June 30, 2024: Sunday School

Order of Service

• Prayer
• Sunday School Lesson — General Assembly Report (PCA)
• Closing Prayer

---

Sermon Title: A Report on the Work of the General Assembly

Scripture: 1 Timothy 5:17

I. Why Talk About General Assembly?

A. Members of a Presbyterian church benefit from understanding denominational life and governance

B. The PCA has navigated several years of contention, particularly around human sexuality and officer qualifications, and it is important to report on the fruit of that work

II. How General Assembly Works

A. Presbyterian polity rests on two ordained offices: Elders and Deacons

1. Within the office of Elder, two orders are recognized: teaching elders (ministers) and ruling elders
2. A plurality of elders means no single elder holds greater authority than another — see 1 Timothy 5:17
3. Teaching elders are especially called to preach, teach, and administer the sacraments; ruling elders share in governance and care of the congregation

B. The PCA recognizes three courts of the church

1. The Session — the local church court; meets monthly, prays for members by name, oversees the local congregation
2. The Presbytery — a regional court over a body of churches in a geographical area; Mississippi Valley Presbytery spans central Mississippi into Louisiana; teaching elders are members of presbytery, and churches send ruling elder representatives
3. General Assembly — the highest court; comprises all teaching elders and ruling elder representatives from every church in the denomination; meets annually

C. The PCA understands itself as a grassroots, bottom-up denomination, not top-down

1. No small group at the General Assembly level can unilaterally direct the whole denomination
2. Presbyteries serve as a check and balance on General Assembly decisions

D. The primary work of General Assembly each year includes three things

1. Worship and prayer — the assembly is saturated in corporate worship and prayer throughout
2. Receiving and reviewing committee reports from permanent committees such as Mission to North America, Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), and others
3. Review and control — all session minutes are reviewed by presbyteries; all presbytery minutes are reviewed by General Assembly to ensure conformity to Scripture and the Book of Church Order (BCO)
4. Overtures — requests from presbyteries for changes to the BCO; must pass two General Assemblies and a two-thirds majority of all presbyteries to be enacted

III. What Happened at the 2024 General Assembly

A. Metro New York Presbytery — woman preaching case

1. A church in Metro New York invited a woman to preach with session approval
2. The presbytery was notified but failed to act appropriately
3. General Assembly addressed the delinquency; the presbytery must now appear before the Standing Judicial Commission to give account

B. A presbytery improperly closed a small church without notifying its congregation and seized the property

1. The PCA holds that churches own their own property — this principle was reaffirmed
2. The delinquency was heard and addressed on the floor

C. BCO amendment on officer titles — received final ratification

1. Churches had been assigning ordained titles (Pastor, Elder, Deacon) to unordained individuals, including women
2. Some churches were commissioning rather than ordaining deacons to circumvent constitutional standards
3. The new BCO language reads: Furthermore, unordained people shall not be referred to as or given the titles of the ordained offices of Pastor, Elder, or Deacon

D. BCO amendment on officer qualifications — received final ratification

1. Added language to qualifications for elders and deacons: He should conform to the biblical requirement of chastity and sexual purity in his descriptions of himself and in his convictions, character, and conduct
2. This represents the concluding legislative action in the denomination's multi-year effort to address human sexuality and officer standards

E. Background checks for church officers — ongoing discussion

1. General Assembly encouraged all presbyteries and sessions to implement background check processes for candidates for office
2. Sessions and presbyteries may enact their own safeguarding policies without waiting for General Assembly action
3. Creating safe churches, especially for children, remains an ongoing priority

F. Jesus Calling by Sarah Young — an unexpected but significant overture

1. The book has sold approximately 45 million copies; the author was a member of a PCA church and wife of a PCA missionary
2. Concerns center on the book's approach to divine speech, which undermines the principle of sola scriptura
3. General Assembly passed an overture requesting an investigation into the denomination's relationship to the book and the development of resources to help churches think carefully about it