Tag Archives: General Assembly

General Assembly Of The Free Church Of Scotland 2020

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In this unique year of General Assembly and Synod meetings, there are a small handful of branches that will be meeting by video conference to consider a limited number of items of business that are considered essential, urgent, or time-critical.

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One of those meetings is the 2020 General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland which will meet tomorrow evening, Monday 18 May, at 6 pm Edinburgh time. The Assembly will consider a limited docket of business and intends to suspend the meeting with hopes to resume the meeting in October for a more traditional in-person meeting.

In light of the unique circumstances and limited business at this meeting, the Moderator-Designate Rev Neil MacMillan will not be installed. As the news article says “it is expected that a delay on the new appointment will be put in place until a formal service appointment can be conducted.” It is recommended to the Assembly that the 2019 Moderator, Rev. Donnie G. Macdonald, will continue as the 2020 Moderator to run the meetings this year and that Mr MacMillan’s appointment be deferred to the 2021 General Assembly.

The meeting will be live-streamed. The 2020 General Assembly Reports volume is available as well.

There are five reports which contain business considered “urgent and time-critical.”

  • Assembly Business Committee – approving the arrangements, the programme (agenda), and the handling of documents related to the meeting.
  • The Assembly Clerk’s Office – proposing nominations, alternate arrangements for required annual general meetings of certain groups within the church, and approving “Arrangements for Exceptional Circumstances” to help the various bodies within the church as a whole operate during these exceptional times.
  • Edinburgh Theological Seminary – In addition to the usual thanks to all those involved with the operation of the Seminary there are items to act upon to resolve inconsistencies within the ETS governing documents.
  • Mission Board – two actions, one to change the pastoral staffing arrangement at a church and an action to change the status of a church plant to “a fully sanctioned charge.”
  • Board of Ministry – Seven varied actions including thanks to the Board, noting with sadness the death of a former Clerk to the Board, an appointment to the Board, and asking the church to continue to pray for God to raise up more Gospel workers. There is also an item to note the ongoing review of the Board and action to make changes to the composition of the Board.
  • There will be a private session related to the Board of Ministry as a minister wishing to transfer to the Free Church is introduced and examined. As there is confidential information involved those documents are not distributed in the reports and will be read by the chair of the Board in the private session.

It will be interesting to see how this meeting goes, both in terms of limited business and technology. If there is Twitter activity we can expect to see tweets from the official church account @freechurchscot. The customary hashtag would be #fcga20 although the hashtag #fcos is typically in use as well.

We keep this Assembly in our prayers and look forward to joining you tomorrow evening. May your deliberations be guided by the Holy Spirit and the time productive for the advancement of The Kingdom. Best wishes to all.

Moderator-Designate For The Church Of Scotland 2020

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In just about 12 hours the Church of Scotland will install the new Moderator who will serve for the coming year. Never mind that there is no Assembly this year to actually moderate – we can hope that next year’s Moderator gives him ample chance to show those skills off the next time the General Assembly convenes.

The Moderator-Designate of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Rev Dr Martin Fair (source: Church of Scotland)

The Moderator Designate for 2020 is the Rev Dr Martin Fair, or if you prefer the full title from his church website, the Rev. Dr. W. Martin Fair B.A. B.D. D. Min. He is the pastor of St Andrew’s Parish Church in Arbroath, Angus, where he has served for 28 years. He grew up in the Glasgow area and did his BA degree at Strathclyde University studying Politics and Geography. His theological training was at the University of Glasgow and he has since then completed a Doctor of Ministry degree at Princeton Theological Seminary.

While he first did youth work for churches in Leeds and Barbados (as he maintains, “it was a tough job but someone had to go!”) he was ordained to his current position in 1992.

In 2006 he and his congregation set up a mental health and addiction service which has helped around 1000 people. He has a real concern for this ministry and it is no surprise that it will be an area he hopes to focus on in his moderatorial year. He is quoted in the Church of Scotland news article as saying “The biggest success stories we have had in getting people clean is folk who have understood that their freedom is in Christ and for me, that is the Kingdom of God.”

In terms of his free time, the church website profile tells us “When time permits, he loves nothing better that to ‘head for the hills’, whether to walk, climb or backpack. He plays some football and golf and has tried his hand at most other sports along the way!” However, the Kirk news article does provide a qualification that due to an accident in 2017 where he broke his left arm and it did not properly healed he has lost most function in that arm and requires adaptive technology and assistance for some regular tasks. He says a goal is to learn to play golf one-handed.

