The 179th meeting of the RPCNA Synod was an exuberant, sober, and Christ-exalting gathering of teaching and ruling elders from the far-flung expanse of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. In an important way, prayer saturated the work of this highest court of the church before, during, and after its deliberations. This Synod oversaw encouraging developments in the church, established one denomination and related to many others, and reviewed documents integral to the church’s faith and witness.

Developments

The 2010 Synod called upon RP Seminary President Jerry O’Neill (North Hills, [Pittsburgh, Pa.] RPC) to moderate its meetings at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pa. The choice of moderator was particularly fitting, given the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary that same week. On Thursday evening, two busloads of delegates trekked south to the Heinz History Center in downtown Pittsburgh for an evening of RPTS history and addresses from seminary alumni and friends. Some 650 guests attended.

God is raising up laborers for the harvest and strengthening RPTS as an institution dedicated to that process. On May 21, the seminary graduated its largest class ever of 23 students. Fifteen were M.Div. students and 10 were Reformed Presbyterians. Currently the denomination has 35 theological students under the care of the various presbyteries. Pray that the Lord will provide a new Professor of Pastoral Theology in 2012 to replace then-retiring professor Dr. Dennis Prutow.

Synod commenced with a keynote address from Retiring Moderator Bruce Hemphill (Covenant Fellowship [Wilkinsburg, Pa.] RPC) on the theme “Out of Respect for Christ.” Many of the first-time delegates to Synod reflected the growth and maturing of new works in the church: Frank Smith and Robert Shapiro (Northminster RPC in Alpharetta, Ga.), Noah Bailey (Enid, Okla., church plant), John Bower and John Concoby (Covenant RPC in Aurora, Ohio), and Bob Hackett (Shelter RPC in Edmonton, Alberta). In addition, guests were present from Virginia exploring a relationship with the RPCNA. Written memorials to ministers J. Renwick Wright, Robert Tweed, Ron Good, and Paul Faris reminded the assembled elders of the noble examples of faithfulness and godliness from men who are now with Christ.

On Tuesday evening, presbytery clerks presented a snapshot view of their respective presbyteries. These seven reports were filled with the names of those facing the hard and happy providences of God, including many requests for prayer.

The following morning Nathan Eshelman (Los Angeles, Calif., RPC) presented the Home Mission Board report, reminding us again of the 2020 Vision (adopted by Synod in 2005) seeking growth from 83 congregations that year to 100 Reformed Presbyterian congregations by the year 2020. God has caused us to grow to 89 congregations, just under one-third of the way in one-third of the time.

Pray for church plants and church-planting families in Laramie, Wyo.; Providence, R.I.; Grace (Gibsonia, Pa.); Immanuel (West Lafayette, Ind.); Christ Church (Indianapolis, Ind.), Northminster (Atlanta, Ga.); and Enid, Okla. Pray also for the outreach centers: Christian Heritage (Endicott, N.Y.); Terre Haute, Ind., Hutchinson, Kan.; Manhattan, Kan., St. Louis, Berkshires, Mass; and others. You can access prayer requests from these works on the “RP Home Missions” Facebook page and the web site RPHomeMissions.org.

Among other business, the Synod considered but ultimately rejected a recommended change to the Book of Church Discipline. It would have removed the procedural requirement of a second summons when a defendant fails to appear for an initial church trial. In addition, Synod affirmed the findings of a study committee that “the scriptural requirements for the sacramental elements may be satisfied by bread that is either leavened or unleavened, and by the ‘fruit of the vine’ that is either fermented or unfermented.”

The Board of Corporators for Geneva College recommended to the Synod a plan for governance of the college they believe will both streamline and also strengthen Synod’s oversight of Geneva College. The Synod by vote encouraged the Corporators to proceed with the proposed restructuring of Geneva’s Board of Corporators and Board of Trustees.

Denominations

The Synod gave thanks and offered songs of praise to God after officially recognizing the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Southern Sudan (RPCSS). With joy the Sudan Commission reported that 10 of their 16 pages of minutes were composed of lists of 305 saints from the heretofore largley unreached Dinka tribe. These believers were received into membership in two organized congregations and four mission stations that now compose the RPCSS. Three ruling elders and three teaching elders oversee this infant church officially established June 5 on the basis of a Dinka-language Reformed and Presbyterian constitution. This body presented a letter to our Synod officially seeking fraternal relations. Please pray for Jesus’ church as she labors to proclaim Christ amid the tensions of the referendum on the independence of Southern Sudan scheduled for January 2011.

Another highlight was Synod’s decision to establish an East Asia Committee to oversee significant developments in training leaders there. Pastor John McFarland (Lawrence, Kan. RPC) shared with enthusiasm and joy of his recent teaching at the Reformed Theological Hall in Asia. Continue to pray that God will raise up Presbyterian leaders for this important field, and that He will keep them safe.

Synod concluded Wednesday’s business with addresses from fraternal delegates, mostly from other churches within the circle of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC). Adam Mastris from the Trinity Christian Community Fellowship of Cyprus updated the court, as did delegates from the Heritage Reformed Churches, Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian Church in America, Reformed Church in the United States, and the United Reformed Church in North America. Three representatives from the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church addressed Synod throughout the week, expressing that body’s ongoing desire to seek closer fellowship and collaboration between our two denominations. Plans are underway for the RPCNA’s Crown & Covenant Publications to publish an ARP Psalter that these two groups could use in common worship.

**Direction in Documents* * The 2010 Synod adopted by overture a revised Directory for Public Worship, and the moderator declared it to be the law and order of the church. Synod had adopted the final chapters of the directory last year. The chapters were then voted on by the sessions and elders of the denomination, and all passed—though chapter 2 passed by exactly the 2/3 majority required.

The adoption of this new directory completes a 20-year process. The 1990 Synod decided that the 1945 directory was in need of revision and established a committee to do that. Several years later, having not been able to unify on a revised document, Synod disbanded the committee and eventually formed a worship committee, which drafted an official RPCNA position paper on worship that the Synod adopted. On the heels of that paper, a new committee was formed to revise the Directory for Worship.

The 2010 Synod decided to remove from future printings of The Book of Psalms for Worship several psalm selections that contain repetition, and to revise the wording of one other selection.

The 2010 State of the Church Report called us to the following prayer: “As we approach the end of this Synod meeting, we rejoice in the many ways in which You have blessed and encouraged this church in the past year. We thank You for 89 congregations where your Word is faithfully proclaimed and where Your people minister to each other and to their communities. We praise You for people converted to Jesus, for ministers and elders and deacons called and ordained to service, for believers married and Christian families established, for covenant children born, and, yes, for saints called to glory.

“And yet, O Lord, we remember the needs and failure of this church. We are saddened by the weakness or disappearance of congregations which were once flourishing gospel centers. We grieve with the families and flocks touched by death or sin. We lament the places where brothers do not dwell together in unity and confess that our lives fail to reflect pure and genuine faith. Forgive us, O Lord, for our sins and shortcomings. Bind up the wounds, we pray; heal the brokenhearted; give us grace to visit the orphans and prisoners, to minister to the widows, and to show our love for You by loving each other. Establish the works of our hands, only for the glory of Your Holy Name. Thank You, God, for this day. Amen.”

—Brad Johnston is pastor of the Topeka, Kan., RPC and is a member of the RPCNA Board of Education & Publication.