Most Presbyterians have attended an ordination service, but many Presbyterians don’t fully understand what they are witnessing. What exactly is (not) happening when men are ordained to office in the church? What are the benefits and blessings of ordination to the church’s . . . Continue reading →
PCA
Confessionalism Is Beautiful Too
My purpose is, however, to highlight how men on the more confessional or “traditionalist” end of the PCA spectrum have done a poor job using language to communicate the beauty, loveliness, and grandeur of simple, ordinary, plain, vanilla, Old School, Reformed, Westminster, . . . Continue reading →
The Gospel Is Not National
It seems the Christian Nationalist project overburdens and spins Matthew 28: 19 & 20 much like the for-the-city transformationalist crowd does with Jeremiah 29:7: “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the . . . Continue reading →
Evening Worship In The PCA: Did It Die Of Natural Causes, Neglect, or Euthanasia?
A startling new study and article by two young churchmen in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) suggests that around 12% of churches conduct evening worship services. Pastors from the founding generation have estimated that 50–75% of PCA churches had evening worship . . . Continue reading →
Truth Demands Truth—The History Behind The History Of Tim Keller: A Review Essay (Part 2)
Hansen oddly inserts the section on the Gospel Coalition’s founding at the tail end of over forty pages on Westminster Seminary and the Presbyterian world. In fact, the author covers the founding of the organization by starting with the deep and lasting . . . Continue reading →
Truth Demands Truth—The History Behind The History Of Tim Keller: A Review Essay (Part 1)
Readers will need to keep their eyes on the moving ball when reading Collin Hansen’s winding intellectual portrait of Tim Keller, the New York City PCA pastor who conceded to R. C. Sproul half the world of doctrine in order for Keller . . . Continue reading →
In Praise of the Humble Blue Blazer
What equipment does a newly minted Ruling Elder need? I would propose the following: the Bible, the Westminster Standards, the Book of Church Order (BCO), a phone for texting members and fellow elders (there is lots of texting), an email account, and that . . . Continue reading →
Irony and the Presbyterian Church in America (Part 3): Strategic Planning And Corporate Culture Change
When the 35th GA convened at Memphis’ Cook Convention Center June 12–14, 2007, the PCA was changing from the inside out. Its expanded Overtures Committee met for the first time, and the CMC (Cooperative Ministries Committee) was begun. CofCs (Committee of Commissioners) . . . Continue reading →
Ruling Elder Renaissance
The recently-concluded 50th Presbyterian Church in America General Assembly in Memphis, TN was the second-largest ever with (unofficially) 2250 elders in attendance; only the previous year’s assembly was larger with 2385 in attendance. More significantly, this year’s meeting solidified a trend of . . . Continue reading →
Irony and the Presbyterian Church in America (Part 2): The Urban Turn
The 14th GA met in the elegant Academy of Music (a performing arts center) in the city center of Philadelphia, June 23–27, 1986. In addition to sweltering summer temperatures, a sanitation strike threatened conveniences. Nevertheless, the Assembly met in city center Philadelphia, . . . Continue reading →
Irony and the Presbyterian Church in America (Part 1): The First General Assembly
Every re-telling may choose its focus, phrasing, and pace. Think of the following as a tour guide through a relatively short sliver of ecclesiastical history. Many of the same events, persons, emphases would come across differently depending on the tour guide who . . . Continue reading →
PCA Officers And Their Pronouns
Dozens of congregations of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) communicate to the church and to the world that ordination is not essential to the holding of church office or to bearing the titles thereof. The two-office polity of the PCA is . . . Continue reading →
How Christians Should Oppose The Radical Sexual Agenda
At her most recent General Assembly (GA), the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) voted to create a commission to write a “humble petition” (WCF 31.4) to the fifty state governments and the United States government regarding the transgender issue. No one knows . . . Continue reading →
On Comity And Mission
Comity between churches is a topic that few in NAPARC dare raise. Darryl Hart, however, wrote this piece doing just that. Many are reluctant to talk about the comity agreement because it is not always observed—likely few church planters or pastors even . . . Continue reading →
Matthew Adams: Overture 17 Is One The PCA Should Support
However, I believe that these three overtures are of utmost importance concerning the orthodoxy of our Church. Overtures 9, 16, and 17 seek to make a clear statement, and at the same time, sets up needed guardrails for Teaching Elders and Ruling . . . Continue reading →
Patience Needed In The PCA
There are grave theological and practical deviations from our Standards disturbing the purity and peace of this faith communion. For quite some time, the PCA has been troubled by those who not merely disagree with our Church constitution (the Book of Church Order and . . . Continue reading →
Is the PCA Doomed?
While our Constitution does not require the candidate’s affirmation of every statement and/or proposition of doctrine in our Confession of Faith and Catechisms, it is the right and responsibility of the Presbytery to determine if the candidate is out of accord with . . . Continue reading →
PCA Worship Is Better But It Has Some Distance Yet To Go
The state of worship in the Presbyterian Church in America is arguably better than it has ever been, at least as far as liturgy goes. More churches now use recognizably Reformed liturgies than at any point in the denomination’s history. These are . . . Continue reading →
Saints Their Watch Are Keeping: Or, Why I Am Encouraged About the PCA going into 2023
I have been asked to offer my thoughts as to why I, as a self-described “confessionalist” at the more conservative end of the spectrum of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), am encouraged by the state of the PCA. And, indeed, I . . . Continue reading →
“Do You Know Of A Good P&R Church Nearby?”
It happens often—a friend or listener sends a message with the question: “Do you know of a good confessional Presbyterian or Reformed church near X?” All too often, after searching online, consulting denominational websites, even asking other friends, the answer is no. . . . Continue reading →