# Historic RP/ARP Joint Synod Officially Begins June 9!



## R Harris (Jun 8, 2015)

The historic joint synod of the RPCNA and ARP denominations will begin tomorrow morning in Flat Rock, NC. I understand there is a general social reception tonight for those delegates who can make it.

People are praying fervently that this be a great and edifying synod, and that much be accomplished for both denominations in their individual and joint efforts.

If any board members can provide daily or semi-daily updates, it would be greatly appreciated!


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## Hamalas (Jun 8, 2015)




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## uberkermit (Jun 8, 2015)

R Harris said:


> The historic joint synod of the RPCNA and ARP denominations will begin tomorrow morning in Flat Rock, NC. I understand there is a general social reception tonight for those delegates who can make it.
> 
> People are praying fervently that this be a great and edifying synod, and that much be accomplished for both denominations in their individual and joint efforts.
> 
> If any board members can provide daily or semi-daily updates, it would be greatly appreciated!



I was just going to start a thread on this, asking if anyone had links to updates on this Synod. I guess I am a bit of a Synod news junkie.


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## Andres (Jun 8, 2015)

The RP Witness, the official magazine of the RPCNA, advised they'd be putting out updates via their Facebook page and their Twitter account. I'm not sure if they'd have ARP updates too.


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## Nicholas Perella (Jun 9, 2015)

This link is also in the Twitter link Andrew provided. Since I do not have either a facebook or twitter account, this link provided information that I could access.

RP Witness

There is already one article. It is about the start of this first meet which included psalm singing and speaker Prof. Iain Duguid of Westminster Theological Seminary, an ARP minister. The article noted this as follows:



> The Synod of the RPCNA begins at 8:30 tomorrow (Tuesday), with the first official joint session of the two denominations that afternoon.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jun 10, 2015)

It has been a real blessing so far. 

Joint worship this morning with Dr. Gamble preaching. All the joint worship services are acapella/EP.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jun 10, 2015)

Dr. Gamble's sermon was excellent. Audio will be made available.

Sent from my TM785M3 using Tapatalk


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## Andres (Jun 10, 2015)

Backwoods Presbyterian said:


> Dr. Gamble's sermon was excellent. Audio will be made available.



I was gonna ask about a recording. Looking forward to listening!


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## kodos (Jun 10, 2015)

Here is a video of the elders of the ARP and the RPCNA singing Psalm 47 this morning. It was a foretaste of the age to come, as God's People sang His praises to Him. Made me long for that Day when all of the saints are together before the Lord.

[video=youtube;F2piek7lz5M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2piek7lz5M[/video]


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## Nicholas Perella (Jun 10, 2015)

kodos said:


> Here is a video of the elders of the ARP and the RPCNA singing Psalm 47 this morning. It was a foretaste of the age to come, as God's People sang His praises to Him. Made me long for that Day when all of the saints are together before the Lord.
> 
> [video]https://youtu.be/F2piek7lz5M[/video]



Singing God's Word back to Him. Always wonderful to hear His Word, and on top of that, in song with so many people. Wonderful.

Thanks for sharing that.


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## earl40 (Jun 10, 2015)

kodos said:


> Here is a video of the elders of the ARP and the RPCNA singing Psalm 47 this morning. It was a foretaste of the age to come, as God's People sang His praises to Him. Made me long for that Day when all of the saints are together before the Lord.
> 
> [video]https://youtu.be/F2piek7lz5M[/video]



Now that is something every member can do and participate in. Absolutely fantastic!


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jun 11, 2015)

Here is a pic


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## DMcFadden (Jun 11, 2015)

Backwoods Presbyterian said:


> It has been a real blessing so far.
> 
> Joint worship this morning with Dr. Gamble preaching. All the joint worship services are acapella/EP.



What? No band and drums? I was expecting . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzqaITA3IO0

Great! Be sure to look up my old friend Joel Wood. He went to school with my eldest son. I'm happy he migrated to a confessional denomination from his former broad evangelicalism. Now, if I could just convince my son (his service sort of resembles the video).


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## kodos (Jun 11, 2015)

DMcFadden said:


> Backwoods Presbyterian said:
> 
> 
> > It has been a real blessing so far.
> ...



