The 53rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) met this year in Louisville, KY. Hosted by the Ohio Valley Presbytery, a record number of commissioners (around 2,500, of which approximately 34% were ruling elders, a remarkably higher proportion than has been seen in recent years) descended upon the Derby City from June 22–26.

The PCA gathers annually for its General Assembly (GA), a time when teaching elders (ministers) and ruling elders from across the denomination come together to deliberate, worship, provide updates on the broader work of the church, and seek the collective wisdom of the brethren with regard to the church’s work and witness. The theme for this year’s Assembly was “The Welcome of God,” derived from the language of Romans 15:7—”Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

Preliminary Matters

On Monday, the 22nd, the Overtures Committee began its work with a view to debating, revising, perfecting, and recommending (either positively or negatively) how the Assembly should respond to a record 91 overtures (90 from this year, one that was submitted by the 52nd GA) that were sent up to the Assembly this year.¹ The committee had its work cut out for it, but, thankfully, was able to work through all the various overtures over two business days (Monday and Tuesday).

For those not familiar with PCA parlance, simply put, an overture is a formal proposal or request submitted by a Presbytery, Session, or individual elder to the General Assembly for consideration, often seeking to amend the Book of Church Order (BCO), address doctrinal or cultural issues, or establish study committees. It reflects the denomination’s connectional polity, allowing lower courts to initiate action for the broader church’s deliberation.

Various Committees of Commissioners (CoCs) began their work on Monday afternoon (Administrative Committee, Covenant Theological Seminary, Geneva Benefits [formerly RBI or Retirement and Benefits], and Reformed University Fellowship [the official collegiate ministry of the PCA]) with the remainder of the CoCs beginning their work on Tuesday morning (Committee on Discipleship Ministries, Covenant College, Mission to North America, Mission to the World, PCA Foundation, Ridge Haven Camp and Conference Center, Interchurch Relations Committee, Committee on Constitutional Business) prior to the formal opening of the Assembly with the Tuesday evening worship service.

Outgoing moderator, the Rev. Dr. Kevin DeYoung, preached the opening worship service, after which the election of the moderator for the 2026 Assembly took place.

The 2026 Moderator

The PCA has a tradition of alternating every other year between ruling elders (REs) and teaching elders (TEs) for the GA Moderator. 2026 was a ruling elder year, and two eminently qualified men (both of whom this author has the privilege of knowing) were nominated: Melton Duncan of Calvary Presbytery and Second Presbyterian Church of Greenville, SC, and Frederick “Jay” Neikirk of Ascension Presbytery and Hillcrest Presbyterian Church of Volant, PA. In terms of parliamentary savvy, godliness, judiciousness, and churchmanship, the Assembly could not lose regardless of which man was elected. In the end, Ruling Elder Duncan was elected to serve as this year’s moderator and did so tremendously, with fairness, patience, grace, and a good dose of consummate Southern gentlemanly humor along the way.

New Stated Clerk

Following a thorough and prayerful search process, the Administrative Committee unanimously recommended TE Fred Greco as the next Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church in America. The nomination was first announced in January. RE John Bise of Cornerstone PCA in Huntsville, AL, served the denomination incredibly well as Provisional Stated Clerk during this interim period. On the opening night of this year’s Assembly in Louisville, TE Greco was elected without opposition as the new Stated Clerk.

A former lawyer turned pastor (who also served as a ruling elder prior to his present calling as a teaching elder), Greco is widely recognized as a gifted administrator and a trusted expert in Presbyterian church polity. For the past twenty years, he has faithfully pastored Christ Church PCA in Katy, TX.

Committees and Agencies

As is customary, few items from the major ministry committees and agencies—Mission to the World (MTW), Mission to North America (MNA), Covenant College, Covenant Theological Seminary, Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), and Committee on Discipleship Ministries—required action by the Assembly. These vital arms of the denomination largely conduct their work under the oversight of their respective Permanent Committees.

The denomination has seen modest growth in the number of PCA congregations. This year, the total stands at 1,673 churches, reflecting a net increase of just six congregations from the previous year’s total of 1,667. In its report to the Assembly, MNA reiterated its intention to trim certain initiatives and refocus more intently on its core mission of church planting and evangelism.

RE Steve Dowling will continue serving as Interim Coordinator for MNA for another year, while a search for his permanent replacement has recently begun. In its report, MNA also outlined new accounting protocols implemented to address and resolve a complex financial matter the agency recently uncovered.

Ad Interim Committees

Two significant ad interim committees appointed by the previous Assembly presented updates this year. The first was charged with examining whether and how the Directory for Public Worship should be revised so as to become fully constitutional and authoritative.² The second was tasked with studying the topic of Christian nationalism and offering guidance for how churches and individual Christians should engage the public square, drawing faithfully from Scripture and the Reformed tradition.³ Both committees released partial reports in May that gave a clear sense of their direction. However, shortly before the Assembly convened, each requested an additional year to refine their recommendations in light of feedback received. There appeared to be broad support for the substance of both reports, though minor adjustments are likely—particularly to the Christian nationalism report. Commissioners expressed hope that any final recommendations would avoid requiring exceptions to the Standards for historic Reformed views on the subject, lest such a stance overshadow the committee’s otherwise helpful work.

The Directory for Public Worship committee will likewise face further refinement, and any resulting constitutional changes will require approval by two-thirds of the presbyteries—a steep hill to climb. At the recommendation of the Administrative Committee, the Assembly overwhelmingly voted to renew funding for both committees for another year.

This year’s Assembly also asked a group (to be named soon by the moderator) to study the issue of Artificial Intelligence and its pastoral and ethical implications.

Distinct Messages and Two Distinct Speeches

In one of the more technical but essential tasks of the General Assembly, the Committee on the Review of Presbytery Records (RPR) presented its report on Wednesday morning. The discussion on the floor was notably shorter and less contentious than in recent years. Chairman TE Steve Tipton ably defended the committee’s recommendations, and only one small item was reversed. The RPR cited several presbyteries for major irregularities. No requests under RAO (Rules of Assembly Operation) 40-5 were granted, suggesting that the committee has helped curb the recent abundant use of that mechanism. RAO 40-5 grants a higher church court (such as a Presbytery or the General Assembly) the authority to issue a citation to a lower court (like a Session or Presbytery). It is initiated when a “credible report” is received regarding “important delinquency” or “grossly unconstitutional proceedings” in the lower court.

Many presbytery responses were approved without debate via an omnibus motion. Notably, one minority report addressed whether Pacific Presbytery had properly granted an exception of substance for the use of artistic images of Christ. After debate, the Assembly declined to sustain the minority report by a vote of 820–1012, thereby approving the RPR’s recommendation on the matter. In other words, the Assembly judged that it appears that Pacific Presbytery had approved a man’s views regarding images of Christ in a way that is not permissible per the Westminster Standards. To put it more bluntly, if not a tad inelegantly, the Assembly reaffirmed that the second commandment matters a great deal and that the Pacific Presbytery needs to provide an explanation for its actions in this regard.

In several other cases, the Assembly upheld the RPR’s judgment that paedocommunion constitutes an exception of substance. This is an encouraging trend, especially given the conversation on the floor of the General Assembly surrounding this aberrant view in previous decades.

In this author’s judgment, there were two especially impressive and significant speeches this year, and one of them concerned the RPR debate with respect to the second commandment/images of Christ and whether a presbytery should grant a man an exception when he expresses views on the second commandment that are strongly divergent from the Westminster Standards. That speech, given by RE Terry Carnes of Eastern Pennsylvania Presbytery, can be found here.

