July 3, 2009
I thank you for praying for me and my family as
we went our separate ways these past two weeks.
Elizabeth and the children went down to Louisiana
and Mississippi to visit our families, while I was in
Orlando at the 37th PCA General Assembly, and at
Dale Hollow Lake State Park for my annual study
week. I missed my family and my church family, but
the Lord was faithful to encourage me and help me
redeem the time apart.
The “people” part of GA is always a fruitful time
of reflecting upon one’s philosophy and practice of
ministry, and the Lord refreshed, instructed, and re-
buked me by the discussion and the sermons at the
worship services. I was able to reconnect with old
friends from around the country, and meet new
ones, including Scott Phillips, the former RUF campus
minister here at TTU, and now the pastor of First
Presbyterian Church in Louisville, MS.
The “meeting” part of GA was at points tedious,
and at points tense. The main issue of deliberation
was on whether the denomination should form a
study committee to examine again the Biblical roles
of women in the church, particularly as they relate to
the office of deacon. Our Book of Church Order
(BCO) is clear that only men may be ordained to the
office of deacon, and that women should be assisting
the deacons in serving those in distress, but there are
a variety of practices across our denomination, many
flying in the face of the BCO. The Assembly voted,
446-427, not to form the study committee. As you
can see, the vote was extremely close, although this
ought not to be read as 446 people don’t want
women to be ordained as deacons, and 427 do want
women to be ordained as deacons. Rather, many
who voted for a study committee are against women
deacons, but thought that we needed a study com-
mittee either to assert the PCA’s position more
clearly, or to allow for honest and charitable commu-
nication among elders who disagree. Many who
voted against a study committee wanted to keep
their divergent practices under the radar. I voted
against a study committee, because I believe that the
PCA’s current position is biblical and straightforward,
and I believe that the report of a study committee
would circumvent the normal process of amending
our BCO. If people want to make the BCO stricter
or looser, then there is a proper way to bring that
question and deliberation before the Assembly – and
it is very possible that we will see such efforts in the
future.
If you are interested in reading more about the
Assembly, Joel Belz (the editor of World Magazine and
a ruling elder in a PCA church in Asheville, NC) has
written about it on the PCA’s e-zine, By Faith Online,
at http://byfaithonline.com/page/pca-news/joel-belz-
closing-comments-on-the-37th-assembly. Tim Keller
(senior pastor at Redeemer PCA in New York City),
and Ligon Duncan (senior pastor at First PCA in Jack-
son, MS) had a great debate/discussion at the assembly
on the women’s deacon question. You can download
it in two parts (for $2.00 each) at
http://www.barkerproductions.net/shop.asp?action=de
tails&inventoryID=152470&catId=17451 and
http://www.barkerproductions.net/shop.asp?action=de
tails&inventoryID=154485&catId=17451. I apologize
for saying that you could watch the GA live on the
web; I didn’t realize that cost factors had made it im-
possible for the denomination to do so!
My study week was a great blessing to me and I
hope and pray to you as well. Aside from reading a
book on pastoral ministry, and the book of Jeremiah, I
spent the mornings working on the first four sermons
in the Gospel of Mark, my upcoming series in the eve-
ning service. (On a side though related note, I want to
strongly encourage you to make it your habit to start
attending evening worship, if it isn’t already. It will help
you keep the whole Sabbath day holy to the Lord, and
it will be good for your heart as we walk with Jesus
through the gospel of Mark. Use it as an opportunity
to bring your unbelieving friends to hear the gospel
and fellowship with God’s people. Ask yourself, will I
be spending Sunday evening in a better way that being
under God’s word, with God’s people, and serving the
lost?) In the afternoons, I worked on the first four ser-
mons in Habakkuk, through which I will start preach-
ing in August after I finish Titus. I have never been able
to get ahead on sermon preparation before, so I pray
that this will be a springboard from which I can stay on
top of the wave, as it were, and be freed to reflect
more on the application of God’s word to your hearts
and minds. On the two Lord’s Days that I was off, I
was able to do two things I had not yet gotten to do:
visit some of the Nashville PCA churches, and visit
some of the other churches in Cookeville. Both Sun-
days were edifying and instructive, and made me
thankful to be among you at Grace Presbyterian
Church in Cookeville! Please pray that the refresh-
ment and renewal the Lord gave me the past two
weeks will be reflected in my care for you, my care for
handling God’s word, and my care for my family.
Your Pastor, Caleb