Martin and his wife Elaine grew up together on the same street and were married in 1987. They have three adult sons.

As his moderatorial year progresses you can follow along on the official Church Moderator (@churchmoderator) Twitter account or his personal account @wmartinfair.

He will be installed in a special service on Saturday morning 16 May which will be live-streamed for us to follow along.

We wish Mr Fair well on the year that is ahead of him. Our prayers are with him.

And he brings great optimism to the position. As he says in the news article:

“As I travel round the country even now, I see green shoots of growth and live in hope for what is going to come. What we will see emerge will be fresh and new and to quote a phrase, God is not finished with Scotland or His Church.”

Church of Scotland: It’s Not A GA, But It Will Do For This Year

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As I was contemplating titles for this post the good old “And now for something completely different” came to mind. The only problem is that this year the whole GA season would resemble that remark.

The bottom line, of course, is that the Church of Scotland, along with a good number of other branches, will not have a General Assembly this year.

But in the midst of this quiet year for the GA there are still two GA-related events that will occur: The installation of the Moderator and an online Heart and Soul event.

While there is no GA to preside over, the role of the GA Moderator in the Kirk goes well beyond the meeting and is a full-year commitment. Unlike other branches, such as the Presbyterian Church in Canada where the moderator will continue for another year until the next meeting, the Church of Scotland will pass the symbols of office to their Moderator Designee Rev Dr Martin Fair. He will be installed in a special service at 11 AM Edinburgh time on Saturday 16 May, about the time the GA was scheduled to open. It will be live-streamed.

The service will be unique as only five individuals will be participating and there will be no audience or congregation present. Besides Mr Fair, there will be the outgoing Moderator, the Rt Rev Colin Sinclair, and the Principal Clerk the Rev Dr George Whyte who, we are told, “will ensure the correct process is followed.” In addition, the incoming and outgoing Moderators’ wives, Elaine Fair and Ruth Sinclair will be part of the group. The ring and the cross will not so much be passed as they will be present to be put on at the appropriate time. In addition, a socially distanced BSL translator and a technology crew will also be present for the live streaming. The live stream will be available on the Church GA streaming page and the Facebook page.

A major event at recent General Assemblies has been the Sunday afternoon Heart and Soul festival in Princes Street Gardens. This year there will be an online version with some of the same features. It will begin with a replay of the installation of the Moderator, it will include some musical components and a number of conversations about the church and its work in social care and social justice issues. The program begins at 2 PM local time and will last two hours. The streaming will be available from the same sites, the Church GA streaming page and the Facebook page.

Finally, it should be mentioned that while there will not be a full GA, there is still the hashtag. So follow along at #GA2020.

So there is the line-up. It gives us something to look forward to on this lockdown or safer at home weekend.

39th General Assembly Of The Evangelical Presbyterian Church

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The 39th General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church has just begun gathering at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church, near Denver. Today, and most of tomorrow, there are workshops and classes as part of the annual Leadership Institute. Business sessions convene tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday 19 June, and will continue through Friday afternoon, as needed.

The Assembly meeting will be live streamed on the web and through the General Assembly app.

There is a lot of information online, most linked through the Documents page and the GA 2019 page. Here are some of the links for information about Assembly business and operation:

As for social media, there is a bit of that out there. There is a Facebook page for the EPC that is currently being updated regularly with Leadership Institute and Assembly items. The official EPC Twitter feed is @EPChurch and the active official hashtag (#epc2019ga) has sprung to life. There is also a feed for EPC Student Ministries (@EPCStudentMin), EPC World Outreach (@EPCWO) and the Stated Clerk Jeff Jeremiah (@Jeff_Jeremiah ) -but none have been active for a while. However, the Moderator-elect, Case Thorp (@casethorp), has been actively tweeting leading up to the meeting.

As for individuals, strong live tweeting going from Matthew Everhard (@matt_everhard) and Zach Hopkins (@Zhop59). There are initial, promising tweets from Brandon M. Queen (@BQPHOTOS) and Andrew J. Winter (@TheAndrewWinter). And maybe we will see a bit more color and correction from Decent & In Order (@Decent_Orderly).

