Last week David Murray and Tim Challies interviewed me about my book, Little One Lost: Living with Early Infant Loss, for their Connected Kingdom podcast. That interview is now up on Tim's Challies.com, David's Head Heart Hand blog, and the Connected Kingdom podcast site.
When the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP) met from June 5-7, 2012, at Bonclarken Conference Center in Flat Rock, NC, discussion was dominated by one thing: Erskine. Erskine refers to Erskine College and its related Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, SC, governed by a Board of Trustees whose relationship with … Continue reading ARP 2012 Synod dominated by Erskine
Natural beauty and patriotism meet at Mt.Rushmore, near Rapid City, SD, where carvings of four presidents overlook pine-clad mountains. That scenic area was the setting for the 266th Synod of the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS), hosted by Grace Reformed Church from May 21-24, 2012. Rev. James Sawtelle was elected President, Rev. Frank … Continue reading Scenic setting for RCUS Synod
The introduction to this series of news reports about Synod Nyack 2012 compared Synod to a young adult, settling into positive patterns and making wise decisions. Each of the four synods I have observed demonstrated increasing maturity and unity, and these characteristics were more obvious this year. One of the reasons for the maturity and … Continue reading The battle for the church will never stop (Synod 2012)
Gary Fisher was reappointed as the URCNA webmaster. The Website Oversight Committee was asked to develop documents detailing his duties as well as guidelines for posting material to the site. The consistory of Grace URC in Waupun will continue to oversee the Website Oversight Committee until the next synod. Synod reminded the churches to update … Continue reading Keeping the website accurate and up-to-date
A federation with churches in two countries—Canada and the United States—faces the problem of money flow. In this case the flow of money from north to south, from Canada to the U.S., is becoming increasingly clogged, and the mechanism in place to meet the challenge is no longer sufficient. The Joint Venture Agreement (JCA) of … Continue reading The buck stops at the border
In response to an overture, Synod Schererville 2007 appointed a study committee to report on the level of doctrinal commitment necessary for membership in the URCNA. That committee brought an evenly divided report to Synod London 2010, which accepted neither opinion, but asked the committee to come back to the next synod with a new … Continue reading Synod adopts “Doctrinal Commitment” affirmations
The URCNA has two standing committees dealing with ecumenical relationships. CERCU (Committee for Ecumenical Relations and Church Unity) and CECCA (Committee for Ecumenical Contact with Churches Abroad). Both committees brought to Synod reports containing recommendations, which advisory committees passed on to the floor. Although most recommendations were adopted quickly and unanimously, it seemed like Synod … Continue reading URNCA ecumenical relationships: Phase Two with the RPCNA awaits ratification
In the URCNA, missions is a given. What was not a given, however, was how to do it, organizationally, that is. That delegates clearly desired to promote missions and church planting was evidenced by the quick adoption of the recommendations to establish a Missions Committee and to ask the existing Ad Hoc committee to serve … Continue reading The changing face of URCNA missions organization
Although it's rather old news by now, I intend to post my Christian Renewal reports on the URCNA Synod Nyack 2012 now that they've appeared in print. The following overview appeared on pages 6-7 and 10 of the July 11, 2012, issue of Christian Renewal. My picture of the delegates appeared as a nice two-page spread (pp 8-9), large … Continue reading URCNA Synod 2012: A prayer-full gathering near the Hudson
Glenda Faye Mathes 