81St General Assembly
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MINUTES of the EIGHTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY Meeting at Kuyper College Grand Rapids, Michigan June 4–9, 2014 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 journal 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 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 81st General Assembly .......................................................................................4 MINUTES ................................................................................................................................5 APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................53 Overtures .................................................................................................................................54 Communications .....................................................................................................................55 Appeals ...................................................................................................................................62 Reports ....................................................................................................................................75 General Assembly Arrangements, Committee on ...........................................................75 Stated Clerk .....................................................................................................................76 Trustees of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church ...............................................................83 Statistician .......................................................................................................................86 Home Missions and Church Extension, Committee on ..................................................91 Foreign Missions, Committee on ..................................................................................108 Christian Education, Committee on ..............................................................................199 Coordination, Committee on .........................................................................................232 Diaconal Ministries, Committee on ..............................................................................252 Pensions, Committee on................................................................................................272 Ecumenicity and Interchurch Relations, Committee on ...............................................288 Appeals and Complaints, Committee on ......................................................................327 Chaplains and Military Personnel, Committee on ........................................................336 Historian ........................................................................................................................342 Historian, Committee for the ........................................................................................343 YEARBOOK .......................................................................................................................347 Statistical Reports of the Churches for the Year Ending December 31, 2013 ......................348 Summary of OPC Statistics for 2013 ............................................................................348 Statistical Reports of the Regional Churches and Congregations ................................350 Recapitulation of Membership Statistics, 1938–2013 ..................................................366 Statistical Reports of the Presbyteries ...........................................................................368 Apportionment of Commissioners to the 82nd General Assembly ......................................387 Standing Committees of the General Assembly ...................................................................388 Special Committees of the 81st General Assembly ..............................................................390 Moderators of the General Assemblies .................................................................................391 Clerks of the General Assemblies .........................................................................................393 Historians, Statisticians .................................................................................................394 Stated Clerks of the Presbyteries ..........................................................................................395 Clerks of Session...................................................................................................................396 Ministers of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church ...................................................................408 INDEX ..................................................................................................................................421 EIGHTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 5 MINUTES of the EIGHTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Meeting at Kuyper College Grand Rapids, Michigan June 4–9, 2014 Wednesday Evening, June 4, 2014 1. OPENING. The 81st General Assembly of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by the Rev. Jeffery A. Landis, Moderator of the 80th General Assembly. He led in prayer. The Assembly sang “Rejoice, the Lord Is King.” 2. SERMON. Mr. Landis read Isaiah 66:15–24 and delivered a sermon entitled “From Now to Eternity.” He led in prayer. The Assembly sang, “Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns.” 3. COMMISSIONERS ROLL. [Nos. (x/x) are (number listed/number apportioned).] Presbytery of Central Pennsylvania (CPA) Ministers (3/3) – Roth M. Reason, Thomas E. Tyson, John D. Van Meerbeke Ruling Elders (2/2) – Alan W. Montgomery (Hollidaysburg, PA), Gary P. Steiner (Hollidaysburg, PA) Presbytery of the Central United States (CUS) Ministers (1/1) – Jim G. Stevenson Ruling Elder (1/1) – Terry K. Miller (Bartlesville, OK) Presbytery of Connecticut and Southern New York (C&SNY) Minister (2/2) – Jonathan W. Shishko, William Shishko Ruling Elder (1/1) – Michael F. Montemarano (Franklin Square, NY) Presbytery of the Dakotas (DK) Ministers (3/3) – Archibald A. Allison, Leonard J. Coppes, Kevin P. Swanson Ruling Elders (2/2) – Donald W. King (Ogden, UT), Todd E. Smith (Lander, WY) Presbytery of Michigan and Ontario (M&O) Ministers (7/7) – John Currie, Everett A. Henes, W. Vernon Picknally, Jr., Ralph A. Rebandt II, David A. Vander Meer, Robert M. Van Manen, Peter J. Wallace Ruling Elders (5/5) – J. Anthony Blair (Harvest, Grand Rapids, MI), James L. Larsen (Rockford, MI), Don J. McCrory (Wyoming, MI), David C. Noe (Ada, MI), Daniel J. Sandbulte (Wyoming, MI) 6 Eighty-first General Assembly Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic (MA) Ministers (6/6) – Charles R. Biggs, Clark H. Brooking, Bryan D. Estelle, Mark A. Green, Anthony A. Monaghan, Chad B. Van Dixhoorn Ruling Elders (2/4) – Kenneth F. Barnes (Charlottesville, VA), James W. Van Dam (Silver Spring, MD) Presbytery of the Midwest (MW) Ministers (9/9) – Camden M. Bucey, Matthew E. Cotta, Ivan J. De Master, Frank J. Marsh, Donald F. Ritsman, John S. Shaw, Alan D. Strange (enrolling later— Charles A. Muether, alternate), A. Craig Troxel, Brandon T. Wilkins Ruling Elders (5/7) – Leslie M. Hilbelink (Oostburg, WI), Mitchell K. Mahan (Des Moines, IA), Robert McKenzie (Indian Head Park, IL), Jack W. Pluister (Orland Park, IL), Bruce A. Stahl (St. Louis, MO) Presbytery of New Jersey (NJ) Ministers (4/6) – Richard N. Ellis, Ross W. Graham, Neil J. Lodge, Ronald E. Pearce Elders (4/4) – D. Miguel Flower (Reformada, San Juan, PR), Robert A. Freeman (Harmony, NJ), Jonathan W. Stevenson (North Wildwood, NJ), Mark J. Williams (West Collingswood. NJ) Presbytery of New York and New England (NY&NE) Ministers (6/7) – Gordon H. Cook, Samuel N. Folta, Gerald P. Malkus, Danny F. Patterson, Stephen L. Phillips, Patrick R. Severson Ruling Elders (2/5) – Steven W. Anderson (Portland, ME), James J. Hobbs (West Barnstable, MA) Presbytery of Northern California and Nevada (NC&NV) Ministers (4/4)