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50th General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In America

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We are in a couple of busy weeks for General Assemblies and as I work to get caught up on all of them, I will begin with the 50th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America beginning today.

The Assembly is being held in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Committees of Commissioners are gathering today to begin their work which can extend into tomorrow. The Assembly convenes in plenary session tomorrow evening, Tuesday 13 June, at 6:30 PM CDT, and will probably adjourn the evening of Thursday 15 June, but could go on Friday if need be. Being the 50th anniversary of the formation of the PCA there are a number of special events that will be part of the meeting and a special website. The meeting will be live-streamed.

While the full volume of reports is available only to commissioners, the docket, schedule, and overtures are available online. There is also a breakdown of the Committees of Commissioners’ Schedule. And to access all of this on the go the Assembly is again using the Guidebook app.

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). For the hardcore polity wonks, there is Morton Smith’s Commentary on the Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America which is only available in a print edition. (Similar to what some branches call the Annotated Book of (Church) Order. And I see it is currently out of stock.) There is also the new Parliamentary Procedure for Presbyters – a beginner’s guide from the Presbyterian Polity group with a PCA focus and the booklet will be distributed at a luncheon at the meeting. For those of us not present, they might make it available to order. Additional polity resources from the group can be found on the pcapolity.com website

News updates will be posted through the official news website and online publication byFaith.

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) and their reporter Megan Fowler (@Fowl_Words). The hashtag for the Assembly is #pcaga although #PCA50 is sometimes used. 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), and Melton L. Duncan (@MeltonDuncan). I would also add a former moderator and coordinator of MNA, Irwyn Ince (@Irwyn). For organizations, I will mention Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing (@prpbooks), Greenville Seminary (@GPTseminary), and Reformed Theological Seminary (@ReformTheoSem). Others that I would include on this list are Presbycast (@Presbycast), and Presbyterian Polity (@PCAPolity).

There is a long list of people tweeting (check out the #pcaga hashtag), and I am not sure where to start, but I will mention a few of the early active ones now. Derek Radney (@DerekRadney) is doing us a great service with the detailed tweeting from the Overtures Committee meeting. Others with active accounts at this time include Jared Nelson (@brothernelson), Nick Batzig (@Nick_Batzig), and George Sayour (@GeorgeSayour). For some of the more, shall we say, unusual accounts, so far this year we have activity from Hipster Teaching Elder (@Hipster_TE), and GA Famous (@GA_Famous). Some others that posted something last year but have not been active yet this year include the @PCAPresbyter, Joey Pipa’s Mustache (@jpipasmustache), and PCA Logo (@PCALogo).

There are also a number of seminars being held tomorrow afternoon. I am not seeing live streaming of them but at least some of them should find their way onto the PCA podcast “gifts and graces.”

As usual, the overtures to this Assembly reflect where the PCA is today and what it is concerned about. There are 30 overtures on the Resources page – including one carried over from the last GA – and there are brief summaries of them from byFaith.

It is no surprise that the topic of human sexuality has the most overtures addressing BCO changes this year after most changes were not adopted last year. Three of the five overtures (Overture 9, Overture 16, and Overture 17) ask to modify BCO 7 regarding qualifications of church officers. For those not tracking this issue, the PCA is not just concerned with homosexual practice but with individuals identifying as having same-sex attraction but being celibate as well. In addition, Overture 23 and Overture 24 ask for changes related to this issue of standards in the next chapter of the BCO regarding elders.

There are also multiple overtures related to the roles that women may serve in. Overture 15 would add to the Directory for Worship a section to “Disallow Exhortation, Preaching, or Teaching by Women in Worship” and to make that section constitutionally binding. Another proposed change is in Overture 26, which would add the line, “Furthermore, unordained people should not be referred to as, or given the titles connected to, the ecclesial offices of pastor, elder, or deacon.” As was noted in today’s discussions by the Overtures Committee, this does not include and does not prohibit the title of “minister.”

And in a move that probably has a backstory I have not found yet, Overtures 10 and 14 prohibit “professional counsel” from participating in ecclesiastical judicial cases. Today the Overtures Committee recommended these overtures be answered in the negative but there are indications there may be a minority report.

The PCA General Assembly does not generally take social witness positions as some other more progressive Presbyterian branches do, within their understanding of the Westminster Confession of Faith 31.4. But under that WCF section, a church may tred into civil affairs “by way of humble petition in cases extraordinary.” In the case of Overture 12, it is to “Petition Government to End Sex-change Procedures for Minors.”

And By Faith has posted a news article with all of the actions of the Overtures Committee taken today, 12 June. Spoiler alert – most of the recommendations are to not approve the requested action.

Among the special events for the branch’s 50th, on Wednesday evening, there will be a PCA 50th Celebration Concert with the group Indelible Grace. This group of musicians and composers grew from the church’s college ministry – Reformed University Fellowship or RUF. Personally, I am looking forward to this event which is on the schedule to be live-streamed.

And finally, if you are looking for a new Bingo Card, we can thank @Hipster_TE for that. For the vintage ones, Allan Edwards has given us Bingo Card 2 and Bingo Card 1, and the Selfie Scavenger Hunt.

