Clerk's Report
Report on June 2011 Mission Presbytery Meeting
Download this report in PDF form here.
July 22, 2011
Greetings,
It is our hope that this website will become your source for news about what is happening in Session and around the Covenant community. This report expands on a shorter piece that will appear in the August issue of Cornerstone. It serves as a report of key events that took place during the summer meeting of Mission Presbytery on June 17–18 in Kerrville.
First some background: In 2009 the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), of which Covenant is a member congregation, approved and sent to presbyteries for ratification two meaningful changes to the Book of Order (Amendment 10-A and the New Form of Government, sometimes referred to as nFoG), and one addition to The Book of Confessions (Belhar). The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) consists of the Book of Confessions (Part I) and the Book of Order (Part II). The Book of Confessions contains the Nicene Creed, the Apostles’ Creed, the Scots Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Second Helvetic Confession, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Shorter Catechism, the Larger Catechism, the Theological Declaration of Barmen, the Confession of 1967, and A Brief Statement of Faith—Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The Book of Order contains the Form of Government, Directory for Worship and Rules of Discipline. Changes to the Book of Order require a simple majority vote of the 173 presbyteries to pass, while changes to the Book of Confessions require a two-thirds majority vote to pass.
The Belhar Confession was originally written in South Africa in 1982 in response to divisions in the church during apartheid. The Dutch Reformed Mission Church in South Africa adopted it as a confession of faith in 1986. (Belhar is a suburb of Cape Town.) The Belhar Confession is the newest statement of faith of the Reformed Church in America. It was adopted by its General Synod in 2009 and ratified by the RCA’s classes, or regional governance bodies, in 2010.
At the spring 2011 Mission Presbytery meeting, Amendment 10-A, which changes the wording on ordination standards, was approved by a vote of 201 yes, 194 no, and one abstention. At the June 2011 Mission Presbytery meeting, the motion to adopt the proposed new Form of Government (nFoG) passed by a voice vote. Also at the June meeting, the Belhar Confession was approved by a vote at Mission Presbytery of 139 yes, 90 no. Overall, Amendment 10-A and nFoG have received approval by a majority of the Presbyteries and these changes took effect on July 11, 2011. However, the Belhar Confession did not pass, because not enough Presbyteries could give it the required two-thirds vote for passage.
We are studying the impact of these decisions on Covenant Presbyterian Church. Session does not see any need to rush into making these decisions, and, at this time, we are gathering information. These are meaningful issues that deserve prayerful, careful and deliberate discussion before we make decisions on the actions that our church should take. We anticipate that there will be multiple opportunities for members of the congregation to discuss these matters and provide input to Session. Refer to the Clerk’s letter on “10-A and nFoG” for more on what Session is doing in relation to these matters.
Other notable actions taken at the June Mission Presbytery meeting include the following:
- Rev. Sam Riccobene, associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church, and Rev. Judy Skaggs, associate pastor at University Presbyterian Church were granted the status of Honorably Retired effective June 1 and Sept. 1, respectively.
- Rebecca Jones was ordained and assigned to New York Presbytery, where she will serve at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church through August and in Africa from September through November 2011.
Becky Jones addresses Mission Presbytery after passing her examination (l), and is congratulated by her mother, Jean Jones, afterward (r).
- The Committee on Preparation for Ministry that Mission Presbytery receive Andrew Chapman (Covenant, Austin) as candidate for Ministry of the Word and Sacrament.
Andrew Chapman addresses Mission Presbytery after passing his examination (l), and afterward with his wife, Tiffany (r).
Like many of you, members of Session are reading the Bible in 90 Days and praying for God’s guidance as we address these challenging issues and take comfort by the unchanging God that we serve. We are prayerfully seeking and thankful for His guidance through this process.
Yours in Christ,
Marvin L. Hackert
Clerk of Session