The gavel dropped on the 182nd Synod of the RPCNA the evening of June 24. About 150 delegates gathered from across North America and even around the world.

Pastor Dave Long, last year’s moderator of Synod, gave the keynote address as Synod opened with worship. In accord with the week’s devotional theme of “Enduring Suffering,” he used Romans 8:18- 39 as his text. What are the reasons God allows suffering to continue? Pastor Long drew eight reasons from Scripture.

The Synod gave thanks to God for the lives of church servants who have passed away in the last year, including Pastors J. Paul McCracken (July 2012), E. Clark Copeland (Sept. 2012), and David R. Patterson (Jan. 2013).

Over a dozen first-time delegates were introduced and welcomed.

Martin Blocki nominated Pastor Bruce Backensto of First RPC of Beaver Falls, Pa., to be moderator of the 2013 Synod, and he was unanimously elected. Bruce Martin and Ray Morton were reelected as clerk and assistant clerk.

For the 2013 Synod, only one paper—regarding the collection of tithes and offerings—was received prior to Synod. The original paper, from Trinity (Beltsville, Md.) RPC to Alleghenies Presbytery, recommended that the section of the RP Testimony be removed that states: “The presentation of tithes and offerings is warranted as part of worship.” Presbytery forwarded the paper, believing that the subject merited further study. Synod, however, returned the paper since the presbytery itself had not studied the matter. At its own meeting later that day, Alleghenies Presbytery appointed a study committee.

A second paper asking Synod to reconsider the terms used for ministers without pastorates was not received because it was not received in time and, in the mind of the Business of Synod Committee, was not clear in the action being called for.

With no papers to consider further, and no judicial cases, Synod was able to complete its business on Thursday evening rather than Friday noon.

Missions

Eight years ago Synod set a goal of 100 congregations and mission churches by 2020. God has blessed the RPCNA with steady growth, and the current total is 93. The Home Mission Board (rphomemissions.org) reported to Synod that there are also a multitude of “irons in the fire,” with interest being expressed for RP churches in Irvine, Calif.; Las Vegas, Nev., Portland, Ore.; Casper, Wyo.; Teller County, Colo.; Bryan and Dallas, Tex.; Aurora, Ohio; Harrisonburg, Va.; Owings Mills, Md.; the Berkshires, Mass.; and even Mexico City, Mexico. In some cases there is interest by a set of families or a regular Bible study; in other cases there are regular worship services.

Because current exploratory work includes two language groups besides English, the HMB has established a subcommittee on church planting across cultures.

The concentration of the work of the Global Mission Board (rpglobalmissions.org) is in South Sudan, Japan, and in short-term missions.

In Japan, Kihei Takiura was ordained and installed as a second pastor for Keiyaku (Kobe, Japan) RPC with a focus on evangelism. Pastor Charles Leach accepted a call from Kasumigaoka RPC in Kobe.

Discussion continued from previous years of the relationship between Japan Presbytery and the Global Mission Board, with a difference of opinion about the speed of reducing aid, though the GMB reported that more than the reducing-aid minimum is being committed for the next two years.

The RP Church of South Sudan is growing in numbers and in maturity. Currently there are 3 congregations, 10 mission churches, and 3 fellowships. The board requested prayer that God would raise up one or two additional teaching elders who would go to Sudan to help equip that new RP denomination.

The GMB is praying whether God would want the RPCNA to open another field of ministry. Interest has been expressed from India, Pakistan, South Korea, Mexico, Singapore, and elsewhere. There has been progress made in RP ministry in several of these places.

RP Missions, the short-term missions program under RP Global Missions, reported a higher level of participation in missions this year after several years of declining participation (rpmissions.org).

Reformation Translation Fellowship has now produced and distributed one million volumes of Reformed books they have translated. They recently completed The Faith and Life project, a series of 20 small books designed for pastors.

Presbyteries

Written reports of presbyteries to the Synod often include brief news from every congregation. Thus, while the RP Witness provides many of the prayer requests throughout the year, reading all these presbytery reports at once gives one a tremendous understanding of the current health and needs of all RPCNA congregations. (The Minutes of Synod book containing these reports is available several months after each Synod.)