There’s lots on the docket this week and multiple items that are sure to provide a spirited, and hopefully Spirit-filled, discussion among the commissioners. I have seen enough GA’s to know that predicting the outcome of these debates is difficult, but it will certainly be interesting to follow as the commissioners discern the outcomes together.

Our best wishes and prayers to the commissioners and leaders of the PCA General Assembly for this important meeting and prayers for your discernment in the next few days. May the Spirit guide you in your work.

49th General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In America

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In this busy GA week, the two next General Assemblies are ramping up with the EPC sessions starting and the PCA committees of commissioners hard at work, particularly the Overtures Committee which has overtures related to a number of important issues on which to make recommendations. And pursuant to my comment that this is the PCA is the largest General Assembly of the year, the @Presbycast twitter feed reports that the enrollement for the meeting has hit 2400.

So here we go…

The 49th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America is starting to get rolling in Birmingham, Alabama. The Assembly convenes in plenary session this evening, Tuesday 21 June, at 6:30 PM CDT, and adjourns no later than noon on Friday. The theme of the Assembly is “Purified to Proclaim.” The meeting will be live-streamed. There is also the GA Guidebook app available for several platforms to follow along, and a ShareFile! app on that page for registered commissioners to download reports and other documents.

While the full volume of reports is available only to commissioners, the docket, schedule, and overtures are available online. There is also a breakdown of the Committees of Commissioners Schedule.

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). For the hardcore polity wonks there is Morton Smith’s Commentary on the Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America which is only available in a print edition. (Similar to what some branches call the Annotated Book of (Church) Order.)

News updates will be posted through the official news website and online publication byFaith, including the update from yesterday’s Overtures 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), and Melton L. Duncan (@MeltonDuncan). I would also add a former moderator and coordinator of MNA, Irwyn Ince (@Irwyn). For organizations, I will mention Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing (@prpbooks), Greenville Seminary (@GPTseminary) and Reformed Theological Seminary (@ReformTheoSem).

There is a long list of people tweeting (check out the #pcaga hashtag) but I will mention a few of the early active ones now. Derek Radney (@DerekRadney) is doing us a great service with the detailed tweeting from the Overtures Committee meeting. Others with active accounts at this time include Dr Kara Million (@darterdancer), Jared Nelson (@brothernelson), Nick Batzig (@Nick_Batzig), Chris Hutchinson (@CAHutch1990), and Tim Inman (@Tim_Inman). There are also three accounts that have some overlap: More in PCA (@MoreinPCA) – a grassroots organization of REs, Chortles Weakly (@ChortlesWeakly) and Presbycast (@Presbycast). Traditionally we have a bingo card from Allan Edwards (@edwardsae1) but he has endorsed a nice scavenger hunt from Chris Baker (@theAcerbicMonk). In the past, Allan has given us Bingo Card 2 and Bingo Card 1 and the Selfie Scavenger Hunt. And for a Twitter feed that is posted decently and in order there is the @PCAPresbyter himself although he has not tweeted yet this year. And don’t forget Joey Pipa’s Mustache (@jpipasmustache), PCA Logo (@PCALogo) but no tweeting yet, Hipster Teaching Elder (@Hipster_TE), and GA Famous (@GA_Famous). And I find it interesting that the PCA seems to have more of these sorts of accounts than any other branch.

I will mention that there are also a series of seminars at the GA this year although I am posting too late for the ones today. However, the one tomorrow, Wednesday 22 June, at 8 AM sounds interesting. It is titled “The Future Glory of the Church: The PCA We Envision for Christ’s Purposes (Ruling Elder Perspectives).”

As usual, the overtures to this Assembly reflect where the PCA is today and what it is concerned about. There are a number of continuing concerns in the 47 overtures the GA will be discussing and discerning, and a couple of new ones. The overtures can be found on the Resources page and there are brief summaries of them from byFaith.

The topic of human sexuality and how the 2018 Revoice Conference was handled continue to have related business. There is a request to change the Book of Church Order (BCO) chapter 7 by adding an explicit prohibition on “Men who identify as homosexual, even those who identify as homosexual and claim to practice celibacy in that self-identification” from holding office. There are also four overtures to add a paragraph 16-4 to the BCO to have the standards for ordination include confession of sinful desires, among other things. The Overtures Committee overwhelming voted to answer the chapter 7 change and the four chapter 16 changes with an amended version of Overture 29 which includes the phrase that those seeing ordination “must affirm the sinfulness of fallen desires, the reality and hope of progressive sanctification, and be committed to the pursuit of Spirit-empowered victory over their sinful temptations, inclinations, and actions.”

There are also multiple overtures to have the General Assembly through their Standing Judicial Commission take original jurisdiction in two disciplinary cases where other presbyteries consider that the original presbyteries have mishandled the cases. One of these is the case of TE Greg Johnson who is at the center of the Revoice controversy. (Such as Overture 37) The other is the case of TE Dan Herron whose allegations of sexual abuse, harassment and cover-up made national news. (Such as Overture 39.) I have yet to see an Overtures Committee action on these.