The other speech, given by TE Jackson Lin, was in support of Overture 66 from the Philadelphia Presbytery, requesting that the Assembly “Issue a Declaration of Thanksgiving on the Occasion of the 250th Anniversary of the Nation’s Founding.” Such an overture strikes this author as entirely in keeping with the custom of our Puritan forebears to issue proclamations of thanksgiving to God on occasions when his kind providence toward his people was especially pointed. Despite the many flaws and sins of this American nation, God has been merciful to this country and to the church of Jesus Christ located within America for 250 years. TE Lin’s witty and sincere speech makes much the same point, given with gratitude from the perspective of an immigrant, in a manner that elicited both laughter and tears from this writer. Give it a listen here.

Overtures

The Overtures Committee elected TEs Dr. Guy Waters of Reformed Theological Seminary and Dr. Jonathan Master of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary as Chairman and Vice-Chairman, respectively. The committee was served in a remarkable fashion by its chairman, as considering over 90 overtures submitted to one annual assembly is a nearly insurmountable task!

In its early actions, the committee approved overtures giving thanks for America’s 250th anniversary (91-30-5 on 66) and affirming 50, a call for prayer for revival and renewal in the church (130-1). Both were later adopted by the full Assembly.

Other overtures seeking greater precision on various matters were folded into an omnibus motion. Overture 72 from Ascension Presbytery, requiring minutes of Sessions and diaconates to be recorded, passed by a roughly 2-1 margin. A closely contested proposal to declare the Danvers Statement a biblically faithful declaration passed the committee 66-64-3 and was later approved by the Assembly by a stronger margin.

On technical polity matters, most proposals for fine-tuning the Book of Church Order met with little enthusiasm. An attempt to clarify BCO 40-5 failed 101-28. Several overtures were referred back to their presbyteries of origin. Of the 56 overtures proposing amendments to the BCO, only eight advanced to the presbyteries for approval, signaling the Assembly’s reluctance to pursue extensive constitutional changes.

One significant amendment passed: the threshold for extra-presbyterial requests for the General Assembly to assume original jurisdiction in judicial cases was raised from two presbyteries to eighteen (20% of presbyteries). Most other BCO-related proposals were answered in the negative or referred back, including the following:

• Proposals to restrict floor nominations to those already approved by their presbytery.
• Various tweaks to Review of Presbytery Records procedures.
• Major alterations to processes for appeals and complaints.
• Changes to the method of electing Coordinators.
• Efforts to increase Ruling Elder participation.
• A requirement that permanent committees’ operating manuals be reviewed and approved by the Assembly.
• A proposal to loosen the requirements for an Associate Pastor to succeed a Senior Pastor.

The Assembly did approve electronic meetings and the use of wine in the Lord’s Supper at General Assembly (though the latter was amended to require that wine be offered alongside grape juice or non-alcoholic alternatives). Late in the process (and due to the impending Tuesday night deadline), the committee referred more than twenty overtures (most involving BCO amendments) back to their originating presbyteries by a roughly 4-1 margin. The clear message was that the PCA was not inclined toward major constitutional revision or exhaustive deliberation on the diaconate.

Overture 43, proposing four-year terms for Coordinators, passed the committee 73-53-5. Chairman Waters presented the majority report, while Vice-Chairman Master presented the minority. After debate, the proposal failed to secure a majority on the floor, let alone the two-thirds of total enrollment required to amend the Rules of Assembly Operations.

The Administrative Committee proposed a significant increase in registration fees, with a larger percentage hike for Ruling Elders. The motion initially failed, but after a successful motion to reconsider at the request of Provisional Clerk Bise, the Assembly approved the increase.

Finally, proposals for new study committees saw mixed results. A study of Critical Race Theory was defeated, while a study on Artificial Intelligence passed by more than the required two-thirds majority.

Danvers Statement

The Assembly declared the Danvers Statement (1987) to be biblically faithful and commended it to the churches for study, as well as for distribution through the PCA Bookstore. The Danvers Statement offers a clear and concise affirmation of the historic, biblical teaching on the complementary roles of men and women in the home and in the church. It sets forth the calling of men to leadership and “humble headship,” and the calling of women to “joyful submission,” all within the framework of God’s good design. By a strong majority, the commissioners commended the Danvers Statement as faithful to Scripture, providing a helpful resource for the denomination’s ongoing commitment to biblical manhood and womanhood.

