Preparing for General Synod by Patrick Malphrus

 

​Hello again everyone, and welcome back to Seventeen82. It’s hard to believe but September is more than halfway over and before we know it October will be here in full force. It’s a different kind of Fall season this year for many reasons, one of which is the meeting of The General Synod. For those of you who are familiar with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP), you’ll know that we typically hold our denomination wide conference called “General Synod” in the month of June. However, due to the recent and current unpleasantness, our meeting was rescheduled for August and then again for the end of October. In addition, we are no longer meeting at Bonclarken, but rather, will be meeting at Columbia First ARP Church.

​Given the current state of affairs as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic, one might be tempted to forego General Synod this year. In addition, we’re meeting in Columbia, SC and not Bonclarken! This, too, might tempt folks to just stay home and not attend our meeting. That being the case, there is something that needs to be said to all the brethren within the ARP who are ministers or elder delegates. Are you ready because here it is…Do not neglect your duty to the Lord and His Church. I understand that some of you face pre-existing medical conditions that put you at great risk if you contract COVID. Or perhaps you have family members whose health would be jeopardized if exposed to COVID. If this is the case then you need to avoid large crowds and should not be in physical attendance at our meeting. Even so, I would encourage you to join us via livestream (which presumably will be available) or in other capacities that are available to you. But if you’re just wanting to skip Synod because there’s no Nibble Nook in Columbia or for other trifling reasons then please hear me well: You need to be at General Synod and you need to be prepared.

​I understand that what I’ve written may come across as rather too insistent. To be fair, and in in the interest of complete transparency, I would like to think that my insistence on you fulfilling your duties would be expressed with such fervor every year as it relates to General Synod. After all, whether you’re reading this as an elder or pastor, remember that you did take vows about this stuff. Even so, this year’s meeting is of particular importance. I hope that by this point in time you have already registered for Synod and received your packet. If that’s the case I hope that you have read it. And that you’ve read it again. But even if you haven’t done this you might just have an inkling about the subject content we face at our meeting. In some ways, this year’s Synod meeting will be the most important for decades, if not centuries. Why do I say this? Though we face much important business, two reports are being presented that have the potential to change the face of the ARP Church as we know it.

​The first report is that of the Moderator’s Committee on the Retirement Plan. The second is that of the Denominational Ministry Fund (DMF) Spending Committee. I happen to be quite familiar with both of these reports, and especially with the DMF Spending Committee’s report. After all, I wrote it and have had the honor of chairing that committee. The reason these reports (and especially the recommendations listed therein) are so important is because of a real and present danger we are currently facing as a denomination. To summarize, our General Synod’s retirement plan for its pastors is underfunded to the tune of anywhere from 20 to 30 million dollars. Those numbers fluctuate based on market performance but the overall picture we’re looking at is bleak. To borrow the metaphorical language used by others, the ARP Retirement Plan is the “iceberg looming on the horizon that will sink our Titanic.” The 20-30 million dollar deficit that I’ve referenced is a debt obligation of the ARP Church that must be met and the reports from the two committees mentioned above recommend measures to fix our problem.

Please realize that the point of this article is not to restate the content of these two reports. Instead, if you haven’t read the reports, I want to encourage you to spend time learning their contents. And even if you have read them, I want you to go back and read them again. The title of this article is “Preparing for General Synod”, and, so, the first way you should prepare for General Synod is by knowing the issues that we are facing. In addition, I want to encourage you to prepare for General Synod by dedicating yourself to prayer. I will ask you the same questions that I have asked myself: Are you committed to praying for General Synod? Have you taken the time to pray for the delegates who will be present? Have you sought the Lord’s wisdom on how you should vote on these important and potentially controversial topics? Are you praying for the whole of the ARP Church?

While the crisis we face as a denomination appears at first to be of a financial nature, the reality is that we face a much deeper spiritual crisis. In order to stand up to schemes of the devil and in order to proceed forward in faithfulness to the Lord’s calling we must seek His face. To use Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33, we must seek God’s Kingdom first and His righteousness. Prepare for Synod by taking the time to know the issues and by committing yourself to prayer for the Lord’s intervention.

 

To God be the Glory.

 

 

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