A Letter of Thanksgiving and Prayer for Fortitude - Post Synod Letter - Andrew Di Iulio

 

Fathers and Brothers,

Many of you will have received the letter I sent out previously titled “A Plea to the GeneralSynod of the ARP Church.” In that letter, I and some fellow ministers laid out some of our concerns about the position and trajectory of our denomination. This open letter is a post- Synod follow up to that first letter.

I must confess that I went into our 2020 General Synod meeting expecting many of the concerns we had presented to be marginalized, dismissed, or ignored altogether. In God’s grace and goodness, he saw fit to adjust my expectations and provide instead a meeting of Synod that has renewed my hope for future and long-term faithfulness in the ARP. Here is why I am encouraged:

1. Membership – Prior to the convening of Synod, Andy Putnam (Synod Parliamentarian) reached out to point out that the 22,393 membership statistic included in the Plea Letter reflected a reporting error in our 2019 Synod Minutes. Our membership is more accurately represented at 27,729. For this, I am thankful to the Lord.

2. Pension Plan – While I do not consider the underfunding of the pension plan to be a central concern, it might make the ARP less attractive to new ministers and churches. I was delighted to hear at Synod that there seems to be a solid “win-win” option as young(er) ministers move toward a 403(b)(9) plan, withdraw from the pension plan, and the denomination makes strong efforts to recapitalize the plan’s liabilities, enabling us to care for near and already retired ministers. For this, I am thankful to the Lord.

3. Restructuring – In the deliberations during Synod, there was deep and broad consensus that efforts must be made toward streamlining our denomination’s centralized efforts so that we can be more Gospel-focused and financially faithful. This was not only evidenced in the deliberations, but in the recommendations that were passed, including the creation of a restructuring committee who will examine the efforts and structure of our denomination over the course of the next year. For this, I am thankful to the Lord

4. Kingdom over comfort–As you may remember, part of the previous letter stated, “Our desire is for our denomination to pursue Kingdom over comfort.” I cannot express how encouraged I was to hear this thought reiterated by our former Moderator, our current Moderator, our Moderator-Elect, and the body as a whole. Despite our current difficulties, this pursuit of sacrificial Gospel faithfulness has greatly encouraged me as we move forward on this side of our Synod meeting. For this, I am thankful to the Lord.

5. Doctrinal Unity – I will be the first to say that we still have much work to do in the ARP. With the encouragements enumerated above, there remains diligent effort to be made. That said, while many denominations, even within NAPARC, are struggling with deep division and strife over doctrine and theology, the ARP has been given the grace of being found in a place of deep unity in these areas. What a marvelous reminder we had of this at Synod this year! There was not a word of doctrinal division. This is a great mercy and grace and for this I am thankful to the Lord.

With all of this, will you join me in this prayer?

Our gracious God and King, we praise you for your provision of unity, wisdom, grace, and leadership. We come to you as your children, boldly asking of you those things that we desire.

We ask firstly that you would grant us wisdom and humility, guiding us to repentance of our pride, selfish ambition, penchant toward egoism, and abuse of privilege.

We ask secondly that you would guide us in truth, leading us by your Holy Spirit away from the temptations to deceive others and the temptation to be deceived ourselves.

We ask thirdly that you would guard us from error, whether it be errors of doctrine, errors of structure, errors of motivation, or errors of stewardship. Keep us in your truth.

We ask fourthly that you would grant us fortitude as we follow the directives and decisions made at our Synod meeting.

Give us boldness in the truth of Christ, Shrewdness in the stewardship of his gifts,

Determination in the building up of his body, Strength in standing against his enemies,

Gentleness in serving his sheep, Compassion in caring for the lost,

Purity in the intentions of our hearts, Resilience in our prayers, and

Steadfastness in our declaration of the free offer of the Gospel in Jesus Christ. For the sake of Christ and his glory we pray, amen.

In closing, I am reminded once again of what a former pastor and dear friend of mine said about the ARP:

“Why become ARP? Because I appreciate a church that historically wanted to be faithful without being schismatic. Because deep roots in the Reformed tradition are important to me. Because church is family, and here we are neither lost in the cogs of denominational politics nor retreating into practical independency. Because the ARP provides a place to stand (on Christ, in Scripture, in loyalty to the Westminster Standards), room to breathe (comparative freedom from kingdom-building mentalities), and an opportunity to grow (as the church looks to be faithful to the Lord into the future.)” – Sinclair Ferguson

These words ring truer now than ever. May the Lord’s truth and righteousness prevail in every step we take in the days ahead.

For Christ and his Church, Andrew Di Iulio