Called Meeting of the Presbytery
Scheduled for August 24, 7:00 p.m.
via Zoom
The Executive Council has voted to call a meeting of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic for August 24 at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will be held via Zoom. Teaching Elders are asked to notify those who will serve as commissioners to this meeting. An invitation will be sent to all commissioners who register for this meeting.
The purpose of the meeting is to vote on the following recommendation of the Executive Council.
Motion:
The Executive Council moves that the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic authorize the Ministerial Committee to serve as an administrative commission of Presbytery pursuant to BOG 21-C. The commission shall be given the power to act on those individuals seeking to:
1. Come under care of presbytery.
2. Be commissioned as Commissioned Pastors.
3. Be ordained and installed as Teaching Elders in the PMA.
4. Transfer the credentials of Teaching Elders from churches in the Reformed tradition.
The commission will make a written report of all of its actions and said report will be inserted in the minutes of Presbytery. The authority of this commission will expire on December 31, 2020. BOG 21-1A(2).
Rationale:
The COVID virus continues to hinder the work of the churches and committees of presbytery. The Executive Committee has decided that it would be unwise to attempt to hold the fall Stated Meeting as an “in person” meeting. Therefore, the Council has voted to hold the fall Stated Meeting of presbytery via Zoom link on Saturday, September 26, 2020 (the regularly scheduled Saturday for the fall meeting). That meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. and conclude by 3:00 p.m.
Because Presbytery was unable to hold our full spring meeting, but rather held an abbreviated meeting via Zoom, several matters were not brought to the floor of presbytery including matters regarding the work of the Ministerial Committee. The work of the Ministerial Committee has been increasing over the last several months.
At present, there are four members of PMA churches seeking to come under care (Carolyn Holden, Tim Mitchell, Jack Parolee, Daniel Arachikavitz). Two members of churches are seeking to become Commissioned Pastors (Jesse McDonald, Trey Majure). As many as four candidates are seeking ordination (Eric Shipton, Brett Johnson, Kevin Kyle, Stephanie Vander Lugt) with the last two awaiting the results of their written ordination exams. Four teaching elders are seeking transfer from other churches within the Reformed Tradition (Karyn Cartier, Robert McClelland and Chrishon Ducker, all from within the EPC and Gray Segars from ECO). The examination of all of these people, including their floor exams and hearing sermons preached where appropriate, will require many hours to complete.
The Executive Council believes that in order to move expeditiously, to conduct the exams and ordain and/or install these people in their respective churches, the presbytery will be better served by granting the Ministerial Committee commission authority to complete the process and move these people into service. The granting of commission status is supported in BOG Chapter 21.
TE Ron Horgan
Stated Clerk
96th Stated Meeting of the Presbytery
Moved to a Zoom Meeting on
September 26, 2020
The Executive Council has voted to move to 96th Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic to a Zoom meeting on Saturday, September 26, 2020, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
The COVID virus continues to hinder the work of the churches and committees of presbytery. The Executive Committee has decided that it would be unwise to attempt to hold the fall Stated Meeting as an “in person” meeting. Therefore, the Council has voted to hold the fall Stated Meeting of presbytery via Zoom link on Saturday, September 26, 2020 (the regularly scheduled Saturday for the fall meeting). That meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. and conclude by 3:00 p.m.
More details to come.
40th General Assembly to be Virtual Only; On-site Participation Canceled
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In an EPConnection article, the EPC General Assembly Office anounces changes to the 40 General Assembly meeting.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the EPC’s 40th General Assembly will be virtual only, with no on-site component at Hope Church in Cordova, Tenn. The National Leadership Team (NLT) made the decision in a July 30 meeting.
“I am grateful of the NLT’s careful and prayerful consideration of the questions and concerns my office has received in recent weeks,” said Jeff Jeremiah, Stated Clerk. “While we all have full confidence the ability of Rufus Smith’s team at Hope Church to conduct a safe event, the NLT felt that a cautious approach was wise given the recent surge in positive cases.”
Originally scheduled for June 23-26, the Assembly was rescheduled for September 17-18 in a called meeting held on May 1.
“A key assumption we all had in May when we postponed GA to September was that the COVID-19 shutdown would be over by the fall and life would be returning to some kind of normal,” Jeremiah added. “However, based on the information available to us in late July it looks like a return to ‘normal’ by mid-September is very unlikely.”
Tom Werner, NLT Chairman, said the safety of participants—including Hope Church’s staff and volunteers—was foremost in the groups minds as they discussed the situation.
“Reports I have seen show the middle part of the country starting to see a spike in cases now, like my home state of Missouri, Florida, Texas, and others have in recent weeks,” Werner said. “None of us wanted to put our Commissioners or anyone at Hope Church at risk.”
The virtual event will still be “business only” with no Leadership Institute. Online registration has been paused until Monday, August 3, to allow for programming adjustments.
For more information and regular updates about the 40th General Assembly, see www.epc.org/ga2020.
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Resources for Racial Justice Response
EPC Stated Clerk Jeff Jeremiah provides a letter to all EPC congregations.
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June 12, 2020
To: TEs, Commissioned Pastors, Chaplains, Presbytery Stated Clerks, Committee Members
From: Jeff Jeremiah
Subject: NAE Racial Justice Resources
Dear EPC colleague,
Thank you for how you are bringing the hope and truth of the gospel to your congregations and communities in these unsettled days. As you consider how to address the cultural firestorm raging around us, the National Association of Evangelicals has developed some resources on racial justice response from a biblical perspective. These are available on their website at www.nae.net/racialjustice.
Because the EPC can only issue official statements on topics that have been approved by the General Assembly (by way of Position Papers), we often point people to the NAE’s statements in areas that we haven’t publicly addressed as a denomination. Among these is the NAE’s “Statement on Racial Unrest and Call to Action” issued on May 29. It is available on the website linked above.
