Stories from the Presbyterian Pew

Here are links to some of the items referenced in this episode: Previous episodes on General Assembly and Overtures:  Part 1 ,  Part 2 , and  Part 3 . Overtures to the 2026 General Assembly  (post summarizing all of this year's Overtures) Highlights of the 2026 General Assembly  (timestamped links to each major debate or report) Actions of the Overtures Committee  (collection of X live-posted thre...

Want to discuss the Overtures?  Join our free Facebook Group on General Assembly 2026 Resources mentioned in this episode: Presbyterian Church General Assembly 101  (free course from Presbyterian Pew) Overtures to the 2026 General Assembly Polity Matters Podcast Episode on the 2026 Overtures Alliance for Mission and Renewal Round Table Discussion on 2026 Overtures:  Part 1 ,  Part 2 , and  Part 3...

Here are some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Presbyterian Church General Assembly 101  (free course from Presbyterian Pew) Report of the Ad Interim Committee on the Directory for Worship Partial Report of the Ad Interim Committee on Christian Nationalism Overtures to the 2026 General Assembly Polity Matters Podcast Episode on the 2026 Overtures Alliance for Mission and Renewal Round T...

Welcome to the first episode about PCA General Assembly in 2026. I'll be traveling to Louisville, KY to observe and share about the business that happens there. But beforehand, I want to give you an overview of what happens at General Assembly and the Overtures up for consideration this time around. Note: When I recorded this episode, I noted that it was possible the Assembly would not hear from t...

The word "grooming" has become a household term and is tossed around in common conversation about everything from politics to reading lists. But what does grooming really mean? What does it actually look like? And would you be able to recognize it? This episode of the Stories from the Presbyterian Pew podcast is based roughly on  this article of the same title . Recommended resources: Presbyterian...

In the first two parts of Becky's story, we heard about the crisis in her marriage and the involvement of the Presbytery. In this episode, Becky shares some practical and personal details about what it looked like to restore trust in the marriage as well as with other organizations. Stories from the Presbyterian Pew  depends on financial support from listeners. To contribute to the costs of produc...

Today's episode picks up with the second part of Becky's story as her family returns from the mission field and the Presbytery begins the process of church discipline with her husband. You'll hear a lot of terms related to PCA church government in this episode. We'll define them for you in the introduction, but you can learn more in our free online course,  Presbyterian Church Discipline 101 . Sto...

We begin Season 2 of the podcast with Becky's story - a story that includes pain and betrayal, but also hope and the triumph of the Gospel in the face of sin and brokenness. Becky and her husband were missionaries with the PCA's international missions organization, Mission to the World (MTW). You can  find the MTW website here . Stories from the Presbyterian Pew  depends on financial support from...

For an understanding of the purpose behind the Stories from the Presbyterian Pew Podcast, we recommend the first episode from Season 1. You can  find that here  or on your favorite podcast app. A year ago, I wrote  "Why I Refuse to Pick Good Guys and Bad Guys in the PCA" . Today's episode covers similar ideas. The live Zoom conversations from our DASA Discussion Facebook group can now be found in...

Sign up to be a Presbytery Companion:  https://presbyterianpew.org/companion/ Donate to send Lynna to General Assembly next year and get a "I Support BCO Education for Everyone" sticker:  https://presbyterianpew.org/send-me-to-ga/ A collection of X updates about the Overtures Committee business:  https://presbyterianpew.org/2025-overtures-committee-actions/ Timestamped links to all major debates a...

Learn more about Adair's work, sign up for her newsletter, and support her financially  on her MTW profile here . You can also email her at  adair.evans@mtw.org Stories from the Presbyterian Pew  depends on financial support from listeners. To contribute to the costs of producing and hosting the podcast, please visit  https://presbyterianpew.org/donate/

Here is the text of Book of Church Order chapter 40, paragraph 5 (BCO 40-5) When any court having appellate jurisdiction shall receive a credible report with respect to the court next below of any important delinquency or grossly unconstitutional proceedings of such court, the first step shall be to cite the court alleged to have offended to appear before the court having appellate jurisdiction, o...

