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84Th General Assembly MINUTES of the EIGHTY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY Meeting at Trinity Christian College Palos Heights, Illinois May 31–June 6, 2017 and YEARBOOK of THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Published by THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 607 N. Easton Road, Building E Willow Grove, Pennsylvania 19090-2539 USA FOREWORD The three sections of this volume are the following: MINUTES – the minutes of the daily sessions of the Assembly. Although the Minutes do not contain the documents that appear in the second section (Appendix), they do contain the recommendations made in those documents; those recommendations appear in the Minutes at the point where they were considered. For ease of reference and cross-reference, the Minutes are divided into articles, denoted by the symbol §. In the Index that symbol, in boldface type, indicates reference to articles in the Minutes; page numbers refer to the Appendix and the Yearbook. APPENDIX – the documents submitted to the Assembly by presbyteries, committees of the Church, and by other bodies, for the Assembly’s consideration.With the exception of overtures, communications, and complaints, the several documents appear in the Appendix in the order in which they are normally presented to the Assembly. All references to documents in the Appendix are by page number, in both the Minutes and the Index. YEARBOOK – general information about the denomination. References to items in this section are by page number. ABBREVIATIONS used in this volume for the Standards of the Church BCO The Book of Church Order FG Form of Government BD Book of Discipline SR Standing Rules WCF Westminster Confession of Faith WLC Westminster Larger Catechism WSC Westminster Shorter Catechism The Clerk welcomes suggestions for the improvement of these annual volumes. CONTENTS Picture of the 84th General Assembly ......................................................................................4 MINUTES ................................................................................................................................5 APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................59 Overtures .................................................................................................................................60 Communications .....................................................................................................................62 Appeals ...................................................................................................................................73 Reports ....................................................................................................................................90 General Assembly Arrangements, Committee on ...........................................................90 Stated Clerk .....................................................................................................................93 Trustees of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church ...............................................................99 Statistician .....................................................................................................................102 Christian Education, Committee on ..............................................................................107 Home Missions and Church Extension, Committee on ................................................146 Foreign Missions, Committee on ..................................................................................165 Coordination, Committee on .........................................................................................236 Diaconal Ministries, Committee on ..............................................................................243 Pensions, Committee on................................................................................................265 Care for the Ministers of the Church, Committee to Study the ....................................280 Ecumenicity and Interchurch Relations, Committee on ...............................................285 Appeals and Complaints, Committee on ......................................................................337 Chaplains and Military Personnel, Committee on ........................................................344 Historian ........................................................................................................................350 Historian, Committee for the ........................................................................................352 Presbytery of the Northwest, Committee to Visit the ...................................................356 Canadian Matters, Committee on .................................................................................357 YEARBOOK .......................................................................................................................361 Statistical Reports of the Churches for the Year Ending December 31, 2016 ......................362 Summary of OPC Statistics for 2016 ............................................................................362 Statistical Reports of the Regional Churches and Congregations ................................364 Recapitulation of Membership Statistics, 1938–2016 ..................................................380 Statistical Reports of the Presbyteries for 2016 ...........................................................381 Apportionment of Commissioners to the 85th General Assembly .......................................402 Standing Committees of the General Assembly ...................................................................403 Moderators of the General Assemblies .................................................................................406 Clerks of the General Assemblies .........................................................................................408 Historians, Statisticians .................................................................................................409 Stated Clerks of the Presbyteries ..........................................................................................410 Clerks of Session...................................................................................................................411 Ministers of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church ...................................................................423 INDEX ..................................................................................................................................437 EIGHTY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 5 MINUTES of the EIGHTY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Meeting at Trinity Christian College Palos Heights, Illinois May 31–June 6, 2017 Wednesday Evening, May 31, 2017 1. OPENING WORSHIP. The 84th General Assembly of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church was called to order at the Grand Lobby of the Ozinga Chapel of Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, Illinois, at 7:02 p.m. by Paul H. Tavares, Moderator of the 83rd General Assembly. At the request of the moderator, the Rev. Jeremiah W. Montgomery led a worship service. He delivered a sermon on the subject, “Our Living Hope,” based on 1 Peter 1:3–4. The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was administered by the Rev. Iain A. M. Wright, assisted by Ruling Elders: David Beezhold, Frank Voss, Jack Pluister, and Jake Stuursma, all members of the session of Covenant Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Orland Park, Illinois. 2. RECESS AND RECONVENE. The Assembly recessed at 8:16 p.m. and reconvened at 8:30 p.m. in the Mitchell Gymnasium of the DeVos Athletics and Recreation Center. 3. COMMISSIONERS ROLL. [Nos. (x/x) are (number listed/number apportioned).] Presbytery of Central Pennsylvania (CPA) Ministers (3/3) – Joshua L. McKamy, Jeremiah W. Montgomery, John D. Van Meerbeke Ruling Elders (2/2) – David J. Gregg (Middletown, PA), Thomas N. Jackson (State College, PA) Presbytery of the Central United States (CUS) Ministers (1/1) – Clarence E. Veld Ruling Elder (1/1) – David M. Belanger (Tulsa, OK) Presbytery of Connecticut and Southern New York (C&SNY) Ministers (2/2) – John W. Mallin III, William Shishko Ruling Elder (1/1) – Michael F. Montemarano (Franklin Square, NY) Presbytery of the Dakotas (DK) Ministers (4/4) – Archibald A. Allison, Leonard J. Coppes, Curtis A. Moleterno, D. Jason Wallace Ruling Elders (2/2) – Lewis E. L. Reynolds (Denver, CO), W. Blair Watkinson II (Castle Rock, CO) 6 Eighty-fourth General Assembly Presbytery of Michigan and Ontario (M&O) Ministers (7/7) – Douglas B. Doll, John R. Ferguson, Everett A. Henes, Glenn D. Jerrell, W. Vernon Picknally, Kenneth A. Smith, Dale A. Van Dyke Ruling Elders (3/6) – Darryl G. Hart (Hillsdale, MI), Vito P. Lomonaco (Kentwood, MI), David C. Noe (Hillsdale, MI) Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic (MA) Ministers (6/6) – Clark H. Brooking,* Stephen D. Doe, Bryan D. Estelle, Albert J. Tri- carico, Jr., Francis E. VanDelden, Chad B. Van Dixhoorn Ruling Elders (1/4) – Kenneth F. Barnes (Charlottesville, VA) Presbytery of the Midwest (MW) Ministers (9/9) – Douglas B. Clawson, James E. Ferguson, Kent W. Harding, Kenny R. Honken, Edward E. Jensen, Christian M. McShaffrey, Paul A. Mourreale, Gordon L. Oliver, John H. Ro Ruling Elders (5/7) – John J. Fry (Indian Head Park, IL), Randall Kreisel (Saint Paul, MN), Daniel Moore (Wheaton, IL), Jack W. Pluister (Orland Park, IL), Bruce A. Stahl (Troy, MO) Presbytery of New Jersey (NJ) Ministers (4/5) – Matthew D. Cole, David
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