Synod Week Article #5 - A Few Things To Remember - Kyle E. Sims

General Synod in Columbia and in October? Yes, 2020 continues to be a most interesting year. As we approach Synod tomorrow's meeting, I want to encourage and point out a few things: 

1. We need to be prepared for the meeting. The more you can read and study the reports before the meeting, the faster and more efficiently we can do our business. 
2. We need to be patient at this meeting. There is a lot of people who have labored hard to make this meeting happen. I know many would like to have different arrangements, but this was the best that could be arranged by the denomination's leadership. 
3. We need to pray for our moderator, Rob Roy McGregor III. He has had to deal with numerous challenges and moderate what will undoubtedly be one of Synod's most challenging meetings. This alone due to the logistics of it being a hybrid meeting. 
4. We need to be in prayer for our denomination going forward. This meeting can be helpful in not only fixing issues of retirement but also in setting the direction of our denomination. 
5. Pray for those ministries of the ARP church that have been significantly challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Bonclarken, Erskine, and World Witness have been hit hard due to loss of finances, social restrictions, and other secondary pandemic effects. 
6. WE ALL NEED TO STAY TO THE END! It will be tempting to leave on Friday after the business you consider important is conducted. We need to stay until all business is finished. 
7. We need to remember that we will be singing Psalm 133 as we conclude the Synod meeting. Some forces want to divide the ARP church into factions, but we must not forget that we are brothers called to dwell in unity for the sake of the gospel. (John 17:20-21)

(NOTE: www.seventeen82.com is a platform to develop discussion and dialogue about the issues of the church. As the ARP Church gets ready to meet this week. We have opened this up to all our regular authors and well as any other who wished to write about the issue before the upcoming ARP Synod this week. - The Editors)