The theme of the Assembly is “Unstoppable: Keep on Asking, Keep on Seeking, Keep on Knocking,” based on Mathew 7:7.

One of the highlights of the Assembly will be the Wednesday morning and Thursday evening [corrected – regret the error] speaker, EPC Teaching Elder Andrew Brunson, who was released from detainment in Turkey last October after being held there for two years on charges of support of terrorism and espionage. According to the website, they expect an overflow crowd for worship that evening.

Another item of interest is the search for a new Stated Clerk to fill that position when Dr. Jeremiah steps down after his current term ends in 2021. The National Leadership Team is asking for authorization to form a search committee made up of one member from each of the EPC’s 14 presbyteries and to have it begin its work.

There is a good summary of all the action items coming to the Assembly this year. A couple of items of business stand out. One that caught my eye was an overture from the Presbytery of the Pacific Northwest that requests adding language to the Book of Order that clarifies that candidates being examined for ordination are being examined to be ordained by an EPC presbytery. The Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) recommends approving this change. Another overture from the Presbytery of the East would add as voting members of a presbytery those ruling elders who were elected to leadership positions other than the officers of the presbytery. The PJC recommends it be disapproved as it does not meet “the requirements for clarity, consistency of language, and compatibility.”

Looking to the future the NLT is recommending the Moderator appoint an ad interim committee “composed of five REs or TEs from diverse, strongly-supporting churches across multiple presbyteries to address how to improve our churches’ long-term culture of giving to the EPC” and to evaluate the Per-Member Asking formula. On another front, the Next Generation Ministries Council is asking that presbyteries be encouraged “in creation of Next Generation Networks for children, youth, and college workers in collaboration with the Next Generation Ministries Council.”

For the polity wonks, there is a proposed amendment to the Book of Government section of the Book of Order brought forward by the National Leadership Team (NLT) that would make explicit in the constitution a policy that has been voiced for many years that the EPC does not have the called position of co-pastor. The paragraph from the NLT report captures this well:

Since 1985, when the Fifth General Assembly approved the Permanent Judicial Commission’s ruling that the office of “Co-Pastor” is “non-existent,” it has been the official position of the EPC that this office is prohibited. However, this position is not explicitly declared in the Book of Government. A number of EPC churches that came from another denomination in the past ten years were familiar with or had used the “co-pastor” model in their past. Some of these churches have questioned the “constitutionality” of the prohibition of co-pastor. The NLT recommended amendment to the Book of Government makes explicit constitutionally the position of the EPC since 1985.

A lot going on this week. I wish the EPC commissioners well and we will be lifting them up in our prayers as they meet.

86th General Assembly Of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

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The 86th General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church will convene this evening, Wednesday, 5 June, at 7 PM Central Time on the campus of the University of Texas in Richardson (Dallas), Texas. The meeting will conclude by noon on Tuesday, 11 June.

[UPDATE 2: The running daily updates are there now!] 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 in expecting the tradition to continue watch this page when the assembly gets underway.

The agenda and reports are not posted online 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, I can start with the brand new OPC Twitter account (@OrthodoxPC) with all of two tweets, both from yesterday. You can also follow them on their official Facebook page. In addition, the OPC Home Missions (@opchomemissions) has an active feed. From here, I’ll just list the usual suspects and update once things get rolling.  The list would include Christopher Drew (@ChristopherDrew), and it is probably worth keeping an eye on the Reformed Forum (@ReformedForum) crew including Camden Bucey (@CamdenBucey) and Jim Cassidy (@jjcassidy). Early Twitter action suggests Forest Braden (@fbraden8) and Chris Dickason (@Cad_lib) will be tweeting. In addition, we might see comments on D. G. Hart’s feed (@oldlife), maybe The Daily Genevan (@TheDailyGenevan), and an autoretweeter tied to one of their denominational associations, NAPARC. UPDATE: After a day of business, I would add Jim Stevenson (@RevJimOPC) and Sean G. Morris (@mrseangmorris) to the follow list.

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. Keep an eye on the running report and maybe Twitter for info on what is being discussed.

And in light of recent developments, it should be mentioned that one topic that will be on many people’s minds is the April shooting at the Chabad Synagogue outside San Diego. If you are not aware, the shooter was a member of the nearby Escondido Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The OPC released a statement on the shooting. A response piece by OPC pastor and college professor Carl Trueman, “Who’s to blame when the shooter is one of our own?” got some wide distribution, and there are other related pieces from D. G. Hart, and Shane Anderson on the Daily Genevan.