Alleghenies—There have been two installations of pastors this year, and there are two retirements upcoming. Harrisonburg, Va., was established as a mission church by the presbytery at its meeting during Synod week.

Atlantic—Zachary Kail will be leaving his associate pastor position at Broomall, Pa., RPC in August to take a pastorate at Trinity Christian Community Fellowship in Cyprus. Prayer was requested for the Coldenham-Newburgh congregation for a teaching elder and more ruling elders, and for the development of the church plant in western Massachusetts.

Great Lakes–Gulf—This presbytery has two mission churches, possible church plants in three cities, and opportunities being explored in Milwaukee and Minneapolis. Praise was also given to God for the addition of two associate pastors: Pastor Adam Niess in Bloomington, Ind.; and Pastor George Gregory in Columbus, Ind. The Sparta, Ill., RPC, with the retirement of Pastor Raymond Morton, is one of five churches that have vacant pulpits, but Pastor Morton plans to move to Hetherton, Mich., and become their stated supply.

Japan Presbytery consists of four congregations and one mission church in the cities of Kobe and Amagasaki, Japan. Kobe Theological Hall has 9 students. An addition to the Japanese Psalter is in process. The final disbursement was made of the East Japan Great Disaster Relief Fund, to which many RPs donated following the earthquake and tsunami.

Currently within Midwest Presbytery are six mission churches and preaching stations. Two pastors have recently been installed—Greg Stiner at Sharon (Morning Sun, Iowa) RPC and Dan Drost at Washington, Iowa, RPC—with Pastor Steven Work resigning effective Aug. 1 after 19 years at Quinter, Kan., RPC. Veteran chaplain Stan Copeland is the oldest active-duty soldier in the entire U.S. Army and anticipates retiring soon.

With nearly as many home-mission fields under consideration as there are congregations in the Pacific Coast Presbytery, a church extension committee has been established. One of the locations being cultivated is in Mexico City. There are also 6 men receiving theological training.

The St. Lawrence Presbytery spans large regions of the U.S. and Canada. Stephen McCarthy will soon be ordained and installed at Walton, N.Y., RPC. Jason Keuning was ordained and installed as associate pastor for evangelism at New Creation (Kitchener, Ont.) RPC.

Ministries

The Committee on Vital Churches seeks to serve as a catalyst for congregations and presbyteries in promoting healthy churches. Some delegates gave thanks for the committee’s workshops last summer, which were the best-attended workshops at the RP International Conference.

The written report of the Presbyterian & Reformed Commission on Chaplains and Military Personnel contained reports from the RPCNA’s five military chaplains, among whom are two colonels.

One highlight of the past year at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary is the development of distance education, which will ultimately offer up to one-third of an M.Div. degree as well as other courses. Barry York begins work as professor of pastoral theology July 1 and is inaugurated in October. Denny Prutow’s retirement dinner was Apr. 19, and he also was honored at a Synod reception Wednesday night.

College President Ken A. Smith, in conjunction with the Geneva College Board of Corporators, called Synod’s attention to trends affecting Christian higher education. One of those is the attempt to redefine freedom of religion as merely freedom of worship. Also reported was a June 18 court victory with a preliminary injunction to allow Geneva to offer a health care plan without the U.S. Health & Human Services contraception mandate. Prayer was requested for the ongoing case.

The Board of Education & Publication reported on the extraordinary worldwide response to the book Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, published one year ago, and the effect it has had on sales of other Crown & Covenant books. This includes a surge of interest in The Gospel & Sexual Orientation, adopted by Synod two years ago and subsequently published.

Synod’s Youth Ministries Committee explained ways that some well-established presbytery youth programs are able to help presbyteries with newer programs. The committee also reported the tremendous success of the RP Seminary’s Theological Foundations for Youth program and the similar presbytery-level programs.

Deliberations and Debates

As the RPCNA’s “highest court,” Synod is a deliberative body. That fact was clearly evident on Wednesday, as nearly every report included lively discussion and debate.

