2010 ARBCA General Assembly

[Dr. Bob Gonzales]

The Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America (ARBCA) will hold its 2010 General Assembly on April 20 through 22 at Grace Baptist Church in Taylors, South Carolina. The keynote speakers this year include Dr. Sam Waldron, dean of Midwest Center for Theological Studies and a pastor of Heritage Baptist Church, Owensboro, Kentucky; Dr. Jim Adams, pastor of Cornerstone Church in Mesa, Arizona; and Missionary David Vaughn church-planter of Eglise Réformée Baptiste du Grésivaudan in Grenoble, France. The theme this year is the church, and the speakers will address themes that promote a biblical vision of a balanced church

• where Christ is central and there is a passion for the glory of God in all things, and specifically in every area of church life.
• where the Holy Spirit has made the church to be alive with joyful and serious personal godliness, fervent worship, energetic fellowship, with real life and spiritual vitality, and not by employing artificial measures to accomplish it.
• where the missionary vision is strong, where men are being raised up to answer the call, and who will go to evangelize sinners, plant churches, and train men to lead those churches. Whether here or there, churches should be forward thinking about strategies and plans to reach out and reproduce themselves.

If you’d like more information on conference, including the schedule, registration, and contact info, click on the link below:

2010 ARBCA General Assembly

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

How can Congregationalists have a General Assembly?

 

[Dr. Bob Gonzales]

How can Congregationalists have a General Assembly?

You're welcome to come and see

Actually, the fuller answer is that the 2nd London Baptist Confession assumes such assemblies:

14.____ As each church, and all the members of it, are bound to pray continually for the good and prosperity of all the churches of Christ, in all places, and upon all occasions to further every one within the bounds of their places and callings, in the exercise of their gifts and graces, so the churches, when planted by the providence of God, so as they may enjoy opportunity and advantage for it, ought to hold communion among themselves, for their peace, increase of love, and mutual edification.
( Ephesians 6:18; Psalms 122:6; Romans 16:1, 2; 3 John 8-10 )

15.____ In cases of difficulties or differences, either in point of doctrine or administration, wherein either the churches in general are concerned, or any one church, in their peace, union, and edification; or any member or members of any church are injured, in or by any proceedings in censures not agreeable to truth and order: it is according to the mind of Christ, that many churches holding communion together, do, by their messengers, meet to consider, and give their advice in or about that matter in difference, to be reported to all the churches concerned; howbeit these messengers assembled, are not entrusted with any church-power properly so called; or with any jurisdiction over the churches themselves, to exercise any censures either over any churches or persons; or to impose their determination on the churches or officers.
( Acts 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23, 25; 2 Corinthians 1:24; 1 John 4:1 )​

 

[CovenantalBaptist]

Any other PB'ers going to the GA?

 

[Iconoclast]

My pastor is going to be there. I am heading down that way this week,but unless I get to stay down there,[layover waiting to pick up a load} Or get another run right back to there I will miss it.

 

[KSon]

While the staff from my church goes to T4G, this is the gathering that I was hoping to attend. Unfortunately, my work schedule prohibits me from doing so. Dr. Bob, any idea if the messages with be available via MP3?

 

[Dr. Bob Gonzales]

While the staff from my church goes to T4G, this is the gathering that I was hoping to attend. Unfortunately, my work schedule prohibits me from doing so. Dr. Bob, any idea if the messages with be available via MP3?

Kipp,

The sermons will be uploaded and posted on the ARBCA website. You can access them by clicking on this link: Sermons

 

[darrellmaurina]

How can Congregationalists have a General Assembly?

Reading the historic Congregational church order, the 1648 Cambridge Platform, in combination with the Savoy Declaration of Faith (the Congregational revision of the WCF) may help answer that question.

Congregationalism is not independency. There is a massive difference between the two.

 

[JonathanHunt]

I am Reformed Baptist and certainly NOT Congregationalist. Them's different things!

 

[darrellmaurina]

I am Reformed Baptist and certainly NOT Congregationalist. Them's different things!

Not knowing exactly what you mean, perhaps your intent is to say that you have elders in your local church.

So does historic Congregationalism, and elders were required by the Cambridge Platform. Congregationalists in the time of the Puritans differed from Presbyterians not in whether or not to have elders but whether or not to have presbyteries with authority beyond the local church.

It was a much later development, coupling increasing deviations from the Reformed faith and elevation of the required qualifications of ruling elders almost to the level of pastors, that led to the dying out of elders in most Congregational churches in the 1700s. Elders came back slowly in the 1800s and 1900s for a number of different reasons.

However, that's really not an issue today, especially for Calvinists but even for non-Reformed people within Congregationalism.

Most modern Reformed Congregational churches either have elders or have a church board that functions as if it were a board of elders. I know about the "town meeting" history of New England, but I know of almost no modern Congregational churches, even outright liberal churches, that follow a "town meeting" model to run the church's day-to-day affairs -- direct democracy simply does not work in a liberal church with low standards for membership. The liberals are not stupid: they know direct democracy can't possibly work if nine-tenths of the members only occasionally attend the church but could come back at any time to a church meeting to cause problems, so boards of trustees, church councils, or whatever else they are going to be called usually do the work of elders even if they are not called elders, and have thereby created a representative system rather than a direct democracy, not because they're returning to biblical practices but because they know direct democracy doesn't work.

 

[DAW]

By the way, the ARBCA are congregationalists, but NOT Congregationalists. There is a difference.

 

[Pergamum]

I'd go if I could.