A Note from Brian

 
 

Our denomination's General Assembly will be held next week in Chattanooga. This is the highest "court" of the Presbyterian Church in America. 

Last week, The Gospel Coalition posted this overview of what the PCA General Assembly does, if you're interested.

Downtown Presbyterian will be sending five of our elders as commissioners to this General Assembly: Jeff Heiser, Scott Hultstrand, Mark Miller, Sam Taaffe, and myself. Scott and I will be serving on two "Committees of Commissioners." These are committees made up of both ruling elders and teaching elders in our denomination. These committees handle work pertaining to different ministry areas, and they mostly meet prior to the larger Assembly gathering. Scott will be serving on the PCA Foundation Committee of Commissioners; this foundation strives to facilitate wiser giving for ministry endeavors. I will be serving on the Overtures Committee, which fields requested changes to present PCA practice (e.g., additions, deletions, study of particular issues) before these requested changes appear to the whole Assembly. 

We would love for our church family to pray not only for us, but for the whole Assembly. Here are a few particulars:

  • This is a national gathering, with some participants coming in from other countries. Please pray for the safe travel not only of our five, but of all the participants.

  • Please pray for Scott and myself as we serve on our respective committees. I will be giving the opening devotion this coming Monday morning as the Overtures Committee begins. Please pray this devotion will help set the right tone.

  • More broadly, the PCA is not immune to the larger trends of polarization in our culture. The PCA has "tribes" and voting blocks, like most large organizations. Please pray that, throughout the week, we wouldn't "lead" with our disagreements. Please pray we would live out Paul's exhortation: "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor" (Rom. 12:10).

We will plan to let you know how things go when we get back. Thank you for caring about the church!