The Presbytery Realignment Committee recommended to Synod that, effective upon the adjournment of the Synod, the congregations and missions in Colorado and Wyoming be transferred to the Pacific Coast Presbytery, and that the name of the Pacific Coast Presbytery then be changed to Western Presbytery. This would have transferred three congregations and three missions to that presbytery.

While no one expressed dissent to the idea, many concerns were raised about whether the two presbyteries involved had had enough time to be made aware of this possibility and to offer feedback to the committee. After a long debate, the motion was referred back to the committee to report in 2014. Also, members of both presbyteries met with the committee over dinner for discussion.

An increasing number of RP congregations have multiple pastors. A study committee created last year sought to clarify terminology and procedures in the Directory for Church Government so that, for example, counsel is given to congregations when a more senior pastor retires and an associate pastor is already serving.

Synod voted to take up the minority report of that committee, which offered a simpler, more concise set of changes than the majority report. After further attempts at amendments and motions, however, Synod voted to return the minority report to the entire committee, which made some revisions before final approval.

Another report that spurred lengthy discussion and debate came from a committee created last year to “define and clarify the relationship” between the Reformed Presbyterian Woman’s Association and the Synod. Based on some questions brought up last year, the committee wished to reaffirm much about the current practices and support related to the Reformed Presbyterian Home (which the RPWA oversees). These recommendations of affirmation, however, created differences of opinion, as some delegates thought they nuanced things in a way that would actually change current practices one way or the other.

The Home is unique as an RP institution in that it is not controlled by a church court, yet was created by the Synod in 1895 and has had very strong ties to the denomination ever since. About 12 percent of Reformed Presbyterians have utilized the Home in the past 52 years, but in that number are many pastors and their wives as well as missionaries from all around the RPCNA. Twenty-three percent of current residents and patients are Reformed Presbyterian.

When the parliamentary smoke had cleared, nothing concrete had changed. However, the final recommendation about considering the creation of a diaconal ministry related to the courts of the church was approved unanimously.

The Wednesday evening session was devoted to interchurch relationships, which included hearing reports from other RP denominations and other Reformed denominations. Among those were the RP Church of Ireland and the RP Church of Scotland, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and the Heritage Reformed Congregations.

Pastor David Karoon of the RP Church of Scotland reported that they are close to starting a Scottish seminary. He gave thanks for the recent RP mission team that came to his congregation.

Pastor John Bouwers of the 17-year-old federation of the United Reformed Churches reported that they had recently approved a closer relationship (second stage) with the RPCNA. The RPCNA had approved a similar recommendation.

The ARP Synod in early June issued a unanimous invitation to the RPCNA to have a concurrent Synod in 2015, in which joint worship sessions would consist of exclusive psalm singing a cappella. The RP Synod voted to accept that invitation.

Finance and Statistics

As Thursday’s business began, the RPCNA Pension Trustees reminded ministers about the real and hidden costs for those who opt out of Social Security and therefore also must pay for Medicare. The Trustees provided counsel for those managing their pension assets.

The RPCNA Trustees of Synod and Synod’s Finance Committee gave thanks for the generosity of congregations to Reformed Presbyterian Missions & Ministries last year. The allocations for denominational agencies and committees for 2014 were approved. Concern was expressed over possible mileage reimbursement factors that could impact ruling elders negatively, and the matter was referred to the Business of Synod Committee for further study.

The denomination is seeing a continued trend of very modest increases in membership, congregations, and giving. That slow increase in membership, though, has amounted to 10 percent in 10 years. To illustrate the importance of church planting, one-third of the membership of the RPCNA is in congregations of 25 years or less. Concern was expressed that weekly worship attendance is lower than membership, but praise was expressed for the large number of theological students. Prayer was requested that God would raise up men strong in evangelism.

The International Conference Advisory Committee announced RP Seminary professor Barry York as keynote speaker for the 2016 RP International Conference to be held July 23-29, 2016. “Being Salt & Light” is a possible topic.

The Business of Synod Committee has been researching ways to encourage attendance of more ruling elders at Synod meetings. A five-person study committee was appointed by the moderator to consider further action steps.

The next Synod will be held June 23-27, 2014, in Marion, Ind.