The Westminster Standard

Numerous statements and visions are proposed as the "mission of the church" nowadays. But the panel argues the Church already has a mission, given by Christ the king, which is to make disciples. Rather than be distracted by all manner of projects and endeavors, the panel argues the church should remain focused on making disciples through the preaching of the Word. TEs Stephen Spinnenweber, Ryan Biese, and Wilson van Hooser are joined by Mrs Sean Morris and Mrs Seth Miller, the presbygirls.

Ruling Elders are crucial to the health of the PCA. On this week's episode REs Ross Harris and Charlie Nave join the program to share their own reflections and insights as to why REs need to make the effort to take part in the work of the Church Courts. RE Nave is the founder of MORE in the PCA, which raises funds to help REs cover the cost of attending the General Assembly in order to relieve he financial burden on smaller churches. Visit their website: www.moreinthepca.org for more information as well as to register for the fellowship event on Wednesday, June 12 in the evening. Read more from the National Partnership here: https://1ar.s3.amazonaws.com/2021/12/NPP_Emails_2013_2021.pdf

An article based on a study by RE Matthew Lee suggests the PCA General Assembly is not only giving greater attention to ensuring presbyteries are rightly handing TEs with differences with the PCA Constitution, but also that the PCA is becoming more robust in her commitment to the Reformed Faith as expressed in the Westminster Standards. This seems to confirm what TE Chas. McGowan noted at the 50th General Assembly: while the PCA was founded as 'big tent movement,' the PCA has become stronger over the years because of greater theological focus.TEs Jas. Bruce and Zack Groff join the show as well. Find RE Lee's article here: https://pcapolity.com/2024/02/21/exceptionalism-in-the-pca/

"We Old Schoolers can’t work to make our Agencies superb by ignoring them; we need to support them by offering up more elders to serve on their permanent committees. Certainly there is a place to raise concerns and criticisms, but we also need to find men willing to serve on the permanent committees who can change the culture and commitments of PCA Agencies so they will be thoroughly Reformed." An article read by the author.

There are now dozens of podcasts and blogs focused on the news and polity of the PCA. This was not the case even five years ago. On the program this week we discuss how the proliferation of media focused on the PCA has impacted the General Assembly and the health of the denomination at as a whole. The PCA is healthier now and more robustly presbyterian today than she was five years ago. tl;dr: we think the greater interest in the happenings of the PCA has resulted in greater participation and thereby a resurgence in a commitment to the PCA's historic commitments of faithful to the Scriptures, true to the Reformed Faith, and obedient to the Great Commission.

In this bonus episode we are joined by RE Charles Higham and TE George Sayour of the  @PandR-Churchmen . RE Higham explains the circumstances behind his recent public repentance for his support of Revoice.

In 2004 Covenant Seminary Graduate and MTW Missionary Sarah Young Published Jesus Calling, a daily devotional written in the first person as if Jesus were speaking directly to the reader. But the words were not those of Christ, but the private thoughts and reflections of the author. Since the time of publication, Young's book has sold more than 45 million copies making it perhaps the most influential book written by a member of the PCA or Covenant Seminary graduate. On this week's episode TE Zack Groff joins along with Mrs Sean Morris and Mrs Ryan Biese to discuss what Groff described as a "defiling influence" upon evangelicalism. Why was it so few PCA people warned about this book, which seems to deviate from what the PCA confesses regarding the way God meets with His people. Read TE Benj. Inman's articles on this topic: Here: https://www.knotsbetter.com/post/the-pca-ga-corporate-repentance-and-jesus-calling And Here: https://www.knotsbetter.com/post/jesus-calling-pca-lament-repent Check out the Presbycast episode on this subject: https://presbycast.libsyn.com/a-pca-pastor-calls-for-repentance-over-jesus-calling

On Reformation Sunday in 2021 a Priestess of The Episcopal Church gave an oration as part of the worship service of Trinity PCA in Rye, New York. The prospect of a woman preaching in a congregation of the PCA created a great deal of confusion. The 50th General Assembly referred the matter to the Standing Judicial Commission, which has recently returned its decision and given Metro New York Presbytery a number of directives to rectify the issue and report to the 51st General Assembly's Review of Presbytery Records Committee. TE Stephen O'Neill of New Jersey Presbytery helps us understand the issues at play here. Read the SJC Decision: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mzitnxd6gb13yl53hj958/SJC-2023-13-BCO-40-5-Report-re-Metro-NY-Final-Decision.pdf?rlkey=h9pkchvbdgpo2afx4awv1qfm0&dl=0 See Episode 5 for excerpts from the address given by Mrs Rutledge at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Rye, NY.

The PCA continues to grow in her commitment to the historic Reformed Faith as she experiences a renewal of confessional integrity. A consequence of this revival is that congregations who share a love for the historic Reformed Faith are drawn into the PCA, but also those congregations whose commitments to the Reformed Faith are compromised by deviant views on issues such as paedocommunion, feminism, the federal vision, or human sexuality are departing the PCA for broader faith communions. In today's episode, we consider the case of the Providence Reformed Congregation in St. Louis, which voted to leave the PCA to join the CREC. Link to episode with video witnessing the practice of paedocommiunion when this was a congregation of the PCA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jayx1389gaw.

On this week's Westminster Standard Podcast TEs Todd Pruitt, Nick Bullock, and Matt Stanghelle as well as RE Steve Dowling join the program to assess the dangers posed by the distortions of the Federal Vision theology and mood..