Two weeks ago, our own Tennessee Valley Presbytery (TVP) hosted the Presbyterian Church in America’s (PCA) 52nd General Assembly here at the Chattanooga Convention Center. For those not familiar with this, the PCA General Assembly (GA) is a large annual meeting where elders (commissioners) from churches in our denomination come together to discuss important issues, make decisions for the whole denomination, and review the work of various church committees. Over 2300 commissioners registered for this General Assembly, with approximately 72.5% Teaching Elders and 27.5% Ruling Elders.
Several excellent summaries of the General Assembly overtures and decisions have already been completed - written by far more capable people than me. (I have linked them at the end under the “Reference’’ section.) I think you will be edified by reading through some of those web articles and also come away with a deeper understanding of our church polity. For the purpose of this article, I wanted to share some of my own observations as a commissioner experiencing GA on the floor of the Convention Center.
While many times the commissioners get the spotlight at GA, the whole event could not proceed without an army of volunteers from across the PCA working to make it happen. Walking through the halls of the Convention Center, I saw many people from our own church doing critical jobs such as registering commissioners, supporting the IT needs, helping with logistics, preparing and serving the Lord’s supper, playing instruments or singing during the worship services, working booths at the expo hall, and helping with family and children’s activities. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for all our brothers and sisters in Christ who sacrificed their time and energy in this way.
General Assembly is also a witness to the world about who we are as God’s people and who our glorious Savior is. A member of a local, sister church shared this:
"...had a great time at the GA. Our (event) security guard, Julian, said that about 50 people, thanked him for his service. He told me that no other conventions ever do that. What a great testimony from the PCA."
During worship on Wednesday night, we heard a sermon from Rev. Dennis Louis, who is the Senior Pastor at Chattanooga Valley Presbyterian Church in Flintstone, Georgia. He did an excellent job explaining how worship shapes us as believers. It also was a powerful testimony to see that shaping he preached about taking place in “real-time” for thousands of believers crowded into the convention hall participating in worship.
Probably my favorite highlight of the Assembly was the Psalm singing. There is nothing quite like 2,000 men singing God’s Word a capella. The Assembly sang the imprecatory Psalm 5 after we were reminded that believers for centuries have sung the Psalms - including Jesus during His earthly ministry. What could be more ecumenical for Christians to do?
The Assembly concluded with another ecumenical note on Thursday night by joining with two other reformed, presbyterian denominations in a statement on Christian Nationalism. In two overwhelming majority votes, the Assembly elected to form a study committee on Christian Nationalism and join with our sister North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC) denominations in saying:
- That the 52nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America does hereby join with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (221st General Synod) and with the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America (193rd Synod) in condemning without distinction any theological or political teaching which posits a superiority of race or ethnic identity born of immutable human characteristics, and does call to repentance any who would promote or associate themselves with such teaching, either by commission or omission.
(Author’s Note: Recent events have strained the PCA’s ties with other denominations in the NAPARC, of which an apology was made by the retired Stated Clerk at the beginning of the Assembly. Going as far back as 2010, the original version of the PCA Strategic Plan suggested the PCA should withdraw from the NAPARC. I am thankful the PCA is still a member of the NAPARC and was deeply encouraged to join with our NAPARC brethren on this statement as a way to rebuild those relationships.)
As I reflect on our time together at General Assembly, I’m reminded of the response of the early church in Acts 15.31: “And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.” In that chapter, the believers were strengthened by the clarity and unity of the church’s decision. In much the same way, I believe many who participated in or followed this year’s Assembly left encouraged - not because every issue was easy or every outcome unanimous, but because Christ is building His Church, and we had the privilege of seeing that work up close.
Chris Rimondi, Elder
Reference
- Our TVP Stated Clerk: The Steady Progress Assembly: PCAGA 52 Report (Highly recommend)
- Our denominational magazine: byfaithonline.com/general-assembly-full-recap/
- A few more from people within the PCA:
News Media also reported on General Assembly:
