Serve on RPR: An Urgent Plea to Second-Generation Korean American TEs and REs
By Moses Y. Lee and Eddie Lim
Every year at the PCA General Assembly (GA), the Committee on Review of Presbytery Records (RPR) hands out a massive pile of paper with a list of all their citations from the minutes submitted by all the presbyteries from the previous year. It’s the most dreaded moment of GA amongst the majority of the Korean American commissioners because the vast majority of the citations refer to minutes submitted by the Korean Language Presbyteries (KLPs). In order to improve upon our minutes, we believe sending English-speaking, second-generation TEs and REs from our presbyteries is the best long-term solution. In this post, we’ll cover what RPR is, how to get involved, and how we can honor our fathers and brothers through our service.
What Exactly Is RPR?
RPR is a General Assembly committee whose purpose is to carry out the General Assembly’s right and duty to review the records (or, presbytery meeting minutes) of the presbyteries in the PCA (RAO 16-1). The committee is comprised of one TE or RE representative from each of the eighty-eight presbyteries in the PCA. Each presbytery is responsible for submitting its minutes for review once a year before GA convenes for the purpose of making sure the actions of each presbytery is in accordance with the PCA’s constitution.
Serving on RPR comes with a number of advantages. You definitely become more knowledgeable of the Book of Church Order (BCO) and gain a greater appreciation of how the PCA functions and why things are done the way they are. You learn Robert’s Rules and parliamentary procedures through participation which will help you to follow along at GA and not feel so lost in the midst of motions, amendments, substitute motions, points of order, etc.
It’s also a great opportunity to network and to get a better sense of what God is doing in the PCA all across the country. However, RPR’s work is not easy. As Dr. Roy Taylor quips each year, “Catholics have purgatory and Presbyterians have RPR.” It requires an eye for detail as well as careful reading skills. The work of the committee can also be tedious as it meets for two twelve-hour days and a third morning if necessary.
How Do I Get Involved?
The first step in getting involved is to volunteer as your presbytery’s RPR representative. Simply ask your presbytery’s stated clerk to contact the Administrative Committee office and submit your name. Your commitment is for one term or three years of service. However, if you can’t fulfill your term, another representative from your presbytery can take your place. Next, you’ll be sent a set of minutes from two or three presbyteries for as a first reader and grouped with three others to help guide you. Finally, you will need to attend the committee meeting in Atlanta for three days beginning on the last Wednesday of May.
To encourage participation, your travel costs (airfare, car rental, ride share, etc.) are covered up to $400. Your hotel near the PCA office is covered as well as any meals you purchase while traveling. Breakfast is provided at the hotel while lunch and dinner are catered. The only real cost to you is your time. As a plus, TE Billy Park, the AC Korean Relations Representative and the Korean Southeast regional leader of KALI, hosts a dinner for all the KLP representatives present that year.
In 2019, only five out of nine KLPs had representatives of which only three showed up. Maybe you didn’t know much about RPR or thought the work was too difficult. Nonetheless, the opportunity is there. RPR’s work, although tedious at times, is very important for your presbytery and for our denomination.
How Does My Involvement Help Korean Language Presbyteries?
With the knowledge you gain of the BCO through your participation at RPR, you’ll return better equipped to serve your presbytery as a potential recording clerk. As a recording clerk, you’ll be able to assist your stated clerk with writing, proofreading, formatting, and translating your presbytery’s minutes in accordance with the BCO. In fact, the vast majority of the KLP’s citations are relatively straightforward—missing procedural details during licensure and ordination exams as outlined in the BCO, maintaining up-to-date and properly formatted directories, etc.
In our experience, most, if not all, KLPs would welcome the help from servant-minded, English-speaking, second-generation TEs. All that’s required is for willing brothers to contact their respective stated clerks.
Conclusion
We second-generation Korean Americans have been incredibly blessed by the pioneering work of our first-generation fathers and brothers. They’ve carved a space in the PCA for us to call home. But with the challenges they face with language barriers and the lack of resources and assistance from other members of the presbyteries with their minutes, we now have a great opportunity to honor them by assisting them with this task. May more of us rise to meet this need.
Other resources:
“The Committee On Review Of Presbytery Records: Important But Misunderstood” by Larry Hoop in byFaith
Moses Y. Lee will be planting Rosebrook Presbyterian Church in North Bethesda, Maryland this fall. He’s a contributing author to the forthcoming, Hear Us, Emmanuel: Another Call for Racial Reconciliation, Representation, and Unity in the Church (White Blackbird, 2020) and is co-editing a book on Asian American Presbyterianism. He occasionally writes for The Gospel Coalition and SOLA. You can follow him on Twitter.
Eddie Lim is currently the secretary of RPR, having completed his fifth year on the committee. He is the assistant pastor of Grace Community Presbyterian Church in Suwanee, GA. He also serves as the assistant recording clerk for the Korean Southeastern Presbytery (PCA).