So as this General Assembly gets underway, our 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.

Today’s Presbyterian Church In Canada General Assembly Business – Choosing A Path Towards Inclusion

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With all due respects to my friends in Ireland, for me, today was about the Presbyterian Church in Canada General Assembly.

As I mentioned in my preview piece, one of the big items on the agenda today was for the GA to discern a path forward in the on-going discussion regarding same-sex marriage and partnered LGBTQI individuals’ involvement in the denomination.

So spoiler alert: Through the process today the GA chose a pathway towards an inclusive stand for the church. Caveats: It was acknowledged that it was not “full inclusion” as there are still unanswered details – like expecting active LGBTQI individuals to be in relationship within marriage; It is not a done-deal as aspects of this need to be approved by presbyteries under the Barrier Act; and details of churches wanting to leave the denomination with resources and property are to be addressed later.

To briefly review, a blue-ribbon panel of 14 former moderators made up a Special Committee that returned with a process and four pathways forward to be considered in the process. The process was to have the Assembly descend into a committee of the whole to first ask questions, then have large-group time when people could speak to their preferred pathway, and sometimes a second choice they could live with. This was followed by small group discussion and finally preferential (ranked) voting on the four pathways. The four pathways are quickly described as Current Practice, Inclusive, One Denomination – Three Streams, and Pastoral Accommodation.

As the business began there were a series of parliamentary/polity motions, most of which were defeated or ruled out of order. The first was to count the Young Adult Representatives’ (YARs) votes with the commissioners. That was ruled out of order because they are not commissioned by their presbyteries and don’t have the standing to speak for them. It was granted to the YARs to have their voting preference recorded. Another motion was to have the live stream turned off. I was ready for this as this does sometimes happen with sensitive topics. It turns out the stated objective was not privacy but to keep commissioners from being coached by observers from afar. While defeated the request was made for those in the room to turn off their phones and put needed devices on airplane mode. While a bit heated at times, and at some points confused by the parliamentary differences between committee of the whole and assembly, the GA did not descend very far into the first “polity circle of Hell.”

From there on out the discussion was similar to what long-term observers of these discussions have heard before. One of the big differences was hearing speakers say “I favour A but could live with C” or “I really want B, but will speak in favour of D because I think it has a better chance of passing.” The debate was civil and I was impressed with the high number of commissioners that stuck to the rule and spoke only positively about their preference(s). But, the full-group time did drag out and had to be continued after lunch, with the length of speeches cut to 90 seconds.

At the end of the committee of the whole time both YARs and commissioners voted for Pathway B and rising from the committee of the whole back to the full Assembly there were immediately a number of amendments including change B to C (three streams) which was defeated, and adding language about departing churches – which was ruled out of order as that will be considered in a later report.

As for the vote, it was not originally going to be announced but pressed by the Assembly I thought I heard that 121 votes were for Pathway B and 91 dissents were filed after the vote. Will update when the minutes are posted.

One of the interesting points in the discussion related to churches leaving is that many commissioners were using the phrase used in the PC(USA) – “gracious dismissal.” In one of those “you keep using that word…” moments, in the PC(USA) the dismissals are being viewed as less gracious where the denomination – be it the presbytery or the national church – has obtained a legal judgement. Here, I sensed that the speakers were looking for a fairly cost-free dismissal. Stay tuned for more on this later in the week.

So what the PCC has is a pathway forward. The Special Committee was clear that they were providing frameworks to chose from and not planned out scripts for moving forward. The details will be in the hands of an Implementation Committee, a committee which will not include one of the former moderators. (This would be much like the PC(USA)’s Way Forward Commission passed the work off to the Moving Forward Implementation Commission.) The members of the Committee on Pathway Implications were elected in the evening sederunt with the need for a re-do in the sederunt with concerns about the diversity of the members of the committee.

And one of the interesting points about the Inclusive Pathway was discussed and acknowledged in the Assembly – while there will be liberty of conscience for teaching elders already ordained, and any ruling elder, teaching elders ordained in the future will not have that liberty and would be “expected to affirm same-sex marriage and to participate in the ordinations and inductions of LGBTQI clergy who are in same-sex marriages.” This seemed to leave at least one student in the room thinking “I better finish up, find a call, and get ordained soon.”

