MORE in the PCA
Do not neglect the gift you have,
which was given you by prophecy
when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself
and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing
you will save both yourself and your hearers.I Timothy 4:14-16
MORE in the PCA is a grassroots movement of Ruling Elders in the PCA. We seek to encourage our brother REs who have not been active in Presbytery and General Assembly to begin attending and participating.
Because we are called and ordained as Ruling Elders, we are obligated “to watch diligently over the flock … that no corruption of doctrine or morals enter therein. [Ruling Elders] must exercise government and discipline, and take oversight not only of the spiritual interests of the particular church, but also the Church generally when called thereunto.” (BCO 8-3)
We believe REs are now being “called thereunto.” In the 2017 General Assembly, TEs outnumbered REs by a ratio of 4:1. When only 20% of the commissioners are REs, the PCA isn’t really operating with a “plurality of elders.” One only needs to examine the record to understand that the 2017 General Assembly did not hold true to our confessional standards.
Consequently, our primary goal is providing financial support for REs who, for financial reasons, cannot attend General Assembly. To that end, we are announcing MOREatGA! MORE is now accepting tax deductible contributions to sponsor REs seeking to attend the 2021 General Assembly in St. Louis, and the 2022 General Assembly in Birmingham.
Coronavirus cancelled the 2020 Birmingham General Assembly and forced just about everyone to shut down for months. Many of us are back at worship and work, and we’re realizing that the troubling trends we see in the PCA are still there, still unresolved.
So we are refocusing on our mission: getting Ruling Elders more involved in the Church’s courts. And we’re beginning this new campaign to enable many more Ruling Elders to get to General Assembly. This will be a multi-year campaign. It is not just focused on getting Ruling Elders to the 2021 and 2022 General Assemblies. It is focused on enabling more Ruling Elders to come to every future PCA General Assembly.
Today we’re taking our first steps! For the next eleven months, MOREatGA will be our campaign to bring 100 Ruling Elders to the St. Louis General Assembly. And because we are looking to broadly renew and reinvigorate Ruling Elder participation in General Assembly, we’re especially encouraging:
- Ruling Elders who have never come to a General Assembly,
- Ruling Elders from Churches that have not sent a RE commissioner to GA in years (or ever),
- Ruling Elders from smaller Churches, and
- Ruling Elders from Churches with tight budgets.
We know that General Assembly doesn’t hear from many, many Churches. We want to change that! If you share our mission, please walk alongside us by:
- Praying … for a resurgence of Ruling Elder participation at General Assembly,
- Giving … to help send Ruling Elders to future General Assemblies,
- Applying … for financial assistance to send yourself or some other Ruling Elder you know to the St. Louis General Assembly (you can block off the week of June28 – July2, 2021 today!),
- Sharing … the news that the grassroots are growing and they will blossom in St. Louis!, and
- Watching … for updates on the progress and details of the MOREatGA campaign.
Today we begin a long journey…