Though readers should read it with a discerning mind, there is much value to be found in the pages of Elyse Fitzpatrick's “Unloved.”
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Eight Overtures Seek to Alter Presbytery Boundaries
By Larry Hoop
Eight presbyteries have sent overtures to the 45th General Assembly regarding changes in their boundaries. These overtures have been sent to the MNA Committee for review and recommendation to the Assembly.
Overtures aimed at instituting a similar procedure at the at the presbytery level have been sent to the two previous Assemblies. In both cases, the overture was returned to the originating presbyteries — Chesapeake and Pacific Northwest — for “perfection of deficiencies” identified by the Overtures Committee and approved by the Assembly.
Overture 1 Calls for Commitment to Bible Translation
By Larry Hoop
Overture 1 calls for the Assembly to “urge each Presbytery to devise a plan to support financially the translation of Scriptures into the language of one people group.”
Though the PCA Directory for Worship is part of the Book of Church Order (BCO), only three of its chapters have been granted the constitutional authority the rest of the BCO enjoys. Overture 2 from Calvary Presbytery would change that by adding to that list BCO 59, “The Solemnization of Marriage.” The rationale for Overture…
After extended debate, the 44th General Assembly erected an ad interim committee to study the role of women in ministry in the PCA. Overture 3 from Westminster Presbytery calls for the 45th General Assembly to reverse that action.
Overture 4: Only Males Can be Ordained
By Richard Doster
Northwest Georgia’s proposed addition reads: “We are deeply convinced of the clarity of Scripture on this topic and as such we consider the doctrine of ordination for elders and deacons as limited only to males as an essential component to our ecclesiology.
Therefore Minnery believes that displaying the fruit of the Spirit and hospitality should be significant traits for elders, and included in BCO 8. Rocky Mountain Presbytery agrees and has sent BCO 5 to the General Assembly.
In its rationale for the overture, Northern New England asserts that most of the CMC’s reports to the General Assembly have focused on long-range planning rather than its other primary responsibility, inter-agency cooperation.
In the opinion of Skip Gilliken, stated clerk of Western Carolina Presbytery, “The overture provides a further check and balance that helps the Assembly do things decently and in order.”
Pacific Northwest’s proposal in Overture 14 would not prohibit a commissioner from proposing new business; however, if he has not first presented it to a presbytery as an overture, he would be required to explain why he did not.