One of the interesting Overtures from the Session of Bethel Church in Chicago notes rising tensions in the church and factions that are “secretive and exclusive.” It asks that:

Therefore, be it resolved that the 49th General Assembly call all Teaching Elders and Ruling Elders to not participate in secretive and exclusive political groups for the purpose of influencing or manipulating the church courts according to a particular agenda, but rather to engage in good faith with the brothers in their own sessions and presbyteries, for the purity, peace, and unity of the church.

And an overture to withdraw from the National Association of Evangelicals is once again being considered.

One topic that was referred from a previous Assembly is when there is a judicial case that comes forward because the defendant self-accuses. In these cases without process, the question is whether they have the right to appeal. (On a side note, having been involved with these in another branch usually part of the self-accusal process is a negotiation about the degree of censure. It is sort of a plea deal where the outcome is probably known.) There is also an interesting question for judicial cases about expanding witness eligibility.

And there are a number more items on the overture docket related to judicial process as well as a Statement on Political Violence, Petition to the US Government to End Abortion, and to make a Statement that Critical Race Theory is Flawed. There is also the usual sort of housekeeping overture to move a presbytery boundary.

There’s lots on the docket this week and multiple items that are sure to provide a spirited, and hopefully Spirit-filled, discussion among the commissioners. I have seen enough GA’s to know that predicting the outcome of these debates is difficult, but it will certainly be interesting to follow as the commissioners discern together the outcomes.

Our best wishes and prayers 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.

[Ed. note: No, I have not forgotten about the EPC and Presbyterian Church in Ireland General Assemblies. Working on those next.]

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.

General Assembly Season 2018

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Ah, the circle of life – overtures and moderator candidates are put forward, the General Assembly or General Synod has its say, and the descending overtures are considered by the presbyteries… And it begins all over again.

So here we are on May 1. And while a few Assemblies have already come and gone, we start to ramp up to the really busy season. What is headed our way? Let’s have a look…

First, this is simply the list – further detail will be necessary on a number of important and interesting items of business that will come before the various GA’s this year.

As always, this is the line-up as I know it – I will update as I clarify additional Assembly and Synod meetings. Let me know if I have missed one.


44th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Malaysia
2-4 April 2018

 

 


22nd General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of East Africa
9-14 April 2018
St. Andrew Parish Hall, Nairobi, Kenya
(Triennial assembly)

 

 

 

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63rd General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
17-20 April 2018

 

 

Synod Annual General Meeting
Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago
26-28 April 2018
Naparima College, San Fernando
Celebrating the church’s sesquicentennial

 

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Synod
The Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia
1-3 May 2018
Manning PCEA Church, Taree, N.S.W.

 

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General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Tasmania
15 May 2018 (begins)

 

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General Assembly
Church of Scotland
19-25 May 2018
Edinburgh

 

 


General Assembly
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
21-24 May 2018
Edinburgh

 

General Assembly
Free Church of Scotland
21-24 May 2018
Edinburgh

 

42nd General Assembly
Korean-American Presbyterian Church
22-25 May 2018
New York City

 

General Assembly & Family Camp
Covenant Presbyterian Church
22-26 May 2018
Trinity, Texas

 

144th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Canada
3-6 June 2018
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, Ontario

 

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General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Ireland
4-7 June 2018
Belfast

 

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214th Stated Meeting of the General Synod
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
5-7 June 2018
Bonclarken
Flat Rock, North Carolina

 

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General Assembly
United Free Church of Scotland
6-8 June 2018
Perth

 

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85th General Assembly
Orthodox Presbyterian Church
11-15 June 2018
Wheaton College
Wheaton, Illinois

 


46th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in America
12-15 June 2018
Atlanta

 


223rd General Assembly
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
16-23 June 2018
St. Louis
(Biennial)

 

143rd General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America
17-21 June 2018
Norman, Oklahoma
Concurrent with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church

 

cplogosmallwithtext200x200188th General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
17-21 June 2018
Norman, Oklahoma
Concurrent with Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America

 


38th General Assembly
Evangelical Presbyterian Church
19-22 June 2018
Hope Church
Memphis, Tennessee

 

pca-logo-4b-small
General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Queensland
Including the Presbytery of South Australia
24-28 June 2018
Brisbane Boys’ College
Brisbane

 

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187th Synod
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America
26-29 June 2018
Indiana Wesleyan University
Marion, Indiana

 

 

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N.S.W. State Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Australia
in the State of New South Wales
9 July 2018 (begins)
Croydon, N.S.W.