Small world! We know Dr. Wood quite well! If I get a chance to chat with him before Synod is over, I'll tell him that you say 'hi'!


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## kodos (Jun 11, 2015)

kodos said:


> DMcFadden said:
> 
> 
> > Great! Be sure to look up my old friend Joel Wood. He went to school with my eldest son. I'm happy he migrated to a confessional denomination from his former broad evangelicalism. Now, if I could just convince my son (his service sort of resembles the video).
> ...



Dr. Wood says 'hi', Dennis! He seemed very shocked that I "knew" you.  He started talking about your son almost immediately, gave me the same story you did. Small world!


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## DMcFadden (Jun 11, 2015)

Small world indeed. I have great respect for Joel.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jun 12, 2015)

Good, brief read on the week that was.

http://gentlereformation.com/2015/06/12/the-rp-a-family-reunion-of-churches/


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## markkoller (Jun 12, 2015)

This was a wonderful event, met some good brothers in Christ. I got to meet THE Ben Glaser! 

Though a joint Synod, it was in practice more of a "concurrent" synod since we had separate facilities for RPCNA and ARP business. Both groups met together each day for combined worship and seminars.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jun 12, 2015)

I also was able to meet THE Mark Koller.  

Was a mighty blessing.


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## DMcFadden (Jun 13, 2015)

Why is it that the smaller denominations can meet and find great spiritual refreshment in the experience when larger denominations cannot even hold a single denominational gathering without rancor and hard feelings? Do you think that the larger a denomination gets, the more likely to have visible and well-entrenched factions around the polarities and range of beliefs found in the group? Or is there another reason?

My former mainline denomination (1.25 million) was rife with dissension over liberal-conservative issues. Ultimately our Southwest district withdrew from the national body a decade ago and now numbers 200 or so congregations, some of them ginormous. Now that I'm in a conservative group (2.4 million), we fuss over being "missional" (aka aping the broad evangelicals in worship style) vs. "confessional."

Honestly, I'm a little jealous of the way that Benjamin describes this joint convention. You RP/ARP folks are blessed indeed!


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## kodos (Jun 13, 2015)

We even got proof that Ben can smile! I'm going to treasure this picture for a long time


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## kodos (Jun 13, 2015)

Dennis,
First, I know of some micro-Presbyterian denominations where they cannot even get along in their courts - so I'm not certain that size or even confessional obligations are the primary consideration.

Some observations of the types of men that I have seen in the RP church so far:

For the most part, they are not men in love with their abilities, or powers - but their love is in their Lord. You will rarely accuse a RP minister of having preaching abilities akin to a Charles Spurgeon or Tim Keller . But this I believe is a good thing: they are faithful preachers, but first they are pastors. They love their sheep and their Lord. One elder reminded me that our seminary's motto is "Learn under pastors". Our Synod oversees RPTS and makes sure that the men coming out are first and foremost pastors, and not simply scholars.
Our Synod is very pastoral and not just business. We laid hands and prayed over a minister whose family was under physical and spiritual assault, we start each day with a sermon about how our doctrine is to be applied to the flock, we sang Psalm 71 to the elderly saints at our nursing home over Skype, we have a memorial service for the elders who have passed away, we pray for our missionaries, the nations, etc., etc. It helps ground the proceedings with what we are really put here to do. 
There is a good degree of uniformity in our beliefs - around our Confession/Testimony. This year, there were no major doctrinal issues like "what do we do with the Sabbath Day?", etc. Those are settled. We had some discussions on prayer and worship, but they were minor in comparison. We care about theology deeply, especially applied theology to the flock. The ARP moderator made note of that fact when he addressed our Synod. Our meetings around the dinner table were filled with rich theological discussion and not just about the weather, politics, etc.
Where we differ, we disagree peaceably. One vote as very notable in my mind - we changed the way congregational meetings were held. It passed 86% being in favor. However, some of the men who dissented were deeply in disagreement. So, one elder made a motion after the vote to send it down in overture to the individual sessions to adopt, so that the sessions could have their chance to deliberate. This motion was overwhelmingly adopted. Now, this is how you make changes and preserve the love and unity of the brethren. We could have rammed it down the individual sessions' throats, but we didn't. I was greatly encouraged by this.
This may seem cliche' but we very much are a family. It is always like a family gathering when we meet - we genuinely like each other, and it shows.
We have a long, rich, history (around 200 years in NA) - we didn't just spring up as a reaction to some apostate group recently. Our history grounds us.

