{"id":26,"date":"2014-05-19T16:02:39","date_gmt":"2014-05-19T16:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gajunkie.info\/blog\/?p=26"},"modified":"2014-05-19T16:02:39","modified_gmt":"2014-05-19T16:02:39","slug":"2014-general-assembly-of-the-free-church-of-scotland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.gajunkie.com\/?p=26","title":{"rendered":"2014 General Assembly Of The Free Church Of Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font style=\"font-size:8px\"><\/font><br \/>\nIn just about an hour from now on Monday 19 May, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.freechurch.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Free Church of Scotland<\/a> will convene their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.freechurch.org\/index.php\/scotland\/news_events_item\/2014_general_assembly_reports\/\" target=\"_blank\">2014 General Assembly<\/a> in <a href=\"http:\/\/stcolumbas.freechurch.org\" target=\"_blank\">St. Columba&#8217;s Free Church<\/a> in Edinburgh. The meeting will run until Friday 23 May. Lots of interesting items going on with this meeting so here is some of the info to help you follow along.<\/p>\n<table cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"5\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/images.quickblogcast.com\/16461-15728\/FreeChurchofScotlandLogob.jpg?w=625\" style=\"border: 0px solid;\">\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>The Assembly is being live streamed through the <a href=\"http:\/\/stcolumbas.freechurch.org\/live\/\" target=\"_blank\">St. Columba live streaming service<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>There is now a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.freechurch.org\/2011uploaddirectory\/2014_Assembly_timetable.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">docket for the week<\/a> available online<\/li>\n<li>The advanced set of reports are available on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.freechurch.org\/index.php\/scotland\/news_events_item\/2014_general_assembly_reports\/\" target=\"_blank\">Reports page<\/a> and Supplemental Reports will be released throughout the week.<\/li>\n<li>Daily updates are being posted in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.freechurch.org\/index.php\/scotland\/news_events\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">news stream<\/a>. Here is the update from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.freechurch.org\/index.php\/scotland\/news_events_item\/2014_assembly_opens_-_monday_summary\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Monday<\/a>,&nbsp; <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>\nTo follow along in social media you should be checking the official <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/freechurchofscotland\" target=\"_blank\">Free Church Facebook page<\/a> as well as their Twitter feed <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/freechurchscot\" target=\"_blank\">@freechurchscot<\/a>. The host church can be followed at <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/stcsfreechurch\" target=\"_blank\">@stcsfreechurch<\/a> and the hashtag will be <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%23fcga14\" target=\"_blank\">#fcga14<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I am trying to figure out where to begin in recommending personal Twitter feeds as there are a number of individuals with interesting ones at the meeting. I will begin with Iain D. Campbell at <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/revdridc\" target=\"_blank\">@revdridc<\/a>. Maybe the most high-profile minister in the Free Church of Scotland, at least in the public eye, is David Robertson who you can follow at <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/theweeflea\" target=\"_blank\">@theweeflea<\/a>. Let me start there and add others as the Assembly gets going.<\/p>\n<p>Two items of business are getting a bit of publicity. The first is the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.freechurch.org\/index.php\/scotland\/news_events_item\/closing_session_ceremony_for_college\/\" target=\"_blank\">transformation of the Free Church College into the Edinburgh Theological Seminary<\/a>. A program marking the launch of the new seminary will take place on Wednesday evening at the Assembly with the Rev. Sinclair Ferguson preaching. The Principal&#8217;s Report in the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.freechurch.org\/2011uploaddirectory\/College_Board14.pdf\">Report of the College Board<\/a> talks about the nature of this change:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nThis  year,  in  accordance  with  a  decision  at  the  2013  General  Assembly,  the  Free  Church  College  will  be renamed  as  Edinburgh  Theological  Seminary.  Some  may  see  this  as  a mere  external  facelift  but  the  whole process has encouraged the staff and Board to actively explore ways of making the College more accessible to the wider church. Already, not only has there been substantial interest from various parties but the Free Church itself has become more aware of and excited about our training institution as a vital and indispensable resource. The key to the Seminary\u2019s future is its attachment to a vibrant confessional church which will support its work and ensure its stability. To this effect, the Principal is gratified at the encouragement he  has received from the Free Church at large. \n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\nThe second item is the discussion of the future of Scotland leading up to the independence referendum. This will come up in the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.freechurch.org\/2011uploaddirectory\/Communications14.pdf\">Report of the Communications Committee<\/a> which has arranged for four papers from Free Church pastors addressing the issues of independence from the perspective of the church. While the Committee report provides summaries of the papers links to the full papers can be found under the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.freechurch.org\/index.php\/scotland\/news_events_item\/church_releases_independence_papers\/\">news item announcing their release<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I also found it interesting that the Free Church of Scotland, like many other Presbyterian branches, is reviewing how they structure their Assemblies. The proposal that comes to the 2014 Assembly in the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.freechurch.org\/2011uploaddirectory\/Assembly_Arrangements14.pdf\">Assembly Arrangements Committee Report<\/a> is this (Deliverance item 6):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n6. The General Assembly authorise the Committee to make arrangements for the 2015 General Assembly to meet over three whole days, the evenings to involve shorter business sessions and to include worship items. The  General  Assembly  approve  the  Committee\u2019s recommendation  that  invitations  to  other  Churches  and organisations  to  send  representatives  be  issued  only  every  third  year,  phased over  a  three-year  period  so  that representatives  do  not  all  attend  in  the  same  year.  They  also  authorise  the Committee  to  examine  how  more powers may be given to the Commission of Assembly and report to the next General Assembly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Finally the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.freechurch.org\/2011uploaddirectory\/Board_of_Trustees14.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Report of the Board of Trustees<\/a> will be bringing an extensive report that deals with two current issues. The first is a new plan for the church boards and committees &#8220;related to ordering the Church\u2019s activities in such a way as to bring finances back into balance&#8221; based on the charge from the last General Assembly. The second is a Policy for the Admission of Congregations.<\/p>\n<p>I am struck by how they are dealing with issues that are being examined by other Presbyterian branches around the world, including ministerial training and the structure and nature of their Assemblies. We look forward to seeing how the Free Church considers and decides on these pressing issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In just about an hour from now on Monday 19 May, the Free Church of Scotland will convene their 2014 General Assembly in St. Columba&#8217;s Free Church in Edinburgh. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,4,2,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-free-church-of-scotland","category-ga-business","category-general-assembly","category-polity"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>2014 General Assembly Of The Free Church Of Scotland - The GA Junkie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.gajunkie.com\/?p=26\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2014 General Assembly Of The Free Church Of Scotland - The GA Junkie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In just about an hour from now on Monday 19 May, the Free Church of Scotland will convene their 2014 General Assembly in St. Columba&#8217;s Free Church in Edinburgh. 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