 

International Congress
Free Presbyterian Church
30 July – 3 August 2018
Philadelphia

 

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82nd General Synod
Bible Presbyterian Church
2-6 August 2018
Bible Presbyterian Church of Lakeland, Florida

 

NYA_0National Youth Assembly
Church of Scotland
17-20 August 2018
Stirlingshire
(Technically not a governing
body, but still an Assembly I track)

 


General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand
3 – 7 October 2018
St. Andrews College, Christchurch
(Biennial)

 

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General Assembly
Presbyterian Church of Victoria
8 – 12 October 2018

 

 

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111th General Assembly
Presbyterian Church in Western Australia
28 October 2018 (begins)
St. Columba’s Church, Peppermint Grove

 

Thanks to the list from the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council, I would add these additional two GA’s that I don’t have more information on yet:

  • Presbyterian Reformed Church, 6-8 June 2018, Jasper, Indiana
  • Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad, 30 Oct – 2 Nov 2018, Philadelphia

These are the ones that 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.

And, to make the GA season complete here are two more items…

The first is the series of articles I wrote as an introduction to Presbyterian General Assemblies seven years ago. My GA 101 series consists of the following

GA101: Preface
GA101: Introduction – Why in the world would anybody want to do it this way?
GA101: Connectionalism – The Presbyterian Big Picture
GA101: The Cast of Characters – A score card to identify the players
GA101: The Moderator – All Things In Moderation
GA101: Where does the GA business come from? – Incoming!
GA101: Doing the business of GA — Decently and in Order

Yes, what started as a six part series expanded into seven completed articles with two more unfinished ones (still) in the queue.

And finally, on to the ridiculous. Lest we take ourselves too seriously, a couple years ago I had a little fun with the General Assembly and in the post passed along the GA drinking game and GA Bingo. In addition, Allan Edwards has posted an alternate Bingo card reflecting the polity of the Presbyterian Church in America and Neil MacLennan has created one that reflects the idiosyncrasies of the Church of Scotland. Please play responsibly. 😉

So GA Junkies, it is open season so enjoy! May you have an exciting experience over the next few months of watching us do things decently and in order!

Info Related To Hurricane Harvey Disaster Relief From American Presbyterian Branches

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As the catastrophe of Hurricane, now Tropical Storm, Harvey continues to develop, American Presbyterian branches are responding with aid and prayers. Here are links to the latest information I am aware as well as a brief summary from each branch that I have found has posted online:  [Update with MSM links and some church info 8/30/17; more MSM links and church updates 8/31/17]

Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
In a pre-landfall update they named the leaders and members of Good Shepherd ARPC in Houston, Hope Presbyterian ARPC in Pearland, and Faith Fellowship in Cypruss TX for prayer. A post-landfall report yesterday gives an update and a link to donate through their Good Samaritan Relief fund.

Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians
Nothing obvious on the web site but an email/Twitter bulletin when out before landfall seeking prayers and updates. After landfall they have retweeted to help with relief through World Renew. You can get updates from World Renew on Twitter from @WorldRenew_net.

Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Information on donations is in both an EP Connections article as well as on their Emergency Relief page.

Orthodox Presbyterian Church
They have posted a number of resources for prayer and contributions including the article on the main site, the OPC Disaster Response Facebook page, and the OPC Short-Term Mission and Disaster Response web site. They ask us to keep in prayer the leaders and members of Cornerstone OPC in Houston and Providence OPC in Kingwood, TX. For updates keep an eye on the Facebook page.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is deployed on scene and beginning their work. There is PC(USA) coverage in a couple of articles posted on that site – Aug 27, and Aug 28. The Presbyterian Outlook has just posted a detailed article about PDA’s work there and options for supporting the efforts. The PDA site also includes worship resources for churches including a bulletin insert about the recovery work. Updates from PDA can be seen on their Twitter feed @PDAcares. Update: New article from PC(USA) on the work by PDA

Presbyterian Church in America
The PCA’s Mission to North America (MNA) Disaster Response team is also deploying to the area. There is a page with Disaster Updates that also has information for Prayer, Giving, Sending Supplies, and Preparing to Go to serve. Updates can be found on the Twitter feed @pcamna. Update: New update added to the Disaster Updates page.

That is the information I have found at this point. Let me know if you have additional resources and I will update as appropriate.

Our prayers and support go out to all those affected by this disaster.

UPDATE: Adding some links from the mainstream media that involve Presbyterians. Plenty that mention Presbyterian disaster relief organizations in where to give lists, but beyond that, some others I have seen:

 

45th General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In America

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The 45th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America convened their plenary sessions last night, 13 June, in Greensboro, North Carolina and will continue through noon on Friday 16 June. In their first action following worship they elected RE Alexander Jun the Moderator of the Assembly. The theme of the Assembly is “Come To The Table.” 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. [Tech note to the GA organizers – it is once again the case this year that you might want to change the title in the GA docket PDF properties so it no longer says “40th General Assembly.”] 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. And the Zika Virus Advisory is still on the web site, although I don’t think it is as applicable this year as it was last year in Mobile.

To track the polity of the PCA you can access the Book of Church Order online.

News updates will be posted through the official news website and online publication byFaith.

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), 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) and his Reformed African American Network (@RAANetwork). Having included one organization there I will also mention Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing (@prpbooks) and Reformed Theological Seminary (@ReformTheoSem). (And as a note, there are other Twitter accounts for the different RTS campuses.) Let me also include Jim Moon Jr. (@jimmoonjr) and Allan Edwards (@edwardsae1) who in past years 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.

