My three children will always be my children; but, with all three in college or beyond college, they are seldom within the shelter of the nest. My control, management, and oversight of their lives is greatly diminished. Their becoming responsible adults is what we had nurtured them to be, and we look forward in the hope that their kingdom impact will be far beyond what we could ever have done. Yet there are times when our diminished role in their lives, and our diminished awareness of what they are doing, is unsettling. We have great joy, but not unmitigated joy.

I had been looking forward to the 2012 Reformed Presbyterian International Conference for four years, and had been especially excited after seeing the new facility that was closer to many RPs and that could accommodate a greater portion of our denomination, even in one auditorium. When I heard that there would be 500 more people than at the previous conference, I rejoiced.

Despite all the changes, the international conference felt like home. The people were just as friendly, even though there were more of them, and even though fewer of us knew each other. We knew we had great things in common. The unity of the Spirit was palpable, all week long. The conference staff did a superb job; but with the large crowds occasionally came long lines and inconveniences, typically met with patience, grace, and selflessness.

For the first time in my 26 years of covering conferences for the RP Witness, I felt unable to paint a comprehensive picture of the conference with photos and words. I simply couldn’t be in enough places at once to sample everything. I’m sure there are activities that were the highlight of the week for some that I’m still unaware of. In a conference that size, we aren’t all going to be doing the same activities at the same time, and our conference won’t seem the same as another person’s conference, though we both were in the same place for the same week.

This summer’s Synod meeting created a similar feeling. With amazing growth in the RP Church around the world, our longstanding mental picture of the RP Church requires drastic adjustment. That is a wonderful thing, a humbling thing, an unsettling thing, a gift of God. In both the RP International Conference and the RPCNA Synod, I saw a denomination that is changing for the better, yet not breaking free of its strong foundation or its family integrity. That’s what we’ve been praying for all along.