Bulletin for August 10, 2025

An Addendum on Baptism

A couple weeks ago, I preached on the doctrine of baptism, but I intentionally skirted the issue of the proper recipients of baptism. I touched on the baptism of infants briefly, but there’s simply not enough time in one sermon on baptize to make an entire case. I’ve spoken with many of you about it individually, and if you were present at worship last week, you heard me give a brief explanation as we baptized an infant. But I wanted to give you something more to consider.

First, here’s a video from Sola Media (an organization I heartily commend) on the topic.

If you want something more, a good book to start with is Danny Hyde’s Jesus Loves the Little Children. This is an issue that quite a lot has been written about, and you can find any number of books and resources that address the issue going back hundreds of years. But I think this is a great place to start. Hyde’s book is only about a hundred pages, and it’s very good if you’re coming from a Baptist perspective.

Updates

1. Presbyterian Women meets Thursday, August 14th, at 6:30 PM.

2. Choir and prayer meeting are back in full swing on Wednesdays at 5:30 and 6:30.

3. This week, I’m preaching our final sermon in the book of Galatians. Our next sermon series will be on the prophet Zechariah. It can be a pretty opaque book if you’ve never studied it before, but it’s also a very Christ-centered book when you get into it. Hopefully, as we work through it you’ll come to appreciate that, but I would recommend giving it a read over the next couple of weeks in preparation to hear it preached.

Your friend in Christ,
Reid

Bulletin for August 3, 2025

Bulletin July 27, 2025

Updates

1. Next week, we’ll be having the Lord’s Supper. Please be in preparation.

2. There will be no Wednesday night activities this week.

Your friend in Christ,
Reid

Bulletin for July 20, 2025

Updates

1. I’ll be out of town this week, but our friend, Rev. Ron Pierce, will be back to preach for us. His sermon is “Are You King David Sure?” on Psalm 23. Be sure to greet Pastor Ron and his wife Brenda well.

2. If you’re interested in supporting flood relief through the EPC and Grace Covenant Church in Ingram, TX, you can do so on the EPC website. That link also includes information for giving by mail if you prefer.

3. The Lord’s Supper will be served in two weeks on August 3rd. Please be preparing your hearts.

Your friend in Christ,
Reid

Bulletin for July 13, 2025

Bulletin for July 6, 2025

Bulletin for June 29, 2025

Updates from the 45th General Assembly

The 45th General Assembly of the EPC met at Ward Church in Detroit, MI, on June 17-19. If last year’s assembly was a little more raucous than usual, this assembly was a return to normalcy. We still dealt with some important issues, but the temperature of the room was much lower than it was at times in Memphis. Here are a few things I want to make note of.

Ordination Standards

After two years of work, the Ad-Interim Committee on Ordination Standards brought sixteen (!) recommendations to the floor concerning the ordination process. These represent an extensive revision of several areas of the Book of Order. We only barely touched ordination standards; the committee requested another year to work on those. These recommendations mostly dealt with clarifying a process and codifying things that were previously customary, but not required.

Two of the more substantive actions we took pertained to educational requirements. First, we removed the requirement for a bachelor’s degree. We still require a seminary degree or its education equivalent for ordination, but there are ways to obtain this education without a bachelor’s degree. Second, we removed the “extraordinary clause.” This was essentially a nuclear button to waive all educational requirements for ordination and was probably used too frequently. Now, every candidate in the EPC will be held to the same educational standard.

Most of these actions will require ratification by the presbyteries and next year’s GA to take effect.

SSA and Ordination

A little background on this: there is a single church that left the PCA a couple of years ago whose pastor has, at a minimum, concerning views on homosexuality. The church and pastor have sought to be admitted into the EPC. In response, several overtures were sent up to last year’s 44th GA. The presbytery that would receive this church sent up an overture seeking advice from the GA on how to handle the situation, and several other presbyteries (including our Gulf South Presbytery) sent up related overtures. As a result, at last year’s GA, all of those overtures were answered by the formation of an ad-interim (which simply means temporary) committee to study the issue and provide recommendations to clarify our Book of Government and our position papers and pastoral letters on human sexuality. There was also an agreement that no court of the church would take action on any matter pertaining to this issue until the committee finished its work.

This year, we received a preliminary report and draft proposals from that committee. You can read these on the EPC website. As I did, you will likely find things you like and things you don’t like in these documents. Keep in mind these are drafts that will be edited based on feedback prior to their formal recommendation at next year’s GA.

On Wednesday at GA, we had a feedback session with the committee to discuss their drafts. Many elders voiced concern about the use of the term “gay Christian” in one of the documents. The committee indicated their reception of that criticism, and I expect them to make favorable edits. There were other concerns about language and clarity, but I got the sense that we were really working on doctrinal precision and pastoral wisdom.

The EPC’s position on homosexuality is clear: homosexual acts and desires are sinful and require repentance, and there is a Christian duty to flee from all temptation, including homosexual temptation. The question now is largely about ordination and what we expect of candidates and ministers with respect to our clear ethical affirmations. The analogy I used last year still holds. We have drawn a clear line in the sand on homosexuality, and the question now is what kind of fence we want to put on that line. Of course, I could be surprised next year, and things could go sideways. But overall, I’m optimistic that we are heading in the right direction.

PC(USA) Missions

As some of you may know, the PC(USA) recently shut down all of their mission activity and fired all of their missionaries. In response, New River Presbytery sent up an overture requesting that the PC(USA) release funds specifically designated for missions to the EPC. The rationale was simply that many faithful people had given monies for that purpose over the years, including current members of many EPC congregations, so that it would be worth at least asking. I voted in favor of this overture, but it narrowly failed for a variety of reasons. Some were concerned about getting entangled in a legal relationship with a very litigious denomination, others pointed out that we didn’t really know what we were asking for or if there was even any money left, and even others were concerned about how this would affect a number of faithful churches seeking to exit the PC(USA). But no matter which way the vote went, I think it does give us a little insight into the EPC’s relationship to the PC(USA). It would be worth watching the debate on this overture if that relationship is something that interests you.

EPC World Outreach

Perhaps the highlight of every GA is the work the EPC does in missions. We commissioned a number of new missionaries this year to go to some of the most difficult and least Christian places in the world. For the vast majority of them, their identities are protected because they are truly placing their lives on the line for the sake of the gospel. They even take vows to accept the risk of martyrdom. This is no vacation, but a serious calling from God. Pray for these missionaries as you are able. It’s the most important thing you can do to support them. You can find out more at epcwo.org.

Your friend in Christ,
Reid

Bulletin for June 22, 2025

Bulletin for June 15, 2025

General Assembly

This week, the 45th General Assembly of the EPC meets in Detroit, Michigan. I’ll be leaving on Monday to represent our church and presbytery as a commissioner. This is an important meeting, and we’ll be addressing a variety of issues. If you’re interested you can visit epconnect.org/ga2025 to see all the details. All assembly business will be livestreamed. Feel free to jump onto the livestream at any point to see some of the things we’re doing. I’ll give a brief report when I return home, but if you have any questions about GA, let me know, and I’ll do my best to answer them. Most importantly, be in prayer for me and all the commissioners as we seek to discern and represent the mind of Christ to the EPC family.

Your friend in Christ,
Reid

Bulletin for June 8, 2025

Updates

1. The Lord’s Supper will be served this week. Please be in preparation.

2. Choir and Prayer Meeting will not meet during the month of June.

• ««
• «
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• »
• »»