Regarding business to the Assembly, from the social media chatter the hot topic will be the Report of the Ad Interim Committee on Women Serving in the Ministry of the Church. This report was authorized by the last GA and attempts to balance a recognition of women’s gifts for service in the church with the PCA’s understanding of the complimentarian nature of ordained office. It comes with a pastoral letter and nine recommendations. Among those recommendations is one that says:

3. That sessions, presbyteries and the General Assembly strive to develop, recognize, and utilize the gifts, skills, knowledge, and wisdom of godly women in the local, regional, and national church, and particularly consider overtures that would allow qualified women to serve on appropriate committees and agencies within the church.

There is another recommendation that, after quoting the Book of Church Order adds:

6… Thus, for the well-being of the church, the committee recommends that sessions and presbyteries select and appoint godly women of the congregation to assist the ordained leadership; these godly, unordained women have often historically been referred to as deaconesses.

This one is sure to elicit a discussion about the nature of deaconesses and any parallels it may have to the ordained office of deacon. An opportunity to recognize and incorporate all in a more inclusive ministry or the camel’s nose under the tent? This report is docketed for 2:45 PM EDT on Thursday afternoon.

That report will be preceded at 2 PM by the Report of the Ad Interim Committee on Racial Reconciliation, a continuation of a discussion that began two years ago and as part of last year’s discussion this Ad Interim Committee was formed.

Having the news update from Monday, we know the recommendations of the Overtures Committee (OC) of Commissioners and can anticipate a few other items of business. Overture 2 was advanced on a divided vote and will come with a minority report. It would give the BCO section on Solemnizing of Marriage full constitutional authority and is aimed at “strengthening the PCA’s public witness to a biblical definition of marriage.” Overture 16 was advanced with a near unanimous vote and would add a requirement that congregational meetings for a church to withdraw from the PCA would have a higher quorum requirement of one-half of the members. And Overture 18 has both practical considerations and polity nuances for the polity wonks in the audience. It would require requests for ad-interim or study committees come only by presbytery overture. The rationale for the overture argues that assembly business, particularly those items strongly connected to doctrine, should be bottom-up and not top-down. In other words, business like this should be generated from the presbyteries not committees of the higher judicatories. It also points out that having it come as presbytery overture provides a path that allows assembly debate, amendment and perfection of the requests.

All this and more is on the table for the next three days. It should be an interesting meeting and a barometer, or maybe a Rorschach test, of where the PCA is at the present time. Be ready to read the tea leaves.

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.

The Curious Case Of The Kuyper Prize

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So apparently the tent is not that big…

But I am getting ahead of myself here.

First, in case you need the elevator pitch on what is happening, Princeton Theological Seminary announced that the Abraham Kuyper Lecture would be delivered by a Presbyterian pastor of some note, the Rev. Timothy Keller who is about to retire as the senior pastor of a church in New York City. A bit of a ruckus arose because TE Keller is apparently not the right type of Presbyterian pastor – it turns out that he is a member of the Presbyterian Church in America. An initial attempt by the President of PTS, TE Craig Barnes, to explain the situation apparently did not help and so, with the gracious consent of both the Kuyper Committee and TE Keller the prize will not be awarded this year but in the interest of academic freedom and hearing a variety of voices Mr. Keller will still give the lecture.

When I initially heard about the prize I must admit that I was a bit surprised at the choice of Tim Keller. On the one hand, considering the description of the prize is:

The Abraham Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life is awarded each year to a scholar or community leader whose outstanding contribution to their chosen sphere reflects the ideas and values characteristic of the Neo-Calvinist vision of religious engagement in matters of social, political and cultural significance in one or more of the ‘spheres’ of society. A condition of the Prize is that the recipient deliver a lecture on a topic appropriate to the aims of the Center. This lecture normally opens the annual spring conference, which is usually on a related theme.

Tim Keller – with his pastoral and missiology work – has easily done this. He founded, developed and put a program of expansion in place for church planting in an urban setting. If you want a statistic here, his multi-site congregation is roughly half the size of the combined total of the 101 PC(USA) congregations around him in New York City Presbytery. He has left a mark on Manhattan of “social, political and cultural significance.” On the other hand, my jaw dropped a bit at the chutzpah of a unit of PTS inviting a Presbyterian of another flavor to give the lecture knowing that he did not share some of what are becoming essential tenets of the modern PC(USA). It was no surprise to me that the controversy broke out.

Several strong voices of opposition appeared on the internet regarding the decision and how TE Keller was a part of a religious tradition that, while Presbyterian in governance, did not model the inclusiveness now expected in the PC(USA) and at its seminaries. Exempli gratia: Carol Howard Merritt, Traci Smith, and a faculty, staff and alumni online petition.

On the other hand, I was appreciative of the Kuyper Center reaching out to TE Keller and although I understand the motivation behind the criticism I was saddened to see such a strong reaction. I will not deny his overall theological views and their incompatibility with the modern mainline, but I want to take a few steps back and consider all this in a wider temporal and spacial context. A few points came to mind.