I also want to let you know that we have posted the recording of our webinar from earlier this week, “Leading EPC Sessions and Congregations in Issues of Race and Justice,” on our website at www.epc.org/june10webinar. If you did not participate in this one-hour event, I hope you will take the time to hear Michael Davis, Rufus Smith, Dean Weaver, and others address this important topic. Plans are underway to continue the discussion; we will of course announce the details as it comes together.
May we continue to be the voice of peace, love, and reconciliation that our communities, country, and world so desperately needs today.
Thank you, and remember: He is risen!
Jeff
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Resources for Reopening Churches
Available on EPC Website
An article at EPC Connection provide resources for reopening churches as COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed.
With many jurisdictions around the country loosening shelter-in-place restrictions, the EPC Office of the General Assembly has curated a variety of resources on how and when churches can begin to open their doors for public worship and other ministries. The materials offer guidelines and suggestions for churches seeking to safely welcome worshippers back into their facilities. Sources include EPC partner ministries and other reputable organizations.
“It is very likely that our pre-lockdown church experience will not be what we experience going forward,” said Jeff Jeremiah, Stated Clerk. “I hope our churches and leaders benefit from the guidelines and suggestions as they look to safely welcome worshippers back into their facilities.”
Included are checklists, guidance, and other helps from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ChurchLeaders.com, the Family Research Council, The Gospel Coalition, the National Association of Evangelicals, Smart Church Solutions, Vanderbloemen Search Group, and others.
The resources are available at www.epc.org/reopeningchurches.
PMA Pastors' Weekly Hour of Prayer
Monday, May 18, 2020
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The last eight weeks of prayer have been a blessing to all who have had the opportunity to participate. As this commitment drew to an end, many asked us to consider continuing to offer a regular prayer opportunity for the pastors of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic. In answer to that, we are launching the PMA Pastor's Weekly Hour of Prayer on Tuesdays at 9:00 a.m. until further notice. This is for any Teaching Elder, Commisioned Pastor, Missionary and Candidate Under Care. The more the merrier! We prayerfully considered many options for day and time, but in the end realized that this would be the time when the most pastors could arrange their schedules to attend. We also recognize that not all will attend every week. But, the opportunity is there for all who desire this time of connected prayer.
We are going to change the format a bit and probably continue to make adjustments so as to make this commitment of your time valuable enough that you will not only attend often, but also feel its absence when you cannot. Every Tuesday the zoom link will open at 8:45 a.m. for you to gather and connect with other pastors. At 9:00 a.m., Stated Clerk Ron Horgan (or me in his absence) will take five minutes to advise of any information that is helpful to all. Jeff Smith will then transition us into worship with James Bank leading us through prayer and worship.
We have learned a lot about zoom the last eight weeks—we mute everyone except the worship leader during the music, which has allowed us to prayerfully worship undistracted. We will, however, leave all unmuted for creeds and prayer. The time will end around 9:50 allowing those who need individual prayer to stay and receive the love, encouragement and prayer of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
We will be using this recurring Zoom link until further notice.
We are committed to this because we believe God is calling us to align our hearts and wills to His by the power of His Holy Spirit through Spirit-Filled prayer. We hope you can adjust your schedules to attend as often as possible. A special shout out to our missionaries—join us when you can so we can pray for you, your families and your ministries.
If you have a specific need or simply want to chat, Ron and I are available via Zoom, cell phone and email. May the Lord bless and keep each of you as we seek Him together through prayer.
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bucky
Ken Priddy Offers New Book
VACANCY: Finding Who's Missing & Bringing Them Home
Numerical growth in the church is a maligned subject these days as champions swell with pride over growth-at-all-costs spiking while critics shrinkwith pride over uncompromising allegiance to self-inflicted isolation. What does God say about numerical growth in His word and what does He mean by what He says? Ken Priddy spent three years probing for answers to these questions and discovered something surprising. Numerical growth in the church is not about numbers, it's about names, names that are recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life. The journey is covered in VACANCY: Finding Who's Missing & Bringing Them Home, Ken's Manuscript Edition. It's yours to download FREE with permission to share it with anyone. Enjoy!
The GO Center
See more Resources from Ken and other presbytery authors here.
Multiplication Transition Newsletters
The Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic Multiplication Transition Team is offering regular updates on our plans to transition to three missional regions and ultimately into three distinct Presbyteries.
Please click on this link for the latest news.
Transition Prayer Initiative
Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic asks all of its churches to be in prayer about our ongoing transition to three Missional Repions and ultimately into three presbyteries. To help with this initiative, we have created a bulletin insert for use in your church.
You can download an PDF version of this insert here.
Proposed PMA Transition Timeline
Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic Multiplication Transition Team proposed the timeline above to move from one presbytery in three missional regions to three distinct presbyteries. The transition will occurs in several steps outlined above.
PMA to Multiply into Three Missional Regions
At its 91st meeting, the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic voted 136-11 to move forward with the vision of multiplying from one to three presbyteries. Initially, we will begin to move toward three missional regions and when structure and finances are developed in each of the regions, the PMA will multiply into three new presbyteries. This will likely take us 3-5 years and will require approval of the General Assembly. Thanks to the Presbytery Multiplication Study Team led by Dr. Bill Enns and including Moderator Duke Lineberry, Scott McGregor, Ken Priddy, Powell Sykes, Jan Teagle, and Wes Vander Lugt.
Read this important information to learn more about our future.
PMA Multiplication Study Team Report - Dr. Bill Enns
Dr. Ken Priddy's Presentation re PMA Multiplication
FAQ - PMA Multiplication Study Proposal
PMA Multiplication Study Team Motion and Rationale for 91st PMA Meeting, January 2019
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