MINUTES of the EIGHTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY Meeting at the Sandy Cove Conference Center North East, Maryland June 8–14, 2016 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 83rd General Assembly ......................................................................................4 MINUTES ................................................................................................................................5 APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................47 Overtures .................................................................................................................................48 Communications .....................................................................................................................49 Appeals ...................................................................................................................................60 Reports ....................................................................................................................................72 General Assembly Arrangements, Committee on ...........................................................72 Stated Clerk .....................................................................................................................76 Trustees of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church ...............................................................82 Statistician .......................................................................................................................85 Home Missions and Church Extension, Committee on ..................................................90 Foreign Missions, Committee on ..................................................................................108 Christian Education, Committee on ..............................................................................180 Coordination, Committee on .........................................................................................214 Diaconal Ministries, Committee on ..............................................................................222 Pensions, Committee on................................................................................................245 Ecumenicity and Interchurch Relations, Committee on ...............................................260 Appeals and Complaints, Committee on ......................................................................299 Chaplains and Military Personnel, Committee on ........................................................303 Historian ........................................................................................................................310 Historian, Committee for the ........................................................................................312 Care for the Ministers of the Church, Committee to Study the ....................................315 Presbytery of the Northwest, Committee to Visit the ...................................................324 Canadian Matters, Committee to Consider ...................................................................329 Republication, Committee to Study ..............................................................................332 YEARBOOK .......................................................................................................................457 Statistical Reports of the Churches for the Year Ending December 31, 2015 ......................458 Summary of OPC Statistics for 2015 ............................................................................458 Statistical Reports of the Regional Churches and Congregations ................................460 Recapitulation of Membership Statistics, 1938–2015 ..................................................476 Statistical Reports of the Presbyteries for 2015 ...........................................................477 Apportionment of Commissioners to the 84th General Assembly .......................................499 Standing Committees of the General Assembly ...................................................................500 Moderators of the General Assemblies .................................................................................503 Clerks of the General Assemblies .........................................................................................505 Historians, Statisticians .................................................................................................506 Stated Clerks of the Presbyteries ..........................................................................................507 Clerks of Sessions .................................................................................................................508 Ministers of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church ...................................................................520 INDEX ..................................................................................................................................533 EIGHTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 5 MINUTES of the EIGHTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Meeting at the Sandy Cove Conference Center North East, Maryland June 8–14, 2016 Wednesday Evening, June 8, 2016 1. OPENING WORSHIP. The 83rd General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church was called to order at the chapel of the Sandy Cove Conference Center, North East, Maryland, at 7:30 p.m. by the Rev. Archibald A. Allison, Moderator of the 82nd General As- sembly. He constituted the meeting with prayer and led a worship service. He delivered a ser- mon on the subject, “Christ, the Power and Wisdom of God,” based on 1 Corinthians 1:18–25. The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was administered by the Rev. Michael J. Matossian, assisted by Ruling Elders: Harold Grubbs, G. Todd Palmer, Kevin Shaw, and Pete Veenema, all members of the Session of Emmanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, Delaware. 2. RECESS AND RECONVENE. The Assembly recessed at 8:54 p.m. and reconvened at 9:03 p.m. in the Chesapeake Auditorium. The Moderator led in prayer. 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), William M. Rose II (State College, PA) Presbytery of the Central United States (CUS) Ministers (2/2) – LeRoy E. Miller, Jim G. Stevenson Ruling Elder (1/1) – David M. Belanger (Tulsa, OK) Presbytery of Connecticut and Southern New York (C&SNY) Ministers (2/2) – Jonathan Holst, John W. Mallin III Ruling Elder (1/1) – Michael F. Montemarano (Franklin Square, NY) Presbytery of the Dakotas (DK) Ministers (4/4) – Leonard J. Coppes, Matthew W. Kingsbury, Bruce L. Prentice, D. Jason Wallace Ruling Elders (2/2) – Donald W. King (Ogden, UT), Kevin A. Reed (Denver, CO) Presbytery of Michigan and Ontario (M&O) Ministers (7/7) – Bruce G. Buchanan, John Currie, Lap Q. Duong, John R. Ferguson, 6 Eighty-third General Assembly Everett A. Henes, W. Vernon Picknally, Jeffrey Shamess Ruling Elders (6/6) – J. Anthony Blair (Wyoming, MI), Darryl G. Hart (Hillsdale, MI), Lynne F. Hunter (Wyoming, MI), David C. Noe (Ada, MI), Kenneth Vander Molen (Wyoming, MI), David Van Dyke (Hudsonville, MI) Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic (MA) Ministers (6/6) – Clark H. Brooking, Mark A. Green, Allen H. Harris Jr., Andrew J. Mill- er, Anthony A. Monaghan, Philip T. Proctor Ruling Elders (3/5) – Kenneth F. Barnes (Charlottesville, VA), Jeffrey W. Dronenburg (Saint Mary’s County, MD), James W. Van Dam (Silver Spring, MD) Presbytery of the Midwest (MW) Ministers (9/9) – Kenneth R. Golden, Bruce H. Hollister, Marcus A. Mininger, Lendall H. Smith, Benjamin J. Snodgrass, Alan D. Strange, John R. Tinsley, A. Craig Troxel, David M. VanDrunen