News from General Assembly
Dear Hope Church Family,
Recently, I had the privilege of participating in our annual denominational meetings, which is the General Assembly (GA) of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). This year, the proceedings were held in the wonderful city of Chattanooga, and I had the honor of working on the Overtures Committee (OC). The OC is a team of about 120 pastors and elders from all across the denomination that meets for two days to consider business that has been requested from a number of our 87 presbyteries. We make recommendations, and then the entire GA (made up of over 2000 commissioners this year) votes on those recommendations. Some recommendations have to do with changing the PCA’s constitution, while others are about responding to certain issues.
The two major issues we responded to this year are the rise of Christian Nationalism (and concerns over its racist/ethnocentric ties) and the growing desire for a constitutionally-binding Directory of Worship. For both of these issues, the GA voted to establish study committees that will provide robust research and make recommendations for us at a subsequent assembly. In response to concerns about Christian Nationalism’s ties to ethnocentric teaching, the General Assembly also voted to adopt the following statement from two of our sister denominations:
That the 52nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America does hereby join with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (221st General Synod) and with the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America (193rd Synod) in condemning without distinction any theological or political teaching which posits a superiority of race or ethnic identity born of immutable human characteristics, and does call to repentance any who would promote or associate themselves with such teaching, either by commission or omission.
Thankfully, GA is not all business. There are worship services, reports about the PCA’s work on college campuses and from missionaries around the world, seminars on a wide range of topics, many meals together, and the chance to connect with colleagues, former seminary classmates, and friends across the US and Canada. I’m sort of a GA junkie and already looking forward to the 2026 meeting in Louisville. If you want to get deeper into the weeds on the actions taken at your denomination’s General Assembly, you can find a good summary here. You can also read the Stated Clerk’s Summary here.
I am also grateful for Hope Church’s financial and prayer support each year. If you have any questions about GA or the direction of the PCA, I’d love to hear from you! Please feel free to reach out.
Ethan