We are not perfect, but in my limited experience with church courts, I could not be happier with this group of men who have such Christ-mindedness even in a parliamentary setting.

Now, my time with the ARP elders have been limited - but I noted several of the same characteristics among them, and their hospitality was incredible. They also were very accommodating to our distinctions in worship. They worshiped as we worshiped when we were together - acapella/EP. I heard from Ben that many in the ARP had their eyes opened to the beauty of singing God's Word without musical instruments because of this. But, their accommodation to our beliefs showed their love for us.

There was also a level of humility present in both groups that was incredibly refreshing having come from the PCA. It also helps that the RP and ARP churches share much rich history together. Historically, we even share more than the OPC and PCA - this certainly helps our groups get along peaceably.

This meeting also took much work and behind the scenes discussions. 3.5 years to prepare for this.

Just a few observations


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## DMcFadden (Jun 13, 2015)

Rom, VERY insightful. Thanks!


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## TheCalvinist (Jun 14, 2015)

kodos said:


> Dennis,
> First, I know of some micro-Presbyterian denominations where they cannot even get along in their courts - so I'm not certain that size or even confessional obligations are the primary consideration.
> 
> Some observations of the types of men that I have seen in the RP church so far:
> ...



Rom, Great post, this really speaks to what I have observed in my two years at RPTS so far. The Pastoral heart of the men there is undeniable. I'm so glad to hear that it exemplifies the rest of the denomination as well. 

I'm actually in the process of leaving my current Church and transitioning into the RPCNA, and am so excited!


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jun 14, 2015)




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## kodos (Jun 14, 2015)

TheCalvinist said:


> Rom, Great post, this really speaks to what I have observed in my two years at RPTS so far. The Pastoral heart of the men there is undeniable. I'm so glad to hear that it exemplifies the rest of the denomination as well.
> 
> I'm actually in the process of leaving my current Church and transitioning into the RPCNA, and am so excited!



Wow, from the PCUSA to the RPCNA, that's a pretty huge jump! Praise God! 

I pray you will find the RP church a blessing. If you have any questions or ever want to chat, hit me up


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jun 15, 2015)

As a veteran of the PC(USA) to confessionally Reformed jump (in my case ARP) thanks to RPTS I pray your switch is as a profitable as mine has been. 

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary '09 

Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (20% of my coursework)


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## TheCalvinist (Jun 15, 2015)

kodos said:


> TheCalvinist said:
> 
> 
> > Rom, Great post, this really speaks to what I have observed in my two years at RPTS so far. The Pastoral heart of the men there is undeniable. I'm so glad to hear that it exemplifies the rest of the denomination as well.
> ...



Yeah, I never identified with the affirmations in the PCUSA, it just happens to be the Church I started attending after my conversion, before I knew of much of the apostasy and denominational distinctives in Presbyterianism, and is where I did a lot of my growing as a Christian. The pastor is a faithful man of God, Reformed, loves and preaches the Gospel and points people to Christ week in and week out. His biggest blind spot in my opinion is on women elders, the Church itself looks and feels more like an EPC Church, they're actually just beginning the season of discernment in order to potentially leave PCUSA (Praise God!). 

I started at RPTS in 2013, and could see the difference very early on in the men there. Their love for Jesus, for the Word of God, for people, is palpable, it's truly a blessing to be a student there. The men won me over, and my study over denominational distinctives has been quite enlightening. I've visited 2 RP Churches so far, and I love everything about it. It's so refreshing to be around people with such a high view of Scripture, who love the Word of God so much, and who love each other like a family. 

It is definitely quite a leap for sure, but my heart has been in the RPCNA for a while now. Please keep my church, and other remnant churches in the PCUSA in prayers, as the free fall to apostasy continues like a disease. Pray that the Lord sees them out, and that the congregations draw nearer to God and the power of His Word.


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