Five years ago, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America took issue with an action of Northern California Presbytery and Philadelphia Presbytery in a matter related to deaconesses. The result was two years of debate about whether or not we should study the issue, and the PCA said that it did not want to do so.

Muslim Idiom Translations have translated these terms with such substitutes as "representative" and "guardian." This action will give guidance to churches supporting translation work, a resource to our mission agency, and place pressure on translation agencies to hold to biblical standards for translation.

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) voted unanimously to elect the Rev. Jeffrey Jeremiah to a third term as its stated clerk. In his remarks to the assembly, meeting this week at First Presbyterian Church, Baton Rouge, Jeremiah said that five years ago (2007) the EPC had 182 churches. Today, that number has literally doubled to 364.

The report cites that in some cases the church has subjected aspiring female ministers to more scrutiny than male candidates, and ordination has been delayed in other cases because some church leaders opposed to women in ministry have refused to attend examination meetings.

“The vast majority of congregations and worshiping communities across the denomination can name individuals within their community who may be involved but will never end up on the rolls. I believe that they are the ones who can help teach us new ways in which religious institutions can serve God in this century.”

Over seven hundred people from the EPC poured into the town from both teams and individual volunteer commitments to graciously assist. One church alone sent over 21 teams to Joplin, MO (sight of massive tornado)

Refreshing may not the first thought that typically comes to mind when the word sanctification is broached, but that’s exactly what the panel presentation on sanctification by Dr. Bryan Chapell and Dr. Mike Ross at the PCA General Assembly was!

He told the non-Calvinists: "There seems to be some non-Calvinists who are more concerned about rooting out Calvinists than they are about winning the lost for Christ." He then addressed Calvinists, some of whom he said "seem to think that if we do not believe the same thing about soteriology that they believe then somehow we are less intelligent or ignorant."

What Erskine is doing is not an easy task, but it is worthwhile. The 2011 ARP Synod commended Erskine’s trustees and President Norman, who was just completing his first in office, for their effective work. Again this year, the 2012 ARP Synod commended Erskine’s trustees and administration for being willing to continue the dialogue on these issues.

Though we decry what we see as a lack of wisdom in Vanderbilt’s policy, our consciences are clear that we have not shirked our responsibilities by remaining on campus at Vanderbilt. Why? Because to date it has not enforced this policy in such a way that binds our consciences, impelling us to leave.