The full report with English, French, and Korean versions is available. I have extracted the one page with the Pathway B: Inclusion info if you want the bare minimum. And there is the official update on this business from the PCC.

So that is what happened today at the Presbyterian Church in Canada GA. And yes, that was about all the business that was handled today – a bit of other business was squeezed into the evening session. There is much to be worked out so we will see what happens in the days, weeks and months ahead with all the details that need to be worked out and approvals that need to happen. Stay tuned…

And if you want a commissioner’s perspective on today’s process check out Scott McAndless’ piece on his blog.

2019 General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In Ireland

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So with one live stream going in the background as I write, we turn to get ready for the next one of this busy week and month.

Shortly before I post this, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland will convene their 2019 General Assembly in Belfast with a worship service and the installation of the new Moderator, the Right Rev William Henry. The Assembly runs through Friday 7 June. Here is some info to help follow along:

  • The live stream is embedded in the 2019 Assembly Overview page along with links to other resources.
  • The 2019 General Assembly Page has a summary docket of report dates and times. And one of these two pages will probably have video clips of highlights of the Assembly.
  • The special Wednesday evening program is themed “Enjoying God” – the new Moderator’s theme for the year – and will be live streamed. The special speaker for the evening is the Rev Glen Scrivener, the Director of the charity Speak Life.
  • Wednesday evening before the worship service, the PCI Youth Assembly will be holding a Fringe Event around the theme of “Developing and building unity, within congregations and beyond.” In addition, following the Assembly’s adjournment there will be the traditional Youth Night on Saturday evening, which will probably be live streamed. The theme is “CALLED – Hearing God’s Voice. Bearing God’s Name.”
  • Most of the resources for the Assembly be found on, or linked from, the Assembly Overview page. The Blue Book reports and Supplementary reports will be posted there on Tuesday morning. The Daily Minutes will also be posted there along with daily previews. There is a detailed list of business that is posted on its own page.
  • The polity documents include the main document, The Code, as well as the helpful A Guide to Assembly Procedure.
  • The News page will carry official press releases and news items including the pre-Assembly press release which contains a rundown of the major moments and business at the Assembly this year.

There are plenty of social media contact points for the Assembly, beginning with the official Twitter account @PCIAssembly which always provides a detailed and comprehensive report of the Assembly. Please note the comprehensive part, because the level of detail can make the feed very busy. This is generally a good thing but you have been warned that the number of tweets will be very high. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you.) The official moderator’s feed at @PCIModerator has become a great source as well, but don’t count on a lot during the Assembly itself. We will see if Mr. Henry tweets during GA and how much he shares in his moderatorial year. The official hashtag for the Assembly is #pciga19. And it is worth keeping an eye on the PCI Facebook page as well. I would add at this point the church’s divinity school, Union Theological College (@UnionTCollege).

Other ministries of the church that have Twitter accounts are Presbyterian Women (@PWinIreland), Mission Ireland (@MissionIreland) and PCI Global Missions (@PCIOverseas). I include these for the sake of completeness, but they all have been pretty quiet for a while.

The other set of social media contacts to keep an eye on are those related to the Youth Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Following them on their Facebook page is probably the best, although they do have the Youth and Children’s Ministry account @PCIYAC. on Twitter, but that has not been active for a while.

My list of others to watch for interesting and useful updates always starts with outside reporter and insightful commentator Alan in Belfast (@alaninbelfast). He has already published on his blog an interesting piece on his blog “Browsing a Bygone Blue Book – a look back at the Presbyterian Church in Ireland in 1927” which is a great snapshot of where the church was then, and how some things don’t seem to change. For following some of the active leadership of the church, I would point to former Moderator Rob Craig (@RobCraig54) and Cheryl Meban (@cherylmeban) who is a university chaplain and has been active on church committees. Others have been a bit quiet up to this point and will be updating over the next day as things get rolling.

The business of the Assembly this year is extensive and for a better review, I would point you to the GA preview news article and the comments there by Clerk of the General Assembly, the Rev Trevor Gribben. I will highlight a few items that I have been following in the past year and the lead-up to the Assembly.

