Obviously we could probably track some variations on the motto through the years, from 1971 to present, but most of those variations probably appeared because someone was working from memory. For one thing, the motto was never officially adopted, so far as I can determine. If I’m wrong about that, please let me know. For... Continue Reading

If the report felt the need to exhort the church on this point, I think it would have been better said that the church should enfold, include, love, labor for, seek to serve all its members, whether male or female, wherever, and in whatever circumstance they may be found. To divide the church into male... Continue Reading

There is no question that all God’s people are set apart to serve and minister within the church (Ps. 4:3, 2 Tim. 2:21). However, the practice of setting apart for specific tasks within the church seems to be an exceptional circumstance where men already in office, whether as Levite, priest, apostle or teacher in the... Continue Reading

This change will ensure any departure decision genuinely reflects the mind of the congregation, and not just a small minority.  Likewise, the BCO only requires the Session to give one-week’s notice for such a congregational meeting.  One week’s notice and a very low quorum is a recipe for abuse.   I appreciate this opportunity to... Continue Reading

In summary: This proposed amendment to require a quorum of 50% of the local congregation’s resident members effectively restricts a congregation’s rights to “remain in association with any court of this body only so long as they themselves so desire” (BCO 25-11).  As such, it effectively violates the “solemn covenant” between local churches and the... Continue Reading

Such action by the Permanent Judicial Commission led to a crisis for all of those pastors and elders who held to the traditional views on this question [the ordination of women to all church offices] and who were now considered heretics. Accordingly, to uphold the peace, unity and purity of the church, most of the... Continue Reading

Third, it removes unnecessary controversy from the recommendation. The last clause in the original recommendation inexplicably includes a reference to deaconesses. This inclusion is inexplicable because it is not a recommendation, but a statement. The Assembly deleted this clause in order to remove any potential controversy that including such a statement might produce. The revised... Continue Reading

So what is the biblical role of women in the worship of the church? As with all God’s people, women participate in the songs of the congregation. They lift up their prayers to God Almighty by their assent to the prayers the elders lead the congregation in. They are fed through the instruction of God’s... Continue Reading

However, we’re not talking about “preferences” any more than an Anglican is who expects to worship with the Prayer Book. Prayer Book worship is what Anglicans do, and have done, since 1549. When one goes to Dodger Stadium, is it wrong to expect to see a baseball game? When one orders a hamburger at McDonalds,... Continue Reading

By removing everything except the first sentence of this recommendation, the Assembly made it possible that exactly nothing will change in the congregations where refusing to ordain is the current practice. Basically, the churches of the PCA are urged to ordain deacons “if possible.” It is far too easy to say something is not possible,... Continue Reading