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PCA's 33rd General Assembly, 2005
by Pastor Bob Burridge ©2005
This banner links to the 33rd General Assembly's audio/video archive.
By clicking on it you will be taken to the web site that enables you
to view or hear the various worship times, reports and business sessions.
During the scheduled sessions of the Assembly, our chat room
Calvin's Corner was open for discussion. Chat's are regularly held every
Sunday evening from 10:00pm to 11:00pm Eastern Time.
a little humor from the 32nd GA:
Suffering from PresbyTopia?
Tuesday: June 14, 2005
The Presbyterian Church in America Convenes
As the week started, delegates arrived and registered at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
On Monday and Tuesday the Committees of Commissioners met to consider the business that will
come to the attention of the Assembly. During the day various seminars, prayer times, activities
for the women and children and briefings took place.
The Assembly Work Begins With Worship
After a musical prelude, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America
began its work with a season of worship. The Sermon was presented by outgoing moderator
J. Ligon Duncan III. The Lord's Supper is always a part of this opening session of the
church court.
Opening Business Session
At the time of the call to order of business, the Stated Clerk reported that there were
496 Ruling Elder delegates, and 976 Teaching Elder delegates present. A quorum was declared and the
docket was adopted with some minor changes.
One of the first orders of business is always to elect the person who will serve as Moderator
of the Assembly for the year. For 2005, Ruling Elder Howard "Q" Davis was elected.
Mr. Davis serves as a Ruling Elder at the First Presbyterian Church of Indianola, Mississippi.
He started his work with overseeing the election of various clerks and the appointment of those
who will assist and advise the Moderator and Clerks during the sessions for the week ahead.
Wednesday: June 15, 2005
Morning Session
The report of the Stated Clerk was received reflecting an increase in over-all membership
but a decrease in the number of churches. Some smaller struggling congregations were dissolved
by presbyteries. Our annual growth rate is between 2.5 and 3 percent
The two BCO changes that had been send down and approved by the presbyteries were both adopted. Various personal resolutions were received and sent to the Bills and Overtures Committe for
evaluation. It was noted in one of the resolutions that 2006 will be the tri-centennial of
Presbyterianism in the United States and urged activities in the year ahead that would celebrate
our 300 year tradition.
The Inner Church Relations committee report included greetings from delegates from other reformed
denominations with whom we have varying degrees of fellowship. In particular we welcomed the United
Reformed Churches of North America which is the conservative group that has withdrawn from the
Christian Reformed Church and is now associated with our NAPARC denominations and is expecting
reception by each.
The Strategic Planning Committee proposed several major organizational changes most of which it
desires to pass on for consideration by the Presbyteries before being introduced for a vote at
the General Assembly level. The changes involve extensive revisions of the Rule for Assembly Operations and the Book of Church Order readjusting the role played by the Committees of
Commissioners through which currently all business comes to the Assembly from the Permanent
Committees. This is a major restructuring which will certainly stir a lot of discussion in the year ahead.
Afternoon Session
From 1:30 to 5:30 reports were received from various church agencies and committees.
They summarized their past work and presented plans for the year ahead.
During the report of the Committee on Constitutional Business they expressed their finding that
Overture 1 was constitutionally out of order since it provided an addition to the Westminster
Confession. This standard may only be modified by the process stated. Overture 7 modifying the
duties of Assistant Pastors was found to be in conflict with other sections of the BCO. They also
found Overture 9 to be redundant in that it requires what is already expected of Pastors in their
ordination vows of perserving the purity, peace and unity of the church. They felt that the
language of the overture could compromise the conscience of the Pastor if it is required that
upon every mention of his exceptions he must at that time also present a fair presentation of the
view against which he has taken exception.
Evening Worship
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson delivered the sermon in the time of worship in the evening session.
His text was Romans 8:28-39 with a special emphesis upon verse 32.
There was no business scheduled for Wedsday night. The work of the Assembly is scheduled to begin
at 10:00am on Thursday.
Thursday: June 16, 2005
Morning Session
The day begin with the reports of several of the Committees of Commissioners reporting
on their review of Permanent Committees and Church Agencies. Their reports were
received as submitted to the assembly. The budgets submitted from our various committees
and agencies were approved.
