As a veteran of 25 years of Synod meetings, I suppose I can no longer consider myself one of the younger guys at Synod. I’ve begun to talk about how things were “in the old days.” But I’ve never been more encouraged by a Synod meeting than I was this year.

Most Synod delegates I’ve talked with also viewed this meeting as something special. There was great unity, even in weighty votes such as on the lengthy and thoughtful report addressing the culture and the church’s views of homosexuality and homosexuals.

Just as amazing to me was the sense many of us had that we were glimpsing the future of the RPCNA. Retiring moderator Jerry O’Neill made the first point along these lines in his opening keynote message. He said that, in his judgment, the RPCNA had clearly ceased being a church of Scots-Irish immigrant families. We have become somewhat of a melting pot, with new pastors and converts from many ethnic backgrounds.

A second glimpse at our changing denomination is the increasing amount of interaction between the RPCNA and the other Reformed Presbyterian denominations around the globe. The internet, a mobile population, and missions teams have greatly increased communication and interaction among RP denominations. Synod appointed two members to a global committee of RP denominations which could help strengthen ties even more. While there may or may not be a worldwide RP denomination in the future, I am hopeful that the global RP Church will be more unified both in awareness and actions.

That leads to an astounding peek into the future–a world where the RP Church in the Second and Third World outnumbers all Reformed Presbyterians in the rest of the world combined. Given the growth of the RP Church of Southern Sudan and the fervor of many congregations in Southeast Asia for Reformed Presbyterian doctrine, that future might be very close indeed. May God be glorified!

Does the embrace of the gospel in these areas mean that the gospel is less powerful in developed countries that have been prosperous and have forgotten the blessing of God that gave them prosperity? Clearly the gospel is still effective in such places, as evidenced in the conversion growth and numerical growth in the RP Church of Scotland, our mother church, as it were.

One last glimpse of the future from this year’s Synod: Next year, many Reformed Presbyterians from around the world will gather in Marion, Ind., for the RP International Conference. Synod got to enjoy the perfect accommodations of the Indiana Wesleyan campus, including the student center’s indoor town square and the new and acoustically superb chapel. How wonderful would it be to hear 2,000 voices singing psalms to God with one accord in that beautiful place? I hope you will join me July 21-27, 2012, and find out for yourself.