The Sweetness of Prayer – Report on the 73rd General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church

The Sweetness of Prayer

Report on the 73^rd General Synod of the

Bible Presbyterian Church

Bristol, Virginia

Rev. Garry Cole and the members of Ryder Memorial Presbyterian Church (Bluff City, TN) showed true southern hospitality as they hosted the 73^rd General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church in Bristol, Virginia. Meetings were held in the restored Train Station and were occasionally blessed with the sounds of passing freight trains in a beautiful historic setting.

Synod was comprised of 24 ministers and 10 delegate elders. Rev. John Janbaz, who attended the very first Bible Presbyterian Synod in 1938, was one of the ministers in attendance. Fraternal delegates included Rev. Tony Curto of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and Rev. Roger Schultz of the Reformed Presbyterian Church Hanover Presbytery.

The officers of the 73^rd General Synod are: Dr. Len Pine, Moderator; Rev. Stephen Johnson, Vice-Moderator; Rev. John Dyck, Stated Clerk; Rev. Steven Brinegar, Asst. Clerk; Elder Frank Williams, Treasurer; Elder Eric Lasch, Asst. Treasurer.

On the first evening of synod Dr. Joel Beeke addressed the delegates on Calvin and Piety. The theme of The Sweetness of Prayer was developed in a series of messages which traced Calvin’s Biblical thoughts on prayer as recorded in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3, Section 20.

Independent agencies approved by Synod for the coming year are Fundamental Presbyterian Publications, The Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, Presbyterian Missionary Union, and Western Reformed Seminary.

Among the resolutions passed were a commemoration of the 500^th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, as well as statements opposed to Islam, homosexuality, and feminism.

The General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church continues fraternal relations with the Independent Presbyterian Church in Kenya and the Reformed Presbyterian Church Hanover Presbytery. We also have corresponding relations with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

The Synod concluded with a distinctly Tennessee-type banquet: a pig roast on the banks of the Holston River, complete with fried chicken and all the trimmings, including freshly churned home-made ice-cream. Rev. Steven Johnson delivered the concluding message on The Risen Christ Our Intercessor.

The 74^th General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church will meet, Lord willing, August 5-10, 2010 at Grace Bible Presbyterian Church in Sharonville, OH.

John Dyck – Stated Clerk, 73rd General Synod, Bible Presbyterian Church