The Orlando Covenanting Conference of the Fellowship of Presbyterians kicks off at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Orlando with an evening worship service and ends Friday with a covenanting service.
Approximately 2,100 Presbyterians are expected to attend the FOP’s second gathering. The first, held in Minneapolis last August, was attended by approximately 1,900 Presbyterians.
The three day event, held at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel in Orlando, will include worship, in-depth exploration of the FOP’s proposed theology and polity documents, 18 breakout sessions and question-and-answer periods. (see schedule).
Drafts for both the polity and theology documents were posted on the FOP’s website on Dec. 7, and comments were solicited on each through Jan. 6. The revised documents will be distributed at the meeting.
Highlighted speakers include:
- Hope Lee, pastor of Kirkwood Presbyterian, Bradenton, Fla.
- John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian, Menlo Park, Calif.
- Dr. Atef Gendy, president of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, Egypt
- Tae-Hyung Ko, pastor of Good Shepherd Presbyterian, Rowland Heights, Calif.; and moderator of the National Council of Korean Presbyterian Churches
- Jim Singleton and Katie Dayton, pastor and associate pastor for missional strategies respectively at First Presbyterian, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Other events, either happening immediately before or after the Covenanting Conference include:
Pre-Conference prayer meeting
Presbyterian Reformed Ministries International is holding a 12 hour prayer event at Woodbury Presbyterian Church in Orlando on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The theme is Repentance, Renewal, Reform and Restoration. The schedule includes worship services, teaching segments by Rod Pinder, Steve Thayer, Christian Zebley and Brad Long, as well as times of concerted prayer. The event is open to anyone interested in praying for the PCUSA, there is no charge and participants are expected to come and go throughout the day as their schedules permit.
Pre-Conference Gathering (<45 Leaders)
An under 45 event will be held from 6 p.m. Tuesday until 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Rosen Shingle Creek.
According to the group’s Facebook page, the event will discuss “how do we envision a changing church in a changing culture? If you have a thought or an opinion, come be a part of the answer. Through this pre-gathering before the Fellowship of Presbyterians event, we are targeting the younger generations of pastors. We’re trying to create a culture of collaboration and cooperation for our ever changing landscape. We ask you to join us for worship, prayer, fellowship, table discussions, a panel of the Fellowship Steering Team, and so much more.”
President’s Community Forum at Reformed Theological Seminary
Gendy will also speak from 12 to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando as part of the President’s Community Forum.
At the forum, to be held in the campus Fellowship Hall, Gendy and RTS Orlando President Don Sweeting will discuss current political developments in Egypt and the impact on the evangelical church in that region. Lunch can be reserved in advance and brown-bagging is also welcome.
Following the official Fellowship of Presbyterians conference other groups plan to meet.
Committees of Correspondence
The Committees of Correspondence group will hold a meeting following Covenanting Conference. Taking place in the in same hotel as the conference, the meeting will be Friday from 7 to 10 p.m. in Sebastain I:1 (just off the main meeting hall).
Items of discussion include:
- Overtures from Santa Barbara Presbytery to the 220th General Assembly. The overtures can be viewed here.
- Plans to help congregations and presbyteries initiate union relationships with the New Reformed Body. Santa Barbara Presbytery has called a special meeting on March 17 to address this issue and Committees of Correspondence teams are working to have as many churches and presbyteries as possible to make a similar move that week. Santa Barbara’s plan may be viewed here.
- Plans to form the Santa Barbara Association, which provides a means for churches outside the geographic boundaries of Santa Barbara to become part of the presbytery.
- A plan for gracious separation that may be adopted by presbyteries, that might become a GA overture.
- Opportunities to discuss what other groups and presbyteries are doing around the country and how to unite with them.
Documents and plans for the meeting will be posted on the group’s website.
Since the Minneapolis meeting in August, the Committees of Correspondence have grown and now have groups in 33 of the PCUSA’s 173 presbyteries. According to the website, the purpose of the group is “to unite in prayer, deliberation, planning, and action with those who voted NO on Amendment 10A to discern together God’s will for our future. We believe that it is essential that we not fragment or carry out individual presbytery or congregational actions. We believe unity best enables our witness and mission.”
Twitterers have been encouraged to use Twitter hashtag #fellowshippres throughout the conference.
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