All Saints Presbyterian Church

PCA Strategery

The PCA has produced a series of videos highlighting the Strategic Plan that will be presented at next week's General Assembly in Nashville. I've included the first one here because Bryan Chapell provides a great overview of the current state of the denomination.

If you're wanting to dig in more, there's plenty for you at the Administrative Committee's website (including the rest of these videos) and a series of articles at byFaith magazine. We'll have a report on what transpires once Bill, Benjie, and Tim get back.

Changing of the guard

Based on what I've heard from both Melissa and Bill, the All About All Saints membership class has enjoyed a good conversation about the role of women in the church - substantial and also gracious. That seems to be mostly true of the broader conversation going on in the PCA. To add to the mix is this brief article from Covenant Seminary President Bryan Chapell in ByFaith magazine.

"In essence, nothing changed at this year’s General Assembly regarding the role of women in the PCA. Attempts to limit roles were defeated. Attempts to discuss roles were also defeated. The only change that I observed was a changing of the guard. Beneath the notice of most was the clear evidence of a generational shift in those pastors and ruling elders who were serving on the Overtures Committee and many of the Committees of Commissioners. This can only spell good things for our church’s future as those who have often felt left out of denominational efforts clearly made an effort to make a difference with active participation, persuasive words, and significant numbers. Such efforts will guide where we ultimately go."

Women & the Diaconate: A Discussion between Drs. Ligon Duncan and Timothy Keller at the 2009 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America

This discussion and Q & A session offers an excellent overview of the question of women and their relationship, biblically and historically, to the office of deacon. It also serves as a commendatory illustration of how to deal with a potentially divisive issue in a manner that challenges and encourages all involved to gospel purity and peace.

Living in Grace

This Sunday we will continue to unfold God’s gift to us in the resurrection of Christ Jesus.  In doing so, we will explore the biblical principle of stewardship.  The following week I will be on Lookout Mountain, training counselors at Alpine Camp for Boys.  Tim will be in the pulpit as we celebrate Jesus’ ascension. 

The Sunday after that (May 31) I will be back, and we will have a special guest in the pulpit, Dr. Paul Kooistra, Coordinator of the largest agency in the PCA, Mission to the World.  In order for you to appreciate the privilege we have in hosting Dr. Kooistra, allow me a brief story…

In the Fall of 1991 I drove from Lookout Mountain, Alabama to Creve Couer, Missouri (St. Louis) to begin seminary.  I didn’t really know what seminary was all about.  I did not know what I wanted to do, vocationally.  I did want to learn, and I soon became aware that the one thing I needed to learn more and more about was God’s grace as shown to people like me (fallen, broken people) in Christ Jesus.  Perhaps more than anyone else, the person responsible for convincing me of the centrality and ultimacy of God’s grace in Christ Jesus was Paul Kooistra.

PCA Conversations – What’s the Point?

For those interested in following online “conversations” relevant to our denomination (the PCA), there’s a fairly new blog you might enjoy.  PCA Conversations is a blog spearheaded by former Austinite Jamison Galt.  They’re maintaining a regular weekly schedule of thought-provoking posts. Many of the contributor names are familiar:  Jeremy Jones, Paul Hahn, and (coming soon) Bill Boyd.  Intrigued?  The best thing to do is to visit the site and read about their goal in “What’s the Point.”

Treatise against Intellectual-ism

One of the best ways to learn theology is to read it as it was written - from the top.  So today when I saw a copy of Tertullian’s “Treatise Against Hermogenes” at Half-Price Books for $4.98 I bought it.  Tertullian lived from about 160 to 220 A.D., and was one of the first major defenders of basic Christian beliefs.  Known for his caricatures of his opponents and his acerbic style of argument, the veracity of Tertullian’s depictions of his opponents is always questionable.  His rhetoric is so aggressive that  “Treatise Against Hermogenes” is credible only because other Christians attacked Hermogenes as well, and the various representations of that poor fellow's arguments agree.

This unfortunate Hermogenes argued that God did not create the world ex nihilio.  Hermogenes said that God could not have created the world out of himself either, so God had to create it about something - that something was matter.  God is Lord as well, as Lord needed to reign over something.  So if God is Lord, then at all times he must have something under him.

Diaconal update and musings

Ever since Acts 7 there is a haunting hesitation deep in the consciousness of every deacon about speaking before any group of people. If only Stephen had the possibility of blogging! In posting the deacon’s first All Saints blog update, I must admit this diaconal trepidation is greatly minimized by the knowledge that if indeed you do choose to throw stones, they would be virtual stones and there must be some type of software to protect against that!

Cicero, the great Roman senator and orator, remarked that friendship is given “not as a companion of the vices, but as a helper of virtues.” For me, one of the greatest privileges of being a deacon at All Saints is the opportunity to hang out with the other deacons. These individuals were well chosen, and I have found them to be in my life a “helper of virtues” and friends well appointed for such. Our role as deacons as you remember is not one of rule but one of service. In Bill’s camp All Saints analogy, we’re not the camp directors but some of the camp counselors. Many of the things we do are behind the scenes: we count the church’s money, serve communion, serve on the church’s finance committee, help organize the ushers, and also manage the church’s benevolence fund. These benevolence opportunities are times of service where we come along side others as a deacon and a friend to see how we can be of help with monetary needs. Sometimes this goes well; sometimes this does not go well. We do indeed live in a fallen, messy world and the real world of benevolence is not easy and is distinctly non-virtual. Virtual friendships can be managed; seeking to be an instrument of grace in another’s life cannot.