There was some extensive debate concerning two proposed changes to the BCO by the
Strategic Planning Committee to broaden the reach of the Standing Judicial Commission
in preparation for RAO changes anticipated for next year. An amended version of the changes
to 15-4 was sent to the Constitutional Business Committee for review due to a passed amendment
excepting the actual annual review of presbytery records from the broadened jurisdiction of the
SJC. The proposed change to 40-5 was passed and will be sent to the Presbyteries for their consent.
A proposed increase in the registration fee for General Assembly to $400 was held up due to
a consideration of a 50% discount to Teaching Elders from churches with reported receipts
of les than $100,000 for the previous year (Ruling Elders are already discounted at that rate).
The debate on this matter was scheduled to resume after the lunch break.
Afternoon Session
The afternoon session continued the issue of increasing the General Assembly fee
to $400 per commissioner. The motion was modified to allow the 50% discount to both
teaching and ruling elders from churches with receipts of less than $100,000. The
amended motion was carried.
The Nominating committee reported and new members were elected to the various
committees of the PCA.
After extensive discussion it was decided to send the work of the Strategic Planning Committee
to the presbyteries for discussion and advice during the year ahead. The matter will be
taken up next year at General Assembly. Concern was expressed over the characterization of our
needs as well as the scope of some of the proposed changes. Both sides will have this full
year to dialogue and respond to the suggestions of the committee.
The amended proposed change in BCO 15-4 was found to be in order. It was passed and will be sent
to the presbyteries for consent before it returns to the GA next year for approval.
The business of the Bills and Overtures Committee considered the various overtures and
personal resolutions which had been sent to them. To summarize they have been listed here
in order of number rather than in the order in which they were considered.
The following overtures were to change or establish presbytery boundaries:
2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 15. They were all passed.
The remaining overtures and personal resolutions either passed or failed as described in
the table following:
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overture |
disposition |
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1
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Request to annotate a definition to "Papist" in WCF XXIV.3
Failed: there is no process for annotating the confession.
The amendment process must be followed therefore this is out of order.
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3
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Change annual intern reports: Failed
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7
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Modify the call and duties of Assistant Pastors
Failed: Changes were in conflict with other portions of the BCO.
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9
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To require Teaching Elders with exceptions to our standards to teach both sides.
Failed: The wording was too broad and may misrepresent BCO 21-4.
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10
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Require examinations in Bible for new Ruling Elders and Deacons: Passed
Since this is a BCO change it must be approved by the presbyteries and
by the next General Assembly.
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11
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Establish a fund to assist parents financially in adoptions: Failed
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12
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Declaration concerning the death of Terri Schiavo.
Answered by reference to overture 13.
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13
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Passed: Establishes an ad interim committee to update our previous studies on the
value of human life and heroic measures. The committee was given a wider scope
than requested. It would include the issues of suicide, the sanctity of life,
euthenasia and research in stem-cells and human cloning.
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14
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Requested distribution of a lengthy report (about 41 pages) from Mississippi Valley
Presbytery studying the issue of "The New Perspective on Paul, etc." The committee
denied the request "without prejudice as to its content" on procedural grounds.
However it was noted that the paper had already been distributed in the commissioner's
handbook, on the PCA's General Assembly web site, and will be part of the minutes
due to registered negative votes by at least one delegate. The importance of studying
this issue was also noted.
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resolution
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disposition
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PR1
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Asked the General Assembly to encourage parents to withdraw their children from the
secular and humanistic public schools and to commend Christian teachers in the public
schools for faithful missionary work. The Personal Resolution failed on the grounds that
it is the duty of parents with the advice of their own Pastors and Elders to decide upon
how their children should best be educated in each circumstance.
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PR2
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To encourage our churches to commemorate 2006 as the tricentennial of presbyterianism in
the United States. The first presbytery met in Philadelphia 300 years ago in 1706.
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Evening Worship
After the musical Prelude the final worship time of the assembly was held with
the sermon based upon ideas from Acts 20:24-31.
Evening Session
A final business session was scheduled by a change in the docket to complete all
the remaining work after the evening worship service.
The Committee of Commissioners for the Review of Presbytery Records reported on their
findings in the examination of the records submitted to them.
All the recommendations of the committee were sustained by the General Assembly.
The committee on thanks delivered its recommendation commending all who worked to
organize and execute the elements of this year's assembly .
The Assembly was adjourned to reconvene in Atlanta, Georgia on June 20th, 2006.
The Friday session did not meet since all business was completed
on Thursday evening.
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