterday, they consider themselves the branch that represents “Truly unqualified subscription to the Westminster Confession.” For a bit more you can see the the History page on the web site and for the whole story from their perspective there is a recently released book, A Divided Church. (I picked up a copy yesterday and look forward to reading it.)

So yesterday I caught the bus to the LIberton section of Edinburgh, about three miles south of the Town Centre. The Assembly meets in the Liberton Kirk, the building of a Church of Scotland congregation which works very well for their Assembly.

Liberton Kirk building, Edinburgh

Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) General Assembly

I want to thank the Moderator, the Principal Clerk, and the whole assembly for their warm welcome. I have worked on press credentials at a few different assemblies now and their level of hospitality is second to none. The press are invited to join them for their group meals at their expense and the press seating is in the first row. Here was the view from my seat.

Free Church (Continuing) General Assembly – view from the first row press seating

The press row

Throughout the day there was Psalm singing from the volume on the right in the picture, which is a modern printing of the Scottish Psalter of 1650. While I was there we sang one song in Gaelic. Can’t say I did well but I tried. For that one, it was helpful that the precentor lined the psalm for us as we sang. (And I would note that occasionally I would hear conversations around me being held in Gaelic.)

Following the opening singing the Moderator, the Rev. David Blunt, read the scripture for the day, the Book of Jude, and then gave his Moderatorial Address from the book, focusing on Jude 3 and “Contending for the faith today.” While I won’t try to summarize his address here (you can read it at the link above) I will say that he spoke of the need for zeal in contending for the faith and that all in the church – pastors, elders, deacons, and members – have a role to play. It would be easy to read into the address the message that the Free Church (Continuing) is the inheritor of the true Presbyterian heritage of Scotland, and in a conversation with him and the Principal Clerk later in the day I confirmed that I was not reading too much into the address.

In fact, throughout the day in subtle, and sometimes not so subtle ways, this was woven into the fabric of the Assembly.

From the Address they moved into business and the first item of business was the Loyal and Dutiful Address. (A formal letter to the monarch, for those who might not be familiar with it. Each GA produces one.) There were a couple changes accepted from the floor. There was a question about why the recent Royal Wedding was not included in the letter along with other congratulations, and the Moderator confirmed it was related to fact that the bride’s previous marriage had ended in a divorce on other than biblical grounds. The body was content with that answer and no move was made to add that to the congratulations. Another interesting feature is that, where applicable, members of the royal family were addressed by their Scottish-related titles.

The most substantive debate of the day came in the report of the Committee on Ecumenical Relations. (Starting on page 10 of the reports.) The positive news for the denomination is that the Free Church (Continuing) is back in full Ecclesiastical Fellowship with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. On the other side the committee expressed concern about the path of the  Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (liberated), or GKN(v). Last year the Synod began the process of admitting women to ordained office and in response the International Conference of Reformed Churches (ICRC) suspended their fellowship with the denomination with a final decision on their membership to be made when the GKN(v) makes the decision final. The Free Church (Continuing) was asked to follow the lead of the ICRC and suspend the church-to-church level relationship. The Assembly concurred with the recommendation.

There was an addendum proposed to the report that as an aid to evaluating ecumenical relationships the church should “draw up a comprehensive statement of Free Church principles” and doing the same for other Scottish denominations for the next GA. There was some reasoned discussion of this and there were questions as to whether this is a needed document. In the end the addendum was defeated by a wide margin, but it brought some important issues to light.

This discussion reminded me of a proposal, also defeated, in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) a few years back to define what the phrase “essential tenets of the Reformed faith” in the Book of Order meant. The argument for the proposal was similar – how do we evaluate standards of discipline if there is no standard? The argument against was the there are confessional standards and how do you condense a confession down to a few bullet points while still doing justice to the subordinate standard? And would the summary be held, or used, in place of a full, recognized, subordinate standard? And while the proposal did not get traction in the PC(USA) when the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (ECO) was formed they did create such a document.

Most of the rest of the day was made up of fairly routine reports. The Committee on Finance and Sustentation was presented on ministerial pay and new proposals that were being worked on for life insurance coverage coverage for pastors to assist families if the need arises. The General Trustees reported that the church budget was in good shape but spoke of seeking creative ways to help with capital needs of church planting. The Special Committee on Psalmody reported that the new Psalmody was now in its third printing due in large part to the hard work of some dedicated member of the church. And the Welfare of Youth and Education Committee distributed the annual Sunday School prizes as well as reporting on the holiday camps. Attendance has been an issue and a challenge to their viability. One in particular, the All-Ages Holiday Camp has been canceled this year and they are looking for a more affordable venue for future years.