First, the topic of the lecture is not about what we as American Presbyterians disagree on but on something which we share regarding the social impact of the church. I believe that the walls that American Presbyterians have put up in the name of orthodoxy do a disservice to the proclamation of the Gospel and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (I sometimes wonder if we are a bit too much like an award winning heretic joke.)

Second, Tim Keller seems like a reasonable leader for those in the PC(USA) to reach out to if the point is to develop this dialog. Within each denomination the membership is spread across a range of opinions on any given issue and it is helpful to remember that within the PCA there are some who became a part of it when the Reformed Presbyterian Evangelical Synod merged with the PCA in 1982 and those from the RPES gave up their ordination of women. While TE Keller did not come in through that branch, his church has been the target of criticism for having deaconesses serving along side deacons in the church leadership. As the PC(USA) knows very well, church beliefs evolve and maybe an evolution will be seen in the PCA’s stance with time. And I dare say, we acknowledge there are those within the PC(USA) who do not affirm the latest moves towards inclusiveness and might there actually be a few individuals who are still not fully in favor of the ordination of women?

Finally, what does this controversy say to PC(USA) ecumenical partners, many in Latin America and Africa who still do not ordain women? Is this saying, there are certain non-negotiables in what we say presbyterianism means and you don’t fit it? Or is this broadcasting a double standard for what it means to be an American Presbyterian versus a global Presbyterian?

I should probably finish by saying there has been a lot of criticism of PTS for the flip-flop and to a wider audience I suspect the perception is turning out more negative than positive. Again, Exempli gratia: Owen Strachan, Denny Burk, and Rod Dreher. In the mainstream media there are stories from the Washington Times and the Deseret News picked up the RNS story. And it appears in Abrahan Kuyper’s homeland a Dutch news site has picked it up as well.

And so with that, we will see how this all goes. One commentator has even noted that Abraham Kuyper would not qualify for the prize named for him under these new unwritten expectations.

So how large is the tent? Hang on to your hats as we try to find out.

44th General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In America

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01645A81-A5D8-4EB1-9E4C30D14028D307The 44th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America will convene their plenary sessions tomorrow evening, 21 June, in Mobile, Alabama. Committees of Commissioners begin orientations and meetings today. The Assembly will continue through noon on Friday. The theme of the Assembly is “REFRESHED: In and For the Cross.” 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. [Tech note to the GA organizers – it is again the case this year that you might want to change the title in the GA docket PDF properties so it no longer says “40th General Assembly.”] There is a nice page with links to all the forms and schedules for the meeting. And this may be the first GA for which a Zika Virus Advisory has been issued.

To track the polity of the PCA you can access the Book of Church Order online.

News updates will be posted through the official news website and online publication byFaith.

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). There is also a feed for the Reasoning_Together (@PCA_Elders) program however it looks like that has gone dormant. The hashtag for the Assembly (and as I have been told the only one that is decent and in order) is #pcaga.

Other related Twitter accounts include Reformed University Fellowship (@RUFnational) 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) and his Reformed African American Network (@RAANetwork). Having included one organization there I will also mention Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing (@prpbooks) and Reformed Theological Seminary (@ReformTheoSem). (And as a note, there are other Twitter accounts for the different RTS campuses.) Let me also include Allan Edwards (@edwardsae1) who in past years has given us the Bingo Card and the Selfie Scavenger Hunt. This year we are back to the Bingo card, but there are suggestions of a new activity next year. And finally, I have previously been advised by @PCAPresbyter himself that all you really need to do is follow him. He will be sure to keep you decent and in order. 🙂

Regarding business to the Assembly, I will refer you to three articles from byFaith that review some of the important business that caught my eye.

  • Probably the most anticipated topic is the race-related overtures. This is a continuation from last year where a personal resolution got caught in polity jail and did not have a chance at a clear up or down vote. It was referred to this Assembly and 42 of the 63 overtures sent to this assembly deal with some aspect of this. By all means, check out the byFaith article to see the rundown of the proposed actions.
  • The second is a recommendation from the Administrative Committee to form a Study Committee on the issue of women serving in the ministry. As the review article says, ‘Writing in byFaith magazine’s summer issue, [former moderator Michael] Ross quoted a former GA moderator as saying, “Women in Ministry is the atomic bomb for the PCA,’ meaning that if we do not review and recommend changes in the way we treat women, we will probably lose a large segment of millennials.”
  • And in a set of overtures that could be in the shadow of these previous two issues, Pacific Northwest Presbytery has sent six overtures related to how the GA accepts, handles and disposes of business, including review of presbytery records which has often been an issue with Pacific Northwest.

A lot going on there and in the midst of three other GA happening I will try to follow along there.

Our best wishes to the commissioners and leaders of the PCA General Assembly and prayers for your discernment the next few days. May the Spirit guide you in your work.

The Long View Of Presbyterianism

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ContinuingChurchSo this book was officially released yesterday. Through the efficiency of a shipper I received my copy a few days early and so far I have only had time to skim through it. It looks good, from what I have seen, and I hope to carve out a bit of time later in the month to more carefully read it.

