This report is limited to highlights of the meeting to provide our readers with the main issues considered.

The first item of business at 8:00AM Friday was to return to the report of the COC on Mission to North America and the request of the Chaplains Commission for a statement on the military’s dealing with homosexual behavior.

Several speakers repeated the committees desire to answer all the overtures that had come to the Assembly with one letter proposed by the Chaplain’s Commission. That letter was adopted. A copy of the letter, which is the recommended language of the PCA’s position on these issues, will be available from the Stated Clerks office in Lawrenceville, GA next week (The Aquila Report will publish it as soon as it is received). Send requests to [email protected].

Overtures concerning a cooperative Disaster Relief efforts were approved. Details will be available soon on www.byfaithonline.com and will be published here when available.

Next came the report of the Overtures Committee. Our report today will include only brief summaries; again, check www.byfaithonlione.com for more details and we will publish them here when available. However you may read ALL the original overtures at: http://www.pcaac.org/2010GeneralAssembly/2010overtures.htm

The following overtures were answered in the negative (not adopted)
Overture 5 to clarify how non-binding sections of the BCO may be amended.
Overture 18 to require Presbytery vote on BCO 59-1, 59-6.
Overture 14 asking to prohibit use of the intincture form of administering communion at GA.
Several motions concerning the issue of women in mercy ministry/deaconesses were answered in the negative as all were considered under the one overture approved (discussed at the end of this article)

Several overtures were approved, some with changes made by the Overtures Committee. They were:
Overture 28 on a Sanctity of Life Resolution (as amended)
Overture 11 regarding changes to BCO 5-3 on oversight of Mission Churches
Overture 15 also regarding changes to BCO 5, this time throughout the chapter, concerning the organization of new churches. This resulted in the largest single change to the Book of Church Order in history (by most folk’s recollection).

The issues of women/deaconesses was approved without the necessity of a vote. The story of the committee was previously published in this magazine on Tuesday (https://staging.theaquilareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2384:the-view-from-the-visitors-section–watching-the-pca-overtures-committee-at-work&catid=91:pca-general-assembly&Itemid=145

It was quite clear that the Overtures Committee, which was designed to do the hard, detailed work of the Assembly, did a great job, and the quick approval of this recommendation is ample evidence of that.

After the committee of thanks and several housekeeping matters, the Assembly adjourned with the singing of Psalm 133 at 9:45AM

One personal note – if the writing of this article is not as clear as it should be, and it appears that the author was in a rush to get out of town to drive home, you are correct.