The 7th Stated Meeting of Evangel Presbytery met at Clearnote Church in Indianapolis, IN on February 18th, 2022. We began with our worship service at 9am with Pr. Paul Belcher preaching from Joshua 14:1-15. His exhortation centered on the life of Caleb and his faithfulness to enter the Promised Land.
After the Lord’s Supper our business portion of the meeting began starting with an exciting report about our statement on abortion. Last presbytery meeting, Sovereign King Church proposed that a committee study abortion with the purpose of adopting a statement. That committee has been working hard, and the current draft could easily be a book! No rock has been unturned and we have great hope that the final statement will be useful to all as a tool for repentance and true, righteous living.
After this, a report was given regarding the status of a handbook for session clerks. This handbook will be a great help to all future session clerks, bringing clarity and efficiency to their roles. The handbook will hopefully be completed by next presbytery.
Next we had updates from our churches and church plants. There is much to pray for, especially for the churches who have had sickness and death in recent weeks. This is always a sweet time full of encouragement despite the hardships that we are facing.
We then broke for a great lunch and warm fellowship. The peanut butter cookies were definitely the highlight.
Following lunch, we continued updates from our church plants and an update from Pr. Andrew Dionne on New Geneva Academy. NGA is doing well financially but is looking for more students. They are currently marketing at smaller conferences in hopes of connecting with eligible men and pastors.
After these reports, requests for approval for pastoral calls were granted. Alex McNeilly and Paul Belcher will serve as assistant pastors at recently particularized Christ Church, Cincinnati. After many years of faithful service Pr. Tim Bayly will resign as senior pastor of Trinity Reformed Church, and Jody Killingsworth will serve as senior pastor in his place.
A few remaining business decisions were handled regarding the BCO before finishing the day.
Our next stated meeting will be on Thursday June 2nd, 2022 at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Spartanburg, SC. We hope to see you there!