We just had a glorious time at CREC Council this year in Houston. The way our polity is structured, presbyteries meet once a year for business (they may meet more frequently for fellowship and singing), and the Council meets every third year. On those third years, the Council and presbyteries meet in the same place so that they can talk to each other. Our Council delegates are representatives of the presbyteries, not the churches, so we don’t have a massive general assembly. This means that the presbyteries can meet in the mornings and Council in the afternoons, and they can communicate.
Two really interesting things happened this year. The first is that we have been discussing a name change for the moderators of our presbyteries and Council, wanting something more ecclesiastical and less Roberts Rulesy. The new title for that position is now minister. The new presiding minister of Council is Jack Phelps of Alaska, replacing Randy Booth (who did magnificent work as moderator).
Up to this year we have had two presbyteries, Augustine and Anselm, which leads me to the second really interesting thing that happened in Houston. Because of the growth of the CREC, we went from two presbyteries to seven of them — Anselm, Knox, Calvin, Tyndale, Augustine, Athanasius, and Wycliffe. God continues to pour out His grace — the men there were of the highest caliber, the harmonious spirit was pervasive, the singing was robust, and the worship service on Tuesday night was, to use a theological phrase, really something. When we get everything sorted out, I am going to set up something on the left side bar here with links to all the presbyteries and the names of their presiding ministers.