RP Synod 2003

RP Synod 2003: Tuesday, July 1

A DAY FOR CLOSURE

A lot of significant work came to completion today. Some reports that have been before the Synod for days or years saw resolution during the Tuesday sessions of the 172nd RPCNA Synod at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pa.

A devotion on devotion, penetrating words on prayer-that is how Pastor Matthew Kingswood (Russell, Ont.) described Psalm 66, one of the "Psalms of Our Lives" that the Synod selected for its devotions this week. Pastor Kingswood challenged delegates at a personal level with the weightiness of the warning not to "regard sin in our hearts" (vv. 16-20), as God will not hear us. Yet he also brought out the actual mercies of God even in this, as it actually is a warning for our blessing.

After nine years of work, a new Book of Discipline has been completed and has been approved by the denomination. This constitutional book was approved at the 2002 Synod but had to be approved by sessions. The session votes were announced today. The Committee to Revise the Book of Discipline was then dismissed after 9 years of work. Committee members included Bob McFarland, Dick Weir, Dennis Olsen, Bob Hemphill, Bob Tweed, and Phil Pockras.

Work continued, and was completed, today on the report of the Study Committee on the Doctrine of Worship. Some areas of delegates' minor concern were noted, such as the purpose and particulars of two orders of service at the end of the document. There was related discussion about what level of uniformity in worship was being sought by the committee. Eventually the word "uniformity" in the report was changed to "unity." Another change was to include specific references to Christ in several places where they had been implied before.

This major position paper on worship, then, was adopted by the Synod, and the committee was thanked with a round of applause. The position paper is to be available soon on the RPCNA web site.

Earlier in the week, the fate of three communications to Synod was placed in the hands of one "committee of the day," the Judicial Committee. Today that committee rendered its judgments and made its recommendations to Synod.

Communication 03-2 had asked for slight changes in the Directory for Church Government to reduce the possibility of an error in procedure regarding the announcement of congregational meetings. The judicial committee ruled that these changes were unnecessary and overly restrictive of session/congregation liberty. The judicial committee's recommendation passed without discussion.

Communication 03-3 asked the Synod to delete a sentence in the Directory for Church Government. The Judicial Committee said we ought to "guard against any hint that church courts are secret societies." (See the section on Communications in Saturday's report.)

"The meetings of the courts of the church are public meetings," said the Judicial Committee. "Sessions may politely request observers to dismiss themselves when the session is discussing delicate counseling matters."

Some delegates disagreed with committee assertion that session meetings are public. The nature of session's purpose involves people and sensitive matters and they should not routinely be open to third parties while those discussions are taking place, the delegates said. Many other Reformed/Presbyterian denominations don't have this kind of openness in their meetings.

In the end, however, it was the Judicial Committee's recommendation that overwhelmingly passed.

Communication 03-4 expressed a need for Synod to reaffirm query 4 and to protect the query in an ongoing way by having presbyteries check with all officers of the church to ascertain any current doctrinal diversion from that query. The Judicial Committee disagreed with three of the four recommendations of this communication, and Synod upheld the committee's judgment.

The committee's position was that the concerns of the communication regarding protection and enforcement of the query were already provided for in our government and in relationships within a presbytery. Some members of the originating presbytery, however, expressed that the current safeguards have not been enough to avoid a number of problematic situations.

The committee did see some merit in the concerns of the communication, and dealt with those by making the following recommendation, which was overwhelmingly passed by the Synod:

"That Synod remind all officers of the church that if they find themselves out of accord with the Confessional Standards of the church, their beliefs and commitments have changed, it is their duty to declare their scruples and differences with the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, or the Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church to their presbytery if a teaching elder, or to their session if a ruling elder or deacon."

The Committee on Congregational Officers, whose report was sent back earlier in the Synod, asked that two members be added to their committee to bring the committee to five. Synod did so.

The evening focused on relationships with other denominations. Two fraternal delegates addressed the court-Irfon Hughes of the Presbyterian Church in America, and Rob Broline of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Pastor Hughes reported that the PCA had just approved two overtures recommending pursuit of union with other NAPARC churches, including the RPCNA.

Two pastors from the United Reformed Churches are present at this Synod. In remarks to the Synod, one of the pastors said that the URC intends to establish closer ties with the RPCNA. A letter of greeting was read from the Reformed Church of Quebec, a denomination that is currently seeking membership in NAPARC.

For the final report of the evening, Youth Ministries Committee chairman Andy McCracken reported his great encouragement in working with the youth of the denomination and in seeing their growing interest in service to the RPCNA. "I'm available; what will the church have me to do?" is the attitude of an increasing number of RP youth, he said. Often, however, these youth have not been given enough encouragement or direction in answer to their question. McCracken, recounting a time in history when the opportunities were more plentiful, encouraged the denomination to provide places where youth and young adults-men and women--can enter into the mission and ministry of the denomination.

With a day and a half of Synod still scheduled on the docket, but few reports left to be delivered, the estimation of the clerk of Synod at the beginning of Synod might prove true-that this year's relatively light docket could mean that Synod will end by tomorrow night. Major reports due tomorrow include those on education and finance.

--Drew and Lynne Gordon, editors
Reformed Presbyterian Witness