# The "24 Hour Synod" I have heard that the business at this year's Synod was concluded the quickest it has ever been done. Business started around 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon and was finished just over 24 hours later. Because of this, I was able to have some extra time with my family who travelled with me this year. The sermon preached at my church the first Lord's Day back from Synod was from Psalm 48. I found this quite appropriate as something to meditate on after seeing the business of the church take place the week before. "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion" (verse 2). Often the church does not appear to be situated beautifully, nor is it always a joy to its members or the world. I think many who were at last year's Synod felt this way, with the fatigue of the contentious matters being handled. Such things, however, are still important. The church must be built up, protected from threats without, and cleansed of corruption within. The Psalm directs us to "Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell the generation following" (verses 12-13). It is good to take notice of how the church is being built up and defended. Who else can build and defend the church best besides her officers? It is such a blessing to be at Synod to see and hear about the work of our ministers, elders, and missionaries. These are the watchmen set on the bulwarks of Zion, doing the work of the Lord. "I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night..." (Isaiah 62:6). James Durham said of such officers in his lectures on Song of Solomon, "There is but one city or church, and all ministers are watchmen of that one church, given for the edification of that body; and they should watch, not only for this or that post, to say so, but for the safety of the whole, as watchmen that stand at their post for the good of the whole city." I am so thankful for the officers of the ARP who work not only for their own individual congregations, but for the good of the whole church. The watchmen of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church convened to do that work on June 10th, 2025 at Bonclarken Conference Center in Flat Rock, North Carolina. # Important Matters There wasn't much that needed to be done at the meeting as far as business goes. This is how things were concluded so quickly. For this reason, I want to focus here on my own experience, rather than the business. I titled this writing "My Experience" very intentionally, rather than "[[What Happened at the 2024 ARP Synod|What Happened]]," as I did last year. There are still a few things worth noting, though. ## Abolishing the Committee on Revisions This came from a motion on the floor last year. My understanding is that anything that comes from either a motion on the floor or a Memorial from a presbytery that impacts our governing documents must first go to the Committee on Revisions so that they can report on how the change would impact them before a vote can be taken. This essentially turns any item of substance into a 2+ year process. Delegates last year were frustrated with this process causing a roadblock to getting business done. This motion passed last year, and the Committee brought back their report. The vote to abolish the Committee on Revisions passed. ## Ending the Denominational Healthcare Plan Many people in the denomination have been concerned with the rising cost of the denominational healthcare plan. As people leave the plan and find coverage elsewhere, the cost continues to rise due to fewer people in the group. It was stated several times that the trajectory is not sustainable, and that something must be done now when there is time to plan the change rather than try to deal with it if the coverage has to end abruptly due to inability to cover the cost. The vote to get rid of the healthcare plan passed, and coverage will be ending December 31st, 2025. Individual churches will be tasked with helping ministers find other coverage. ## Trinitarian Concerns in a Position Paper A Memorial last year brought up some concerns with a paper that is listed as a position paper on the ARP website. The paper, which is about women and their service in the life of the church, grounded some of its argumentation on an idea of submission within the Godhead. The idea that members of the Trinity could submit their wills one to another implies that there is more than one will in God. It was decided this year to revise the offending portions of the paper to remove this problematic argumentation. ## Investigation of a Minister (Re: Second Presbytery) There were some accusations against a minister regarding some of the things he had said about the Minister and His Work Committee in the Second Presbytery. This was some of the fallout from last year's decision to dissolve Second Presbytery. The minister who was accused was exonerated by the Synod's judicial committee, but the report brought to Synod merely reinforced last year's decision to dissolve the presbytery. ## Statement on Racial Concerns Tuesday evening, recording clerk Rev. Benjamin Glaser stood up and made a motion "_That the 221st General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church do on this solemn day condemn without distinction any theological or political teaching which posits a superiority of race or ethnic identity born of immutable human characteristics and does on this solemn evening call to repentance any who would promote or associate themselves with such teaching, either by commission or omission._" This statement was unanimously adopted as an official position statement of the ARP Church. The context of such a statement is some unfortunate disruption at one of our ARP churches in North Carolina, and a growing popularity of bad teaching on race circling the internet. Later at synod, another motion was made to establish a study committee to review teachings of "kinism/race realism" and report back to the 2027 General Synod. This report will hopefully be a resource that officers and members can use to weigh these teachings in light of the scriptures. I felt the need to put an after-the-fact update here after I reflected on some things from the sermon text on July 6th, 2025. The part of the text that provoked