Outcomes of this Assembly could perhaps settle some matters, sparing continued advocacy for the near term. Then, again, the PCA may have over one hundred overtures next time around if the enthusiasm for procedural improvement continues.

Between the assemblies, attention had been given to the nomination of the next Stated Clerk and the attempts to rein in and improve MNA. Also, between the annual meetings, John Bise served well as the provisional stated clerk, and Houston-area TE Fred Greco was nominated by the AC to become the next stated clerk. He was elected without opposition on the opening night of this third Louisville Assembly.

The 53^rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America gathered in June with the highest RE registration (almost 34%) in a generation, having nearly 2,500 commissioners registered. When it came time for the election of the Moderator for only the second time in PCA history a second brother from the same family was elected as RE Mel Duncan was elected.^[1] Moderator Duncan served well, was patient and gracious, and rarely in need of correction. He guided the Assembly well, earning gratitude from all quarters.

As customary, few items were brought before the Assembly for action by MTW, MNA, Covenant College, Covenant Seminary, RUF, and Discipleship Ministries. Those ministry units ran largely on their own under the oversight of a Permanent committee. The MNA goal of having 3000 churches by 2030 would soon be forgotten and retired. Since the goal had been announced, the number of PCA churches over the past year had grown a little (up to 1673 this year as stated on the floor from last year’s total of 1667 to net an increase of +6 churches). MNA reiterated its desire to trim some of its sails and focus more on its core mission of church planting.

Two large study committees (styled ad interim committees) had been appointed the previous year. One was charged to report back on whether/how the Directory for Worship should be revised in order to become fully constitutional; the other was to study Christian Nationalism and make recommendations for how churches and individuals should interact with politics, informed by Scripture and the Reformed tradition. Both released partial reports in May, indicating much of their perspective. However, shortly before the Assembly, each requested an additional year in order to refine their recommendations in light of input. Much support was apparent for the substance of each. There were likely minor adjustments that would be made to the Christian Nationalist study without altering the substance. If the final report suggested one and only one interpretation of the key paragraphs (requiring exceptions to be taken for other historic views), that controversy might obscure much of the fine work. Moreover, there would likely be more adjustments to the Directory for Worship final report. Whatever changes were made to that document, a steep hill awaited in order to gain approval from 60 presbyteries. At the recommendation of the AC, the Assembly overwhelmingly renewed funding for both committees.

As one of the more technical aspects of GA, the Review of Presbytery Records (RPR) Committee presented its report on Wednesday morning with less discussion on the floor than in recent years. Chairman Steve Tipton ably defended the committee’s recommendations, and one small item was reversed. The RPR committee also recommended the citation of several presbyteries for major irregularities—Rio Grande and Korean Southwest among them. There were no 40-5 requests granted, RPR seeming to tame the recent spate of that abused vehicle.

Many presbytery’s responses were approved without debate in an RPR omnibus. One minority report (on Nashville Pby dismissing a minister to the Episcopal church) came from a committee member and upheld the lower court’s action as satisfactory, reversing the RPR motion. A second minority report concerned whether an exception of substance (from Pacific Pby) for using artistic images of Christ was properly granted. After debate, the Assembly voted not to uphold the minority report by an 820-1012 vote. Accordingly, the RPR recommendation on the matter of images as an exception to substance was approved by the Assembly. In several other instances, the Assembly upheld RPR’s recommendations to treat paedocommunion as an exception of substance.

The Nominating Committee had recently become a contested area as various subsets of the denomination vied for control. In this year’s nominations, there were 14 floor nomination votes. The largest vote totals (ca 1600-1850) since the election of the moderator occurred for these. Of those 14 floor votes on nominations, only one (Zach Byrd) was elected, with most of the floor nominations having arisen from the more conservative wing. Below are those tallied votes.

GANC Nominees/Floor Nominee

1. AC Mike Hearon 944-854 Ben Ratliff
2. CCB Alex Ford 1054-690 Joshua Walker
3. CCB Trevor Laurence 868-769 Bryce Sullivan
4. CC Michael Livingston 886-664 Tim Pattison
5. CDM Thomas Harr 868-682 Nicholas Bullock
6. ICR Michael Chgangur 885-642 Mark Blalack
7. MNA Mike Kelly 943-911 Rob Pacienza: counted vote, after electronic
8. MNA Ben Joliffe 899-949 Zach Byrd: counted vote, after electronic
9. MNA Geoff Bradford 1052-679 Michael Colvard
10. MNA Donald Barefoot 960-677 Eric Manthei
11. MNA Dan Case 856-733 Michael Brown
12. MTW Andrew Lewis 890-746 Sean McCann
13. SJC Sean Lucas 951-787 Matthew Bradley
14. SJC Brent Horan 867-787 Art Sartorius

The major attention for the remainder of this Assembly would turn to the various proposed overtures.

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