tape series to hear . .

This is asubject that

deserves the new
insight brought to it
by Rev. Morecraft.
----in the last issue
we asked for your
response to what you
would like to see The
Counsel of Chalcedon
feature in future
issues. We appreciate
the response we have
had and encourage
you to share your
thoughts and needs
with us. We
appreciate hearing
from you.
----the third and last
installment of A Diary
from South Africa by
Becky Morecraft will
appear next month . .
We hope you have
enjoyed this personal .
account of her visit
earlier this year. ED.
I am an experienced high
school teacher in
MA TH/SCIENCE/BffiLE
and want a position in a .
Reformed Christian School
this fall.
Thomas W. Prior
Rt 20 Box 479
~ ~ i ~ !f, ~ 1 ~ ~
5
REPORT ON THE GENERAL
,ASSEMBLY OF THE REFORMED
PREsBYTERIAN cHURCH IN
THE UNITED STATES
by Joe Moreaaft, m
With the preaching at the General
Assembly of the Reformed
Presbyterian Church in the
United States and the Atlanta
Christian Training Seminar on
June 8 - 10, some commented
that God brought to them the
most important spiritual revival
forty-five years. The frre of the
Spirit of God began glowing
among us at the opening of our
RPCUS General Assembly on
Friday morning when Carl
Bogue, a PCA pastor from Ohio,
preached a powerful message
from the word of God, entitled
"The Awe and All of the Gospel
Message", taken from Acts
20: 17ff and Matthew 28:18-20.
As we met in General
Assembly, something became
more and more obivous. God
was not only burning His word
within us, he was shining the
light of His word through our
small body of men and women to
our whole nation and to the
world In fact, it continues to
surprise us how many millions of
people hear the gospel from the
lips of our preachers and
missionaries and magazines each
year. God is to be praised for
being faithful to his promise that
he would make THE WORlD'S
NATIONS CHRISTS
DISCIPLES.
Two events illustrate the
spreading influence for Christ of
our denomination around the
nation and world. First, we had
to form three additional .
presbyteries for the better
governing and advancing of the
RPCUS. The four presbyteries
are
COVENANT (Georgia);
I AM INTERESTED
. IN BUYING USED
CHRISTIAN BOOKS
AND SCHOLARLY
PUBLICATIONS .
John R. Hunt
10545 W 62nd Ave
Arvada, CO 80004
(303) 423-4620
The Counsel of Chalcedon July 1990 Page 3
Nicaragua); HANOVER (Virginia-
New England); and
NORTIIWEST (Nebraska-
Washington-Alberta). Now our .
earnest prayer is that God would
bless our presbyteries to be .
faithful to His word and to grow
rapidly, spiritually, and
numerically. Second, because
the RPCUS is growing
internationally with churches in
the U. S., Canada, Nicaragua
and plans to ordain a new .
:illimster in Y orkshite, England
. we have changed the .
:denomination name to I.HE.
'REfORMED PRESYBTEIUAN .
,CHURCH IN THE AMERICAS.
The voting members who
attended the General Assembly
include Ruling Elders Bill
]3rown, Chalcedon Presbyterian
Church, Atlanta, GA; Bob
Bailey, Christ Community
Presbyterian Church,
Lawrenceville, GA; Jack
Draguet, Christ Presbyterian .
Church, Lakeland, FL; -Reuberi
Euba:Dks, First Refonned
Presbyterian Church, Managua,
Nicaragua; Greg Barrow,
Reformed Mission Church,
Edmonton, Canada; and Dana
Rykken, Sovereigt:i. Grace
Church, Spokarie, W A.
Teaching Elders attending
included Robert Hargrove,
Sovereign Grace Church,
Spokane, W A; Ken Talbot,
Whitfield Theological Seminary,
Lakeland, FL; Robert Lester,
Chalcedon Christian' School,
Atlanta, GA; Sam Brown,
Immanuel Presbyterian_ Church,
Merrimac, NH; Geoff Donnan,
Caribbean Christian Ministries;
Wayne Rogers, Christ
Community Presbyterian
Church, Lawrenceville, GA;
John Otis, Triumphant
Publications, Atlanta, GA; Randy
Talbot, Whitfield Theological
Seminmy,OcMa,FL;Phil
Schmidt, Christ Church,
Louisville, NE; Joe Mellen,
Ualtiniore, MD and Joe
. Morecraft, ill, Chalcedon
Presbyterian Church, Atlanta,
GA. Candidates under the care ..
of the denomination include Chris
Strevel and Charining Millet
from Chalcedon Presbyterian
Church, Atlanta, GA. and Todd
Streete from Chesapeake
Seminary, Jessup, MD.
An important decision made by
the Assembly was the
. unanimous adoption of the
original "Form of Presbyterial
. Church-Government'' of the
Westminster Assembly as our.
book of church order. Since our
we temporarily used an
edited version of the first editon
of the PeA's Book of Church
Order. We adopted the Form of .
P.reSbyterial Church-Government
for several reasons. It confonns
to the general principles of
Biblical church polity. It has
copious scriptural footnotes
supporting each principle. It is in
the volume which contains our
doctrinal constitution, the original
unedited Westminster Confession
ofFaith and Catechisms and the
directory of PUblic Worship of
God. Other books of church
order are longer, loaded with
rules and regulations which are
not to be found in the Word of
God, but to which churches
usually require stricter conformity
than to the Westminster
Standards. It gives our churches
unity of form, government and
worship, but being principle in
nature, it allows for some
freedom as well.
Because the Form of Presbyterial
Church-Government was written
orginally for use in England and
Scotland in the Seventeenth
Century, it is "culturally and
historically conditioned";
therefore, we have added several
footnotes containing clarifications
and exceptions which we believe
bring it into clearer conformitY to
the word of God. Some of the
clarifications and exceptions
P8ge 4 July 1_990 The Counsel of Ch8lcedon
include: (1) Ruling Elders are
shepherds of the church -along
with Teaching Elders. (2)
Officers of the church are to be
elected by the male heads of
households in each congregation . .
(3) Hymns and spiritual songs
may be sung along with the 150
Psalms. (4) Ministerial
examinations do not bave to be in
Public prayers need
mclude mtercess10rts for Bavanan
royalty. For a complete set of .
our footnotes to the westminster
Book of Church Order and other
constitutional documents please
call Chalcedon Presbyterian
Church at 404-396-0965.
We believe that God in His
convenant has promised His
Church a glorious future in Jesus-
Christ, Isaiah 2. We look
forward to the future knowing,
with all its struggles, afflictions,
and progressive victories, it
belongs to the faithful people of
God and not to the humanists, I .
Cor. 3:21-22. Our vision forlife'
and the future is determined by
the promises of God's covenant
and of Christ's kingdom. We
pray that God would usethe
J,UlCA and all other Refonned
and Presbyterian denominations
to bring the covenantal blessings
of salvation to all of the families
of all the nations of the worlci,
Psa. 22:27ff; Ga. 3:7ff. We
believe that the kingdom of Christ
and the preaching of that
kingdom will leaven the whole
loaf ofhu:man: life and society, as
it adv@ccs toward total victory,
Mk. 4:2L We work, pray and .
hope for the day when the "earth
will be full of the knowledge of '
the Lord as the waters cover the
sea", Isa.
If you would like to talk about
joining with us, or if you have .
any questions about who we are
and what we stand for, we
would be delighted to hear from
you. Call404-396-0965 or 404-
339-1162.