But what I have found interesting in the lead up to this has been a certain amount of push-back I have gotten from several different quarters as I have unapologetically indicated my interest in, and anticipation of the book before its release. My overall interest in Presbyterianism and Presbyterian history is enough to justify my anticipation of this book. But it was further heightened earlier in the year when the author, Sean Michael Lucas, was featured in a documentary produced by Union Presbyterian Seminary called Division and Reunion.

The push-back I have received, both in general over my years of blogging and specifically regarding this book, usually can be boiled down to the statement of either “But they ordain (fill in the blank)” or “But they do not ordain (fill in the blank).”

So here is a response and why this book matters in either case.

First, it is easy to just view this as an academic exercise. I am interested in global Presbyterianism, history and polity. That alone is enough for me to be interested in this book.

But let me dig in a little deeper. Please note the subtitle of the book, “The roots of the Presbyterian Church in America.” (emphasis added) What are those roots? It is predominantly the PCUS, one of the predecessor denominations of the current PC(USA). Hate to break it to some of the mainline folks but this is a book that is mostly about your roots too. The book has 12 chapters and is about 328 pages of narrative text. Of those, only two chapters and about 48 pages deal specifically with the actual formation and subsequent development of the PCA. Yes, most of the book deals with our shared heritage.

I am aware that a few objections can be raised about considering our shared heritage through this one book, one that it is written from a PCA perspective. Fair enough, and if I find it too heavily biased I will report that back to you when I write my final review. But based on the contributions by Professor Lucas to the documentary mentioned above I expect an academically honest and nuanced, if not neutral approach.

Another objection is that the PCUS was only part of the reunion and the PC(USA) has a lot of history from the northern side as well. (The PCUSA + UPCNA => UPCUSA line.) Again, a valid argument and again, I will find out more when I read it. But some of the more complex characters in the PC(USA) family tree, such as Robert Lewis Dabney and James Henry Thornwell, were part of the southern branch and it can be argued that their influence continues to the present day in both current branches. But to be fair, the book appears to start near the beginning of the twentieth century and neither Dabney’s nor Thornwell’s name appears in the index.

Finally, there is that doctrine and polity question about ordinations and a number of other differences. On this count let me remind you that the PCUSA began ordaining women as teaching elders in 1956, making that not quite six decades out of a history that spans over three centuries. Furthermore, ordination is evolving in other branches as well with women’s ordination becoming much more widely accepted in the EPC and questions being raised about deaconesses in the PCA. In the long view of American Presbyterianism there are a number of issues like this which have changed over the years with varying speed in different branches.

It will also be interesting to see what parallels and differences there might be between the PCA exodus from the PCUS and the current ECO exodus from the PC(USA). The Forward talks about the interest of the founders of the PCA to have a mainline denomination that was “characterized by biblical authority, doctrinal orthodoxy, experiential piety, and missionary zeal.” That sounds a lot like some of the core values of ECO.

I will acknowledge that there is another reason for some of the push-back. There is still concern and skepticism on the part of a few people I have spoken with about the way that the PCA/PCUS split played out that was very hurtful to them. In a few cases this is not just a continuing sore point but is still an open wound. I am curious to see how the book deals with that aspect of the formation of the PCA.

There is a final reason for taking an interest in this book and it gets down to something that is being talked about a lot in the PC(USA) right at the moment – Presbyterian Identity. The Epilogue to this book is titled Presbyterian Identity and the Presbyterian Church in America: 1973-2013. Again, the PCA identity and the PC(USA) identity developed out of some shared roots if not exactly the same roots. In his Forward, Ligon Duncan talks about the vision and legacy of the PCA concluding “Unwittingly, [the founders of the PCA] forged a body that has played a significant role in the resurgence of Calvinism at the end of the twentieth century and in the beginning of the twenty-first.” But his next line is “Yes from the onset of its history, the PCA has struggled with its identity.”

In some regards the PC(USA) and the PCA may be more alike than they want to admit. One of the manifestations of their shared roots is the fact that both are currently struggling to come to terms with their past regarding racial ethnic ministries and social justice work and figure out how to move beyond that to become a more inclusive and diverse churches for the future.

I found it interesting in the Twitter chat on PC(USA) Identity a couple days ago that one person commented “while history is important we need to forget ‘the way things used to be.'” If I correctly understand what he had in mind I might rather say that we need to move beyond the “seven last words of the church” – we’ve never done it that way before – but we need to realize how much of our present identity is shaped by our roots and how much we need to understand those to move beyond them in the future.

That is to say, I think we really do need the long view of American Presbyterianism because if we focus only on the last couple decades we miss a lot of the struggles, the high points and low points that shape our identity as American Presbyterians today. Looking forward to seeing if this book will help inform our knowledge of that history.

Note: Thanks to the reader who pointed out that I was not as precise as I had intended. The PCUSA began ordaining women at teaching elders in 1956 but it was a progressive move with ordination as deacons and ruling elders in the 1930’s. The above text has been modified to be more precise.

