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