some thought was Nehemiah 4:19-20, "And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us." I was thinking how well this relates to the church in our day. "There is but one city or church," as Durham said in the quote above, one church invisible throughout all the world, "the work is great and large," yet the individual watchmen on the wall may find themselves spread throughout many denominations, traditions, or communions, often without much interaction, "we are separated upon the wall, one far from another." Yet there are certain times and situations, when the adversaries of the church are spotted in one corner of the wall, that "the sound of the trumpet" is heard to warn the whole church of an impending threat. Errors and heresies may begin to creep in to this or that place in the church, and those nearest must sound the alarm to bring other defenders from their places to stop up the breach. I see the ARP's statement on race as a "first blast of the trumpet," so to speak, warning the city of the encroachment of false doctrine. The synod of the RPCNA and the general assembly of the PCA, both American reformed bodies, have heard the sound of this trumpet and certified their agreement with the statement, offering their service to the defense. There must be time, of course, for the other defenders to "resort thither unto us," to fix their armor, to set themselves in battle array, by drafting a more comprehensive theological defense of this error. The ARP's study committee is tasked to do just that. We should all pray that the Spirit of God speaks through this work, as he has promised, "our God shall fight for us." # My Experience Since there really wasn't much important business to discuss, I felt I was able to focus more on encouraging things. Before the start of each business session, we were blessed to hear good preaching of God's Word on several occasions. Synod business morning, afternoon, and evening always begins with a sermon and a time of singing. There were some very refreshing messages preached by ministers Tim Phillips, Bryan Bult, and John Shearhouse. There is a short time of psalm-singing that takes place before breakfast in the mornings. I was only able to make it to this on Friday, but it is always a special time of praising God with the inspired Word with brothers and sisters in the faith to begin the day. Most encouraging to me this year was hearing reports from synod boards on World Witness and Outreach North America. This year was the 150th anniversary of foreign mission work of the ARP Church. We heard a very inspiring report from Lee Shelnutt and Sam Cotton about the work that our SEED Ministry team is doing in Rwanda. The theological education happening there empowered by our Erskine Seminary is beginning to bear fruit. The World Witness team is searching for one or two individuals/families to go to Rwanda and stay indefinitely to cement the work, and they hope to see a new presbytery of the ARP Synod established in Rwanda in the coming years. Our sister churches, the ARP Synods in Pakistan and Mexico, and the newly minted ARP Synod of Canada, were all formed from the small beginnings of presbyteries. We may witness the establishment of a new Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church of Rwanda out of nothing in our lifetime, all through the work of World Witness. Praise the name of God, how exciting! My family prays for and receives newsletters from the Brickey family with World Witness. I was able to sit at a table on Friday morning with Justin Brickey, and spoke with him about his ministry and the challenges and successes he faces. It is great to be able to meet in person with the missionaries we support. The Outreach North America report spoke of the great need for church planting in the United States. This is a need shared by other reformed and presbyterian denominations also. Our church needs ministers who are interested in the work of church planting, and members who are ready to support these efforts. This should be a matter of earnest prayer! There are even opportunities in our own Virginia Presbytery. Many of the resources are in place, all that is needed is people willing to go. # Conclusion This was only my second year at our synod meeting, but once again I came away invigorated and excited about the work of our church and the things that God is doing in our denomination, both here in America and abroad. I was able to shake hands and speak with folks from around the country, some who I've never spoken with, and some who I have interacted with in online spaces. I was able to speak with men from our own presbytery, Aaron Kees, Seth McCormick, Stephen Laughridge, and Frank Heinsohn. Over meals, I spoke with a number of others, most of which I couldn't name. It's encouraging to hear about the lives of our ARP brothers and sisters. I was particularly encouraged by talking with Aaron de Boer, Mark James, and Matt Richardson, ministers in different areas of the country. "Encouraged, encouraged, encouraged" is the common theme here. I highly recommend more members of our churches come and attend. Many who I spoke with expressed desire to see more members there being engaged with the broader life of our church. If you're interested in going, let me know! Let's plan on it together. # Other Resources Here are some other resources to learn more about what happened at our synod meeting. - A [post from Rev. Ben Glaser](https://substack.com/home/post/p-165824237) on his Substack page giving a summary of what took place - An [interview of Rev. Ben Glaser on Presbycast](https://presbycast.libsyn.com/reports-from-the-arp-opc-meetings-wben-glaser-chris-drew) (a PCA-focus podcast) where he spoke about what happened at synod and gave more background on the statement on race - A [post from Rev. Tim Phillips](https://substack.com/home/post/p-166324011) on his Substack page summarizing the sermon he preached at synod and it's connection to the position statement on race - A [brief summary of General Synod 2025](https://arpnews.org/general-synod-2025-brief-summary/) posted on the ARP news website - General Synod coverage in the [July/August 2025 edition of the ARP Magazine](https://www.modernpubsonline.com/0A43cmq/ARPMagazineJulAug25/html/index.html?origin=reader)