Women Deacons

Despite an ardent, thorough, and positive speech by the author of Overture 37, the Assembly overwhelmingly declined to amend the Constitution to permit the ordination of women to the office of deacon. A dissent has been filed, and the moderator has appointed a commission to respond to the dissent.

Astute readers will note that the Overtures Committee opted to answer all overtures related to the issue of female quasi-officers, deaconesses, etc., with reference to Overture 37. One of the more contentious issues in the PCA over the past year has been the matter of so-called “functional female officers.” In some congregations, unordained individuals appear to have been entrusted with spiritual authority that belongs properly to ordained officers. Where this occurs, it represents a clear violation of Scripture and the PCA Constitution. In recent years, the PCA has strengthened its Constitution to reserve the titles of ordained office for qualified men.

The Assembly declined to take direct legislative action against such innovations, recognizing that it is difficult to legislate against every creative circumvention. This reality will likely disappoint some observers, since the Assembly resoundingly rebuffed the proposal of ordained women deacons, but only indirectly addressed the other related issues by answering those overtures with reference to their answer to Overture 37. It may be that future overtures will need to be submitted with these concerns in mind (perhaps in years where the Assembly is not inundated with 90+ submissions!), or that sessions and presbyteries will need to be more thorough in their scrutiny and oversight on these matters.

Instead, the Assembly approved an amendment from Ascension Presbytery that, if ratified by the presbyteries, will require congregations to list the members of their Session and Diaconate in their minutes. This measure will bring greater transparency, enabling presbyteries to identify which congregations have not ordained a diaconate and to know clearly who serves as officers in the church.

The view of the Overtures Committee is that our Constitution already provides ample mechanisms to address such issues. BCO 31-2 and BCO 40-5 remain available for the correction of sessions or officers who practice in violation of the Constitution. As a friend and fellow pastor noted, this Assembly reaffirmed that the use of the title “deaconess” by sessions constitutes an apparent violation of the Constitution, demonstrating the proper function of BCO 40-1 and 40-2.⁴

Conclusion

This year’s Assembly seemed rather more relaxed than other, more tension-fraught years of late. Good, substantive, gentlemanly, informed, and godly arguments were expressed from opposing sides. On the majority of matters, the will of the body was clear and evident. Despite the moments of frustration from poorly performing voting-device technology (aptly dubbed “Clickergate”), the Assembly conducted its business with efficiency, productivity, moments of appropriate levity, and in biblical and confessional fidelity—in no small part due to the facilitation of men like Moderator Duncan and OC Chairman Waters. It is remarkably encouraging to this author how the votes of the Assembly went with regard to previously disputed issues (as highlighted above), and how the majority of the time at this year’s Assembly was spent preoccupied with the noble subjects of the sacraments, discipleship, evangelism, and the peace and purity of Christ’s church.

This writer’s estimation of the 2026 Assembly is much like that of the 2025 Assembly: It seems apparent that the Lord is working slowly and steadily to strengthen this body in grace and holiness. We saw a denomination in Louisville striving to remain “Faithful to the Scriptures, True to the Reformed Faith, and Obedient to the Great Commission,” as the PCA’s founding vision declares, and for that, we have much reason to praise our covenant Lord.

Notes

1. Presbyterian Church in America, “Overtures.”
2. The Directory for Public Worship Ad Interim Committee’s partial report can be found here.
3. The Christian Nationalism Ad Interim Committee’s partial report can be found here.
4. Ryan F. Biese, Mid the Pines. 

©Sean Morris. All Rights Reserved.

Post authored by:

• Sean Morris

  

  Sean was educated at Grove City College, Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson, MS), Edinburgh Theological Seminary, and the University of Glasgow (Scotland). He earned his PhD from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He is an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, and serves as a minister at the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, TN. He also serves as the Academic Dean of the Blue Ridge Institute for Theological Education and has published numerous theological and devotional articles. Sean lives in Oak Ridge with his wife, Sarah, and their children.

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