A Quixotic Joust at a Pious Practice

Can (and should) the prodigious prayer at the PCA General Assembly be pruned?

By Brad Isbell

The following editor’s note appeared above this post at Presbyterian Polity back in April:

Editor’s Note: The author is not anti-prayer, nor does he contend that the many prayers included in Reformed liturgies are excessive. The point of what follows is simply this: the dozens of prayers at General Assembly can become repetitious and seem perfunctory.

Here’s the slightly edited post:

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Discretion is almost always the better part of valor, but here goes: There is too much prayer at the Presbyterian Church in America’s annual General Assembly. Nearly every committee or agency report given (and there are as many as two dozen at every assembly) is opened and closed with prayer. Some are punchy; some are prolonged. Some are pious; some are perfunctory—but know this: only half of them are required.

Part of the big ol’ 421-page¹ PCA Book of Church Order (BCO) is the Rules of Assembly Operations (RAO). As you might guess, it governs the procedures of the GA, and to it we shall look to determine if the proliferation of prayers at the GA is a matter of church law or of tradition:²

RAO 19-2. Each (committee) chairman shall lead the Assembly in a brief prayer before making his report.

Some may know when and why unrequired closing prayers for reports became traditional at GA, but we do not know the knowers. We can, however, try to count and quantify. There are more than 15 committees, agencies, or offices that report during the GA, plus 11 committees of commissioners. A few of these committees provide partial reports, meaning they make two or more reports. This might suggest upwards of 50 pre- and post-report prayers. A review of the minutes from the last three assemblies reveals an average in the mid-forties. Add prayers at the opening and closing of each session of the GA, unscheduled prayers, and worship service prayers, and you have, to stick with proper presybterian alliteration, a prodigious and plentiful portion of prayer.

Some questions:

• Is