Finally, there were several ecumenical delegates that were invited to speak. Two in particular caught my attention. The Rev. Josh Rieger from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales spoke of the context of his own church in Northumberland. This is an area that a centenary ago had ninety Presbyterian churches. Today his is the only one. And the Rev. Dr. John P Wilson brought greetings from the Presbyterian Church in Australia, of which he is the Moderator. He briefly outlined the history of the Presbyterians in Australia and commented on the formation of the Uniting Church 41 years ago. For him, this was a very positive event in the church as the progressive side of the church departed leaving a group more dedicated to the confessional tradition. He spoke positively of the trajectory of the church and what the future holds. (I would add that having read much of the book issued for the 40th anniversary last year, Burning or Bushed, that more comprehensive evaluation give a much more nuanced view of the state of the church at this time.)

Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) General Assembly in session

Three quick notes:

For those tracking minister/elder participation the elder numbers are just about two-thirds the number of pastors – 38 pastors to 24 elders

It was an interesting juxtaposition to be in the session on Ecumenical Relations discussing the concerns over a partner denomination moving towards ordination of women at exactly the same time the Church of Scotland had their celebration of the 50th anniversary of the GA vote to ordain women.

And finally, I have been trying to characterize this GA and what struck me was the tight focus in doctrinal standards I saw. While the Assembly discussed matters tied to doctrine, doctrine itself was not really on the table. Unlike many other GA where commissioners with broad, or at lease broader, doctrinal interpretations where business is discussed through those filters, at this GA I found in neither the floor discussions or the many personal conversations I had with commissioners, did I find much variation in doctrine.

So again, my sincere thanks to the Free Church (Continuing) General Assembly and its officers for the stimulating day, enlightening conversations, and warm welcome. Best wishes and prayers for the conclusion of your Assembly and I hope to visit again at some time in the future.

[Update 26 May 2018: The text regarding the royal wedding and the bride’s earlier divorce and the spelling of Northumberland were corrected. Thanks to Mr. Blunt, the Moderator, for bringing it to my attention. We regret the errors.]

2018 General Assembly Of The Free Church Of Scotland

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abb92709-4c93-44fe-8b75-2ef076924200Tonight the full compliment of General Assemblies are in progress as the Free Church of Scotland 2018 General Assembly convenes at St. Columba’s Free Church in Edinburgh. The meeting will run until about noon on Thursday. It is always an interesting meeting so here is some info about following along.

To follow along in social media you should be checking the official Free Church Facebook page as well as their Twitter feed @freechurchscot. The host church can be followed at @stcsfreechurch and the hashtag will be #fcga18, although sometimes tweets slip by with #fcga or #fcga2018. In addition, I would suggest also keeping an eye on the Twitter account for the official bookstore, Free Church Books (@freechurchbooks). Also, the seminary, Edinburgh Theological Seminary (@ETS_Edinburgh) and its principal Iver Martin (@IverMartin) should be informative.

Regarding other individuals and church tweeting the GA let me start with @jedirev, the moniker of Gordon Matheson, who has come back to Twitter for the GA. Add to that an elder from St. Columba’s who is a commissioner this year “Neil DM” who’s feed is @neilbriogaisean. (And must add I had a great evening talking with the two of them after the opening session.) I will update here any additional accounts that are interesting as the GA progresses.

Not present at the GA but worth mentioning is the former Moderator David Robertson. He is on sabbatical in Australia but might weigh in on either Twitter at @theweeflea or on his blog, The Wee Flea.

Much of the business before the Assembly seems like the routine but necessary work of a connectional denomination. A couple of interesting items include the approval for the London City Presbyterian Church to sell their manse and an agreement between the Assembly and the congregation as to how to split the proceeds. There is also a item to deal with ruling elder representatives to Synods, which still exist but meetings were suspended in 2009. The Assembly Clerks are also proposing a policy regarding electronic records and their handling and storage. There is also a action item regarding the structure and procedure of the quinquennial review of the seminary.

One of the important items is the Board of Ministry report and the section on Ministry with Integrity. This continues the close examination of the ministry in the Free Church in response to the ” the tragic and untimely death by suicide of Rev. Dr Iain D. Campbell in January 2017,” and other pastoral integrity issues. There are a number of steps and safeguards recommended in the report but the lead point is:

It was agreed to commend to all ministry candidates and serving ministers the challenging and realistic book, Dangerous Calling, by Paul David Tripp. This volume deserves to be read and re-read to help foster a healthy pastoral culture where genuine repentance and heart-humility is normal and where glory and fear is not given to men but to God alone. To that end pastors need to be encouraged and supported through healthy relationships with other Christians and their fellow leaders to whom they must be properly accountable.

It is a pleasure to sit in as an observer of the Free Church Assembly this year. I look forward to a couple of stimulating days with them.

So best wishes to the Free Church on their Assembly and we pray for the Holy Spirit to guide your discernment throughout.

2018 General Assembly Of The Free Church Of Scotland (Continuing)

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Things are getting busy in Edinburgh now as two more Assemblies convene this evening. Here is a brief preview on the Free Church (Continuing). More on the other later in the day.

The Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) will convene at 6 PM this evening at Liberton Kirk, Kirkgate, Liberton, Edinburgh, and will conclude this coming Thursday, probably before noon. The church’s press release has more details on the meeting arrangements as well as a summary schedule.

The book of reports is available for download online. For governing documents and church order, the Acts of Assembly are available online and the basic polity document is the Westminster Form of Presbyterial Church-Government. In addition, the church is guided by the Westminster Standards. And finally, there are a few documents related to this branch’s formation back in 2000.

Compared to other meetings the social media footprint will be fairly small. Expecting some news on their Facebook page, and the church’s Twitter feed is @fccscot. The hashtags for the meeting are #freechurchcontinuing and #ga2018. Probably best to focus on the former as the latter is in use by the Church of Scotland as well. And other than myself when I will be with them I am not aware of another individual tweeting from the Assembly. Will update if I find a good follow.

It is my plan to join them for a full day of business, probably on Tuesday but that is not set yet.

Looking through the Reports I see a lot of business typical of Assemblies these days. The Assembly Arrangements Committee includes in their report investigating the improvement of video conferencing arrangements. This would provide the opportunity for office bearers from the Presbytery of the USA to more fully participate in other meetings. The Ecumenical Relations Committee will be presenting an update on an invitation from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church to join in Ecclesiastical Fellowship. On the other side, they note with sadness the decision by the Synod of the Gereformeerde Kerken of the Netherlands to admit women to ordained office and seek to end the Ecclesiastical Fellowship with them. And the Committee on Psalmody will report on their production of a split-leaf Psalter.

Maybe the most high-profile report will be from the Committee on Public Questions, Religion and Morals. The church has issued a press release regarding their proposed comment to the Scottish Parliament regarding a bill to impose a smacking ban. The committee is concerned that this bill represents “Yet another example of the Government overreaching its locus and interfering in family life.” The Committee’s other ongoing matters include Child Protection and the Named Person Scheme, and Organ Donation.

I look forward to joining them in a day or two and continue to pray for their work and the deliberations ahead.

Church Of Scotland General Assembly:Day 2 – 20 May 2018

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Another interesting day in Edinburgh.

It began with the General Assembly worship service in St. Giles Cathedral. Needless to say the place was packed and the space was standing room only. (Not an exaggeration – in our part of the church there were a couple dozen people standing around the edges.)

If you are looking for “high church” Presbyterian worship it would be difficult to find something beyond a General Assembly worship service in the mother church of Presbyterianism. No “smells and bells”, but a distinctly secular aspect with the Lord High Commissioner in attendance and part of the formal processional and recessional. And it included singing God Save the Queen. But the music was good, I enjoyed singing hymns not in the common repertoire in the states, with a packed cathedral the sound was very full and rich.

We decided to stay for the second service, pretty much the regular St. Giles Lord’s Day service with the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Good music, not as full a crowd, and a more simple feel. Again, some aspects were vary familiar – the reference in the sermon to being decently and in order got me a nudge from my traveling companions. And some were not, like the gathering in a circle around the very minimalist communion table to pass the elements between us. (That very minimalist is the white box in the picture below.

One of the joys of the day was in the first service sitting below the Holy Spirit stained glass window, this being Pentecost and all. Here is a shot of St. Giles down the main axis of the hall and one of the window.

Looking down the main axis of St. Giles Cathedral

Holy Spirit Window in St. Giles Cathedral

Being in St. Giles, one spot I had to visit was the traditional location where Jenny Geddes was sitting in back in 1637 when the Dean of the Cathedral began using the new service book imposed by the King and in her distaste for the mass threw her small folding seat at him. A riot ensued.  With the poor lighting I did not get a good picture of it, but this page about her includes a picture of the marker on the floor.

After looking at that, we were intrigued to find a plaque to her intended target, the Dean of the Cathedral, posted on a column near by. It reads:

James Hannay DD
Dean of this Cathedral
1634-1639
He was the First and the Last who read
The Service Book in this Church
This Memorial is Erected
In happier times by his Descendant

Here is more on James Hannay if you are interested.

The other Church of Scotland event of the day was the Heart and Soul event in Princes Street Garden. For the PC(USA) folks, imagine the GA exhibit hall moved outdoors into a park, with tents for booths and lasting only for an afternoon. One item Heart and Soul has that you won’t find in the exhibit hall is three stages and some children’s activities.

Overall it was a good afternoon for me as I got to talk with representatives of several organizations, committees and programs I have been tracking from afar. Thanks to them for the conversations and the opportunity to meet a few of them in person.

Heart and Soul actually began last night with a concert and worship of interest to young people. There was an enthusiastic and faithful crowd there for it but a lot of the seats were empty. One of the bands did Christian electronic dance music. Yes, apparently it is such a thing. The crowd was excited to see them and the evening was well received by those who attended. The worship time was fairly good and the preacher did a fine job of giving a Gospel message.

 

Preaching at the Heart and Soul Saturday night youth event.

So there is a quick wrap-up from today. Tomorrow things get interesting as two more GA’s get under way. Will be tweeting throughout the day but not sure what the posting will look like. We will have to see.

Have a good night