It is clear the efforts of the Old School wing of the PCA to clean house, sharpen our theology, and clarify our constitution are bearing fruit. Progressives and feminists in the PCA are showing an increasing discomfort and sending up overtures attempting to restore their lost latitude. Their efforts are not succeeding.

PCA Moderator RE Melton Duncan has gaveled the close of the 53rd General Assembly. If you read my update from Wednesday, you may recall I was optimistic we could have ended mid-afternoon. But alas, the search for “OK” on our voting clickers delayed our deliberations by hours. The Assembly’s Clerk pledged the Administrative Committee would find a more competent voting partner to use in the future.

Moderator Duncan was nonetheless able to maintain good humor and use his quick and winsome wit to keep the Assembly from being overwhelmed by frustration.

The Health of the PCA

The PCA continues to grow in prosperity, peace, and purity after a decade or more of a slide toward broad evangelicalism that culminated in the Revoice controversy. In a sense, Revoice was the best thing that happened to the PCA, because it woke up many elders and congregations who had adopted an attitude of indifference and apathy toward theological precision that culminated in a lack of involvement with the courts of the Church.

The renewed interest and participation in the church courts has been used by God to sharpen the PCA’s commitment to her theological heritage and revitalize her devotion to the Westminster Standards. Let me highlight three indicia of renewed health and vitality in the PCA.

Stated Clerk and Moderator

I wrote more about this on Wednesday, but we should not overlook the change that has taken place in the PCA since 2021.

The Assembly has continued her pattern of choosing her officers from men who signed the Dowling Dissent in the matter of Missouri Presbytery and Greg Johnson before the SJC. This crucial dissent highlighted troubles with the Judicial Commission that allowed the deviant Saint Louis Theology to find a temporary home within the PCA.

Both RE Melton Duncan (Moderator) and TE Fred Greco (Stated Clerk) were among the seven men who believed the initial investigation of Missouri Presbytery was clearly erroneous in its conclusions regarding Greg Johnson’s Christian character.

Now the denomination is led by three of the men who signed that dissent. In fact, only one of the men who joined RE Dowling’s dissent has not yet been elected GA Moderator.

Healthy Outreach and Discipleship

Reformed University Fellowship (RUF)

I was privileged to serve on the RUF Committee of Commissioners (CoC) and to review the work of the RUF permanent committee and staff over the last year. Although I (along with others) expressed concerns about some of the staffing decisions and other matters, I am remarkably encouraged by the work RUF is doing among college students.

Initially RUF was founded to pastor, shepherd, and disciple PCA college students, yet in recent years it has taken on the additional role of evangelism on university campuses. I suppose it was inevitable that discipleship would lead to evangelism. The Lord has been pleased to bless the widening mission of RUF, which began in 1975 with two campuses, but now includes more than 200 campus ministries 50 years later.

RUF not only ministers to American college students, but also to international college students in the US and has established several global campuses at universities abroad.

Church Planting & Mission to North America (MNA)

In recent years, MNA has been hindered by financial troubles and critical theory. Despite the drastic austerity efforts taken to correct the mismanagement of the previous MNA Coordinator, the PCA continues to plant hundreds of churches with dozens becoming particular congregations each year.

There is no denomination that plants more Reformed, confessional, Old School, ordinary means of grace congregations than the PCA. Sure, some plants are little more than cultural-preservation-community-garden–and-bead–necklace-making-non-profit-organizations that lead me to roll my eyes. But MNA is nonetheless facilitating many healthy, ordinary church plants around the country.

One striking token of the Lord’s blessing on PCA efforts at evangelism, discipleship, and church planting is the creation of two new Presbyteries. One centered around the Knoxville region and another centered around Arkansas. Arkansas has long been difficult soil for Reformed and Presbyterian ministries. But the Lord continues to supply the golden oil so that the light of Christ may go out from His Church so sinners may be brought to newness of life to the praise and glory of God our Saviour.

Superior Speeches this Year

I was impressed by most of the GA speeches this year. With very few exceptions, most speeches avoided the usual droning on about “brokenness” and wondering “how did we get here” emotionalism. Most of the speeches addressed the question(s) at hand and presented focused, biblical, theological, and constitutional arguments.

Please note: I have deleted a paragraph related to abuse of the “point of personal privilege” from this year’s GA report. It’s probably a quixotic quest at this time. But if you ask me about it, I’ll tell you. So don’t ask.

Changes to the PCA Constitution

The Benefits of an Improving Constitution

I have heard criticism of the PCA’s BCO binder. Some of our sister communions change their operations and procedure manuals far less frequently than does the PCA. (e.g. the OPC only changes their BCO every five years). This has led to the assertion the PCA is more focused on procedure and constitutional debates than the weighty matters of the Great Commission.

I understand the criticism. But what we have seen is the PCA advances from strength to strength with its improving Constitution. The PCA is not distracted by polity debates, but the decency, good order, and the PCA’s continually improving procedures have created a culture of zeal for discipleship and evangelism, church planting and shepherding. This is exactly what we should expect since our God is a God of order and peace.

Certainly, bad ideas are proposed each year because our Constitution is amendable. Men in obnoxiously fancy socks seem to have a knack for sending up bad ideas.

This year the Assembly ratified numerous amendments and sent down several proposed changes to its procedures. The Assembly also rejected quite a few. These small changes annually reflect a denomination that is healthy, growing, and continually looking for ways to improve its biblical polity as it encounters and overcomes challenges.

Suspending an Accused

Despite the objections of elders from Central Florida Presbytery, the Assembly ratified an amendment that protects the right of an accused officer from being administratively suspended prior to trial and the opportunity to confront his accusers.

The “Abuse Industrial Complex” in the wider society has influenced a number of our colleagues in the PCA, with the consequence of some judicial commissions moving to suspend an accused person solely on the basis of the severity of an indictment and hearing a man plead not guilty. This is contrary to the general principles of the Scripture which afford an accused person the right to a trial.

The Assembly wisely preserved the right of a full presbytery or session to do so by a supermajority, which would be appropriate if a case is so well-known, scandalous, or apparent as to warrant informing the whole court rather than confining the matter to a judicial commission.

It seems the opposition to this amendment (now ratified) comes solely from pragmatic concerns regarding one particular case in one particular presbytery. But the principles reflected in the amendment are so obviously biblical, the opposition to it is troubling.

Reporting Officers

One of the hot-button issues in the PCA in the last year has been so-called “Functional Female Officers.” Recent efforts by men outside the PCA have called attention to the problem of some PCA congregations seemingly entrusting spiritual authority to unordained people. Where this is being done, it is a flagrant violation of God’s law and the PCA Constitution.

The difficulty is that many in favor of women’s ordination and/or women possessing spiritual authority typically prefer to conduct their operations in “conditions of low visibility,” and find loopholes and workarounds to the PCA Constitution.

In recent years, the PCA has strengthened her Constitution to specify that the titles of ordained office may be conferred upon only ordained men. The trouble with that is Sessions are still free to invent made-up titles (e.g. Deaconess, Shepherdess, Countess), which give the appearance of spiritual authority to unordained people.

Read More