The first of these is the doctrinal stand that the Assembly has been reaffirming the past few years and which was stated very strongly last year: A divided Assembly affirmed the traditional view of marriage between a man and a woman and carried that over not just to the standards for ordination but to some rights of membership as well. This led to breaking ties with other churches who were moving away from this position, notably the Church of Scotland. The relationship with the Church of Scotland will be reviewed this year and it will be interesting to hear how the body’s thought has aged in the past year. This stand was also widely publicized in the public media and led to some significant protest so this Assembly is being widely watched for that. This position has also resulted in the dismissal of the Rev. Prof. Laurence Kirkpatrick from the faculty of Union Theological College, another action which hit the mainstream media. (BBC, Belfast Telegraph, Irish Times).

Speaking of Union Theological College, over the last year Queens University, Belfast, the institution that hosted Union and three other smaller religious schools in its Institute of Theology, decided to close the Institute and break the ties with the churches. The estimate of the shortfall for the PCI from lost fees is £250,000 by 2022. As Mr. Gribben says in the preview article, “The Assembly will be taking time to reflect on that change, but will also be looking forward to hearing of the emerging plans for a new and potentially exciting future for the College.”

One of the major moments in the Assembly will be an Alternative Presentation on Thursday titled Life Always Matters. As the preview article says:

[I]t seeks to speak into the professional world and public square on the dignity of human life. Through specially commissioned video, a presentation and an informal panel discussion involving three Presbyterian elected representatives, the General Assembly will be looking at dementia care, end of life care and child and adolescent mental health services.

And one more item of the many – The report by the Dealing with the Past Task Group. This group, which has been working for three years, is looking at how Presbyterians responded to the Troubles. From the preview article:

The aim of this significant undertaking is to tell a wider story than has been available to date. The stories of ordinary Presbyterians that have emerged from the 100-plus interviews will be published in a book towards the end of the year, and the Church will be seeking to learn from this significant project.

In the article, Mr. Gribben says of this report, “There are, however, occasions when substantial pieces of work, like that of the Dealing with the Past Task Group, can have positive impact beyond the doors of the denomination itself.” One reason it caught my attention is that in conversations I have had about the PCI and its actions, I have been advised that the Troubles are one of the lenses that must be considered when analyzing even current actions.

So much I could mention, but time is limited. I am looking forward to the significant discussions ahead of the PCI in this Assembly. As always, our prayers are with the Assembly and the Moderator for the work ahead and their discernment and guidance by the Holy Spirit. We look forward to following their work.

145th General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In Canada

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I hope you are ready because it is now the month of June and the General Assembly Season is about to get VERY busy. First up, this evening the 145th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada opened with worship and they have installed their new Moderator.

The first sederunt this evening, including opening worship, was held in the sanctuary of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, of Kitchener, Ontario. The meeting will continue through Thursday 6 June 2019 and the remaining business sessions will be held at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario

A few things to know to help follow along:

  • There will live streaming of the Assembly meetings and they are typically archived afterwards
  • From the GA 2019 page you can download the full and final Book of Reports. The daily schedule is found on page 4 of the packet and a more detailed docket begins on page 6. The Supplementary Reports is available from the GA 2019 page as well. The Book of Reports contains both a synopsis of each report, frequently one page in length, as well as the full report from each body reporting. The synopsis of reports begins on page 32.
  • Official news updates are available on the news feed. We can probably expect follow-up after the meeting in the new PC Connect e-newsletter.
  • I anticipate there will be daily GA Briefings and probably video recordings of the sederunts posted regularly. The Briefings, a summary of each sederunt, will probably be available on the GA 2019 page and the videos archived on the Live Stream Page.
  • The General Assembly Resources page is where you will find the important doctrine and governance documents including the Book of Forms and a link to the Acts and Proceedings page.

The theme for the meeting is “Receive the Holy Spirit”.

The Assembly can be followed on social media through the PCConnect Facebook page and through their official Twitter feed @PCConnect. The hastag for the meeting is #pccga2019. And we can expect pictures on the PC Connect Flickr feed.

As we go into this GA, let me first point to one of my Twitter stalwarts, Jeff Loach (@passionatelyhis) although I have not seen a GA tweet from him yet. I have seen GA activity from another GA go-to commentator, Scott McAndless (@A_Nobel_Theme) who once again will be blogging about the GA. And one more who has had a few GA-related tweets is Matthew Brough (@mbrough). UPDATE: Pleased to see that another GA veteran is tweeting, that being John Borthwick (@jborthwik).

Over the last few years, the continuing discussion has been on human sexuality and what path the church is going to take. At last year’s Assembly they decided they were at an impasse and decided to form a Special Committee of Past Moderators – fourteen in total – to help them through it. (And I would note that one of the Moderators’ first recommendations is “we are concerned that this not become a practice of the church.”) This Special Committee will be the first report on Tuesday morning and their proposal can be found in the final edition of the Book of Reports starting on page 472. Procedurally, they are proposing that the Assembly descend to a Committee of the Whole to discuss, both as a large group and at tables of smaller groups, four possible paths forward.

The first pathway is the Current Practice option. This would hold things are they are: marriage is between one man and one woman, homosexual orientation would not be considered a sin but the church would not conduct same-sex marriages and only celibate LGBTQI individuals would be eligible for ordination as teaching and ruling elders.

The Inclusion Pathway would open the church to conducting same-sex marriages and those in same-sex marriages would be eligible for ordination as teaching and ruling elders. Significantly, while this option would have the liberty of conscience for sessions, individual ruling elders and congregations, there would be none for new teaching elders going forward and those ordained in the future ” would be expected to affirm same-sex marriage and to participate in the ordinations and inductions of LGBTQI clergy who are in same-sex marriages.”

The third Pathway is One Denomination – Three Streams. If adopted, this would set up a Traditional, an Accommodating, and an Affirming stream in the church. Sessions would recommend to their congregations and congregations would approve their membership in a particular stream. Congregations and teaching elders would be free to change their stream at any time. All presbyteries would be dissolved and new presbyteries within each stream would be created. Because of this structural change, the plan would require that it be sent down to the presbyteries under the Barrier Act for their concurrence before the plan could be implemented. (And to be clear, the second and fourth pathways also have elements that would require the presbyteries to approve under the Barrier Act.)

Finally, the fourth Pathway is Pastoral Accommodation. Under this option, the doctrine of the church would remain as it is now, as discussed above in the first pathway. However, there would be a suspension of discipline so that congregations that felt called to could host same-sex marriages and could ordain, call and install married LGBTQI individuals in their congregations without concern for being disciplined.

Will this break the impasse? Tune in on Tuesday morning for the start of this discussion which will have additional reports and discussions on Wednesday. In addition, the Special Committee Re Listening (LGBTQI People) has a recommendation that “any form of conversion or reparative therapy is not a helpful or appropriate pastoral response.” Also, as a response to this whole process, the Assembly Council is asking that a group be formed to bring a report to the next GA regarding churches that which to leave the denomination.

There are a number of other topics up for discussion and a few jumped out at me. The International Affairs Committee has a recommendation “That the Moderator write to the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan expressing prayerful support for its country and its people that they will continue to live and serve one another in a peaceful democracy.” The Clerks of Assembly have a recommendation that options for flexibility in ruling elder terms on sessions be sent down to the presbyteries under the Barrier Act. And the Committee on Church doctrine is recommending that the report on recreational marijuana be brought to next year’s GA.

So prayers and best wishes for the members of the 145th General Assembly and as they address issues so difficult, but so important to the future witness of the church. May you indeed be guided by the Holy Spirit in these substantive matters of witness and ministry.

2019 General Assembly Of The Free Church Of Scotland (Continuing)

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Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) General Assembly

So, let’s round out this weeks assembly activity in Edinburgh…

While the other two Assemblies are meeting up near the top of the Royal Mile, a bit to the south of them, in the Liberton area, the smallest of the three will be in session.

The Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) convened 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 #ga2019. Probably best to focus on the former as the latter is in use by the Church of Scotland as well. Typically, there is not a lot of tweeting from this Assembly. Will update if I find a good follow.

Looking through the Reports there is a lot of the usual business that you find with General Assemblies that makes the church operate. But two items stand out because of their more public nature.

The first is in the report of the Committee on Public Questions, Religion and Morals. Among the multiple topics they discuss, the highlighted issue is a bill in the Scottish Parliament regarding a smacking ban. This is a continuing point of concern and last year the church issued a press release regarding their proposed comment to the Scottish Parliament. This is still an active matter and the church’s press office has sent me a copy of this year’s press release on the same subject. (I have not seen it online yet.) The release reads:

Holyrood shows skewed processes and closed minds on smacking ban, says Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)

The Public Questions, Religion & Morals Committee of the Free Church of Scotland, in a report to their General Assembly due to meet in Edinburgh from 20th May 2019, state that Holyrood has demonstrated skewed processes, in that the Holyrood Committee tasked with scrutinising the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Bill is comprised of seven members of whom five had indicated their support for the proposals before any scrutiny took place. When the representative of the Free Church (Continuing) presented the views of the denomination generally at a meeting of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee of the Scottish Parliament, held recently in Portree, along with numerous other witnesses presenting their concerns, the Committee demonstrated closed minds on the subject.

This information and additional details are also contained in the committee’s report, beginning on page 44 of the Book of Reports.

Another topic of focus this year will be Christian Education, part of the report of the Welfare of Youth and Education Committee. (Beginning on page 26) The committee will present the recommendations of a working group that is encouraging the availability of Christian Education resources on the denomination’s website, possible funding for Christian Education, and approving in principle the establishment of an annual conference on Christian Education. That report also recommends that the All-Age Holiday event be discontinued after this year due to costs unless a less expensive venue can be found. And finally, jumping back to Christian Education, a special program will be presented in Glasgow the day following the adjournment of the Assembly with Dr James Wanliss addressing the meeting on the theme “The Profit of Christian Education”.

I enjoyed my time with this GA last year and while I will be waiting for the post-GA reports from them this year, my prayers are with them for their deliberations and work. May it all be guided by the Holy Spirit.

2019 General Assembly Of The Free Church Of Scotland

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General Assembly week in Edinburgh gets into full swing today as two addition GA’s convene this evening. One of these is the Free Church of Scotland 2019 General Assembly meeting at St. Columba’s Free Church in Edinburgh. The meeting will run until about noon on Thursday.

St. Columba’s Free Church

One of the features of this meeting is that it meets for business in the evenings so when the Church of Scotland meeting adjourns you can walk across the street to St. Columba’s Free Church and sit in on their meeting. You think I exaggerate? Here is St. Columba’s, and I took the picture from the public gallery entrance to the Kirk’s Assembly Hall. [One of my favourite lines from Doug Gay’s book Reforming the Kirk says “The Secession Church planted strategically while the Free Church planted competitively.” In my wanderings around Scotland last year it was not unusual to find a Church of Scotland building across the street from a Free Church building.]

So, to follow along here are some helpful starting points:

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 #fcga19, although sometimes tweets slip by with #fcga or #fcga2019. In addition, I would suggest also keeping an eye on the Twitter account for the official bookstore, Free Church Books (@freechurchbooks) who will have a pop-up bookstore at the Assembly. Also, the seminary, Edinburgh Theological Seminary (@ETS_Edinburgh) and the principal Iver Martin (@IverMartin), although he has not been active on Twitter recently. And I can add the new Mission Initiative “Generation” which tweets at @GenerationM18.

Regarding other individuals and churches tweeting the GA I am at a bit of a loss at the moment as the hashtag has been very quiet. One account who has mentioned that they will be present is Rosskeen Free Chuch at @RosskeenFC. I will stick my neck out and mention “Neil DM” who is an Elder at St. Columba’s and has the handle @neilbriogaisean.

Much of the business before the Assembly seems like the routine but necessary work of a connectional denomination. The reports include updates on two initiatives approved at the 2018 Assembly, the Generation Vision launch for mission work, and a recognition of the need for rural church planting and development. In another response from last year, the Board of Ministry reports on their consultation with the presbyteries about the Ordination Promises or Vows. While a variety of views were found, they noted a consensus that the current wording could be clarified or shortened and asks the GA to pass this along to another group currently revising the church’s Practice. There is also an item to send to the presbyteries under the Barrier Act an overture to dissolve the provincial synods. The 2009 GA suspended the meetings of synods and with presbytery reorganization, the synods are now seen as a redundant layer of judicatory. And I had to smile a bit at the deliverance from the Psalmody and Praise Committee that included the item:


6. The General Assembly remind congregations that where praise items are projected on screen or printed on orders of service, copyright acknowledgement must be made for each item, for all Sing Psalms, Sing Scripture and for all hymns. Scottish Psalter items do not require this, being out of copyright. Further guidance is available on the Free Church website, including links to PowerPoint slides.

I know a few churches, including my own, who need to be reminded of this.

Having been the recipient of their generous hospitality last year, I will be watching from afar this year to see how several of the items I saw debated last year are moved along by the body this year.

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