End of an Era

            The PCA General Assembly met in Dallas, Texas June 25-28.  I wrote about the nature of the Assembly for the Pastor’s Pen that came out while Connie and I were there in attendance.  I was grateful to go and enjoyed serving as one of the recording clerks keeping the minutes of the meeting.  It was a consequential meeting.

            Soon the Stated Clerk of the PCA, Dr. Roy Taylor, will write a summary of the week that I will publish as part of my Pastor’s Pen along with some of my own reflections on the week.  Dr. Taylor announced he will retire after fulfilling one more year as the Stated Clerk.  The Stated Clerk of the PCA is the chief administrative officer of the denomination.  He is often looked to for counsel from churches and also represents the PCA in various contexts.

            Roy Taylor, as many of you know, is my uncle.  He is my mother’s brother.  I am very proud of his distinguished service as the Stated Clerk since 1998.  I’m also sad to see him retire though I know it is the right time for him.  Prior to serving as the Stated Clerk, Roy pastored churches in Alabama and Mississippi as well as served two different times as a professor of Practical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS.  It will be special for him and for our family that his last General Assembly will be hosted in Birmingham, Alabama where he- and much of my extended family- was raised.  In fact, my cousin, Taylor Denard, a Ruling Elder in the Birmingham area is co-chairman of the host committee for the General Assembly next year.  I’m already gearing up for an emotional week!

            As we have learned all too well in this military community, life is full of goodbyes and hello’s.  Change is a constant. But, as Roy told the Assembly as he announced his retirement, “God retires His ministers but He does not retire His work.”  Amen.