Presbyterian News Headlines For The Second Half Of June 2015

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Having gotten behind on news headlines I am just going to push the reset button and post a current one. And yes, a bunch of other stuff is sitting as drafts or in research right now.

There was a lot of news the in this time period so here are some headlines on select topics from the second half of June. (Not counting some GA stuff I plan to post on separately.)

In a still developing situation, two Presbyterian pastors from South Sudan have gone on trial in Sudan for preaching there (including some more recent information):

In Sudan: Imprisoned pastors facing possible death penalty barred from seeing families, lawyers – from Pulse Nigeria

Are Christians in Sudan facing persecution? – from BBC News

Sudan: South Sudanese Priests Defend Themselves During Trial Session – from allAfrica

PCUSA Writes to President Obama with Concern Regarding Imprisoned Sudanese Pastors – from Christianity Daily

 

The shootings and grieving at and for Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston had some Presbyterian connections:

‘All Shall Be Well’: Hear the Touching Voicemail from Charleston Massacre Victim Sharonda Coleman-Singleton – from People (and a bit more from the Presbytery of Los Ranchos)

Denmark Vesey and Clementa Pinckney – from Cheraw Chronical; The freed slave Denmark Vesey who founded Emmanuel AME was before that a member of Second Presbyterian Church next door

Salisbury native leads vigil in Charleston after mass shooting – from Salisbury Post; And while Emmanuel AME was closed Second Presbyterian next door provided space for prayer services

Cynthia Hurd funeral delivers a message of hope and mark on history – from The Charlotte Observer; Second Presbyterian also providing overflow seating for funerals

Delaware Pastor Writes Hymn for Charleston Victims ‘They Met to Read the Bible;’ Song Goes Global – from The Christian Post

 

A terrorist attack in Tunisia took 38 lives, most of them tourists from Britain on holiday. It included two from Scotland praised for their faith and work in the Church of Scotland. Their funeral was just held.

Tunisia attack: Prayers at Cumbernauld church for couple – from BBC News

Tributes paid to Scottish Christian couple killed in Tunisia terrorist attack – from Christian Today

Tunisia beach attack: funeral held in Scotland for Jim and Anne McGuire – from The Guardian

 

Digging back a little bit, in the various meetings this spring a number of Reformed branches have voted to become more inclusive, with some reactions from more traditional denominations:

French Protestant church allows gay marriage blessing – from Reuters UK

Largest Protestant denomination in Belgium allows gay and lesbian clergy – from Gay Star News; “The Synod of the United Protestant Church of Belgium has voted to decide that being gay should not be a barrier to being a minister in the church which already performs blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples.”

Russian Church severs ties with Scotland & France churches; warns a blessing of LGBT clergy paves the way for the Antichrist – from Christian Examiner

 

And looking at it more broadly:

Free Presbyterians slam supporters of ‘yes’ vote – from Portadown Times; a reaction to the Ireland referendum

Minister faces Presbytery probe over same-sex views – from Portadown Times; the only Presbyterian Church in Ireland minister to openly support the “Yes” vote was examined over her beliefs

How humanists changed Scottish marriage – from BBC News; “The first humanist wedding in Scotland took place exactly 10 years ago. Over the past decade the number of ceremonies conducted by humanist celebrants has grown massively, already overtaking Catholic weddings and threatening to replace Church of Scotland as the most popular belief service.”

 

A publicity campaign by the Church of Scotland to recruit new, and younger, ministers appears to be working:

Church of Scotland hails recruitment drive success – from The Scotsman

 

And in Zimbabwe, the Health Minister thanks the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland for working with the local residents to build a clinic, but more are needed:

Health Minister Says More Clinics Needed in Nkayi – from Voice of America Zimbabwe

 

From the PC(USA)

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) missions chief resigns – from WDRB; Linda Valentine steps down as executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency

 

A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court goes in favor of a small Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and its temporary signage in Gilbert, Arizona:

Supreme Court rules for church in case against Arizona town’s sign law – from The Washington Post

 

In the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) a battle over property between the Livingstonia Synod and a break-away church as well as a dispute involving an out-spoken cleric in Blantyre Synod.

CCAP Controversies Rage On: Livingstonia battle and Blantyre Synod Infighting – from Nyasa Times

 

High-profile PCA pastor, TE Tullian Tchividjian, resigns admitting infidelity

Renowned South Florida pastor steps down amid marital affair – from Local 10

After affair leads to pastor’s exit, Coral Ridge worshippers urged to keep the faith – from The Sun Sentinel

 

A proud adherent, if not member, of the PC(USA) declares his candidacy for President of the United States. Worth noting that his church, First Presbyterian of Jamaica, Queens, is the oldest continually serving Presbyterian church in the U.S.

5 faith facts about Donald Trump: a Presbyterian who collects Bibles – from Religion News Service

Donald Trump Is A Proud Presbyterian – from World Religion News

And finally, it may not be continuously serving, but a neighbor of First Presbyterian, Jamaica, was founded a bit earlier and is celebrating a milestone anniversary.

First Presbyterian Church of Southold to Celebrate 375th Year Anniversary – from Long Island Exchange