North City Presbyterian Church is a member church in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). I'm so glad that God is working in so many Gospel believing, Bible proclaiming churches and denominations around the world. But I'm especially thankful for the PCA and the opportunity to serve in a biblically grounded, doctrinally sound, Gospel focused and mission-driven denomination (yes, that was a mouthful!). One of the many benefits of being in the PCA is the connection and accountability we share with other churches. Every June (Lord willing) I have the opportunity to participate in our yearly denominational meeting known as the General Assembly of the PCA. Pastors and elders from the entire denomination gather for 4-5 days to pray, worship, and discuss the work of God in the PCA. This year over 1000 commissioners met in Louisville Kentucky to celebrate 40 years since the birth of the PCA. Here are just a few of the things that happened this year at the 40th PCA General Assembly:
Worship, Teaching and Fellowship
Every year there are three evening worship services with the entire assembly and many other guests - between 2000-5000 people worship together every evening! This year one of my favorite historians Sean Lucas preached a sermon on Ephesians 1. My thanks for helping to jump start my sermon series! There are also many seminars to provide training for pastors and elders. Pastor Matthew Bohling (who preached for us earlier this spring) led a great seminar on church revitalization, particularly helping us more effectively fulfill the great comission. One of my personal highlights was the fellowship with other men in ministry. This year I was privileged to reconnect with our own Emma Kiwanuka who flew in from Uganda to be a representative to the assembly for the PCA's work in Africa. It was a huge blessing to speak with him about the progress of Westminster Theological College and Seminary. God is richly blessing this great work! I also had the privilege of speaking with two team members who went with Heather Gideon to India this summer and hear a wonderful report of how God worked through this missions effort. Many men who once were interns at NCPC also attended the assembly, and it was exciting to hear how God is using them in ministries all over the world.
The Work of the Assembly
Every year there is a combination of informational reports from the various agencies of the PCA and overtures that are brought before the group concerning doctrinal and ministry questions. It is always encouraging to hear how God is extending the work of missions at home (Mission to North America) and abroad (Mission to the World) as well as many other Gospel endeavors. There were several main issues that were discussed and acted upon:
1. Theistic Evolution. There has been increasing debate and discussion about the relationship between evolution and creation recently in our circles. An overture was brought from several presbyteries asking the PCA to make a formal statement against Theistic Evolution as a biblically viable view of the origin of the human race. Interestingly, on both sides of the debate no one advocated in favor of the theistic evolutionary view, but after much debate the assembly voted to not make such a statement, instead affirming that the Westminster Confession of Faith speaks sufficiently to this issue.
2. Paedocommunion. This is the practice of giving all children (even infants and small children) the Lord's Supper regardless of whether they have made a profession of faith. The PCA has historically always said that this is a non-biblical practice, affirming that a profession of faith is necessary before a person takes the Supper. This year there was discussion that centered around the question of whether an elder can hold to this view while not practicing it, and whether a presbytery ought to ordain a man and grant him an exception provided that he does not practice paedocommunion in his church. At this point elders who hold this view can continue to be ordained provided that they do not practice it.
3. Intinction. This is a particular practice in the serving of the Lord's Supper where instead of having an individual cup, a person takes the bread and dips it in a common cup of wine or juice. There are a number of churches that serve the Lord's Supper in this way, and an overture was brought before the assembly asking us to amend our church constitution (known as the Book of Church Order) so that this practice would no longer be allowable. The motivation behind this overture was that Jesus' institution of the Supper involved two separate actions which each have unique significance. This overture was approved, but now it must be sent for a vote to individual presbyteries to ratify the decision.
4. The PCA's membership in the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). An overture was brought asking the PCA to withdraw from the NAE because of some highly questionable activities and positions taken by them in recent years. The assembly voted to stay in the NAE for the time being but closely monitor the situation and revisit the question at a later assembly meeting.
5. Insider Movements. This is a phenomenon that is beyond the space allowable here, but the bottom line is this: An insider movement is a group of people in a non-Christian community who have embraced Christ as Savior and yet remain relationally, culturally and socially part of the religious group into which they were born. This seems to be happening more in some Muslim, Jewish and Hindu groups. They reject the non-biblical views and practices of their ancestry and yet remain embedded in those communities (hence the term "insider movements"). There has obviously been some debate in missions circles about whether a person in such a movement can remain faithful to Christ. The issue brought before the PCA however had to do with Bible translations. Some translations developed by non-PCA entities are specifically targeted to Muslims in these movements and have removed common terms such as "Father" and "Son" when referring to God the Father and to Jesus (evidently in an attempt to reach them more effectively). These translations have replaced them with terms such as "representative" and "guardian." The PCA voted overwhelmingly to urge missions and translation organizations to retain the original common terms of "Father" and "Son" because of their rich theological importance in learning how we relate to God and how the persons of the Trinity relate to one another.
Something was clear to me as I observed and participated in the work of our General Assembly: this is a group of leaders who truly desire to be faithful to the Scriptures, true to the Reformed faith, and obedient to the Great Commission. Even when there were long and sometimes tedious reports and debates, the Gospel still remained at the center of all our work. It is an honor to be in the PCA, an honor to represent North City at our General Assembly, and a privilege to be a part of what God is doing in and through His church around the world. Do you have questions about the PCA and why we do what we do? Let's get coffee and talk!
Glad to labor among you,
Pastor David
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