Today is our final episode about Overtures to the 2025 PCAGeneral Assembly. Here is a link to  the article written by the family of Sarah Young , author of Jesus Calling. Here is the post with a summary of  all 2025 Overtures to General Assembly . Join our  free Facebook Group  to discuss and ask questions about General Assembly. Download the  2025 Overtures Tracking Sheet here . Listen to  the Po...

In our third episode about Overtures to the 2025 General Assembly we discuss Overtures related to various committees and agencies of the General Assembly. Here are some diagrams that show the difference between how slots on most of the committees and agencies of the General Assembly are filled vs how slots on the Administrative Committee are filled. Here is a link to  an article about a PCA pastor...

This is Part 2 of our special series on 2025 PCA General Assembly Overtures. Here is a link to the MASSIVE post we published  summarizing all the Overtures . And for discussion and questions,  join our Facebook Group here . You can find the article about the  MTW and CDM reports on Jesus Calling here . Stories from the Presbyterian Pew  depends on financial support from listeners. To contribute to...

Today, we're doing something a bit different. Instead of hearing from one of our storytellers, we'll take a few episodes to talk about the upcoming PCA General Assembly. You can find an article describing  all of this year's Overtures here . And if you'd like a space to ask questions and learn more about how General Assembly operates, you can  join our free Facebook Group . Stories from the Presby...

Lane joins us for Part 2 of her story and shares what she discovered when she and her husband requested the session minutes. Stories from the Presbyterian Pew  depends on financial support from listeners. To contribute to the costs of producing and hosting the podcast, please visit  https://presbyterianpew.org/donate/

In this story, Lane talks about filing a complaint with the session of their church. Chapter 43 of the Book of Church Order covers complaints, but the only explicit information about what a complaint includes are these two sentences from 43-1 and 43-2: "A complaint is a written representation made against some act or decision of a court of the Church. It is the right of any communing member of the...

One aspect of this part of Ashley's story is the difficulty she had being released from her membership in a PCA church after she had been harmed there and was struggling to find a safe place to worship. Ashley is very much not alone in this struggle. If you are facing that difficulty, please reach out to us through the form on our website. We can help you to navigate all of the factors involved in...

Here are some relevant sections from the Book of Church Order about teaching elders serving "out of bounds". 8-7. A Presbytery may, at its discretion, approve the call of a teaching elder to work with an organization outside the jurisdiction of the Presbyterian Church in America, provided that he be engaged in preaching and teaching the Word, that the Presbytery be assured he will have full freedo...

Here are the definitions of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment from the  DASA Report . Sexual Assault Sexual assault is any type of sexual behavior or contact where consent is not freely given or obtained. It is accomplished through force, intimidation, violence, coercion, manipulation, threat, deception, or abuse of authority. Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination...

In the state where Ashley grew up and now lives, clergy are mandatory reporters of child abuse. That was not the case when Ashley was a minor, however, that does not excuse the callousness and neglect she experienced when reaching out to church leaders for help. For more information on state laws about clergy and mandatory reporting, see the document  Clergy as Mandatory Reporters of Abuse and Neg...

This podcast episode covered a lot of factual information about the BCO - the Book of Church Order - that governs church discipline in PCA churches. If you would like to learn more about the ideas we discussed, we recommend our free course  Presbyterian Church Discipline 101 . We also referenced a case of the standing Judicial Commission:  SJC 2019-06 . You can download the full report of the SJC...

In this episode, Jeanie mentioned that she found help from two podcasts and a group. Here are links to those resources: The Flying Free Podcast The Bare Marriage Podcast The Flying Free group In the introduction, we read a quote from the report of the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault Committee of the PCA. At the end of the episode, we also recommended the paper "Divorce and Domestic Abuse". It is...

Why tell stories of harm? Why another podcast? Why this podcast? Today, we're talking about the purpose behind Stories from the Presbyterian Pew, plus responding to possible objections to sharing these stories. Stories from the Presbyterian Pew  depends on financial support from listeners. To contribute to the costs of producing and hosting the podcast, please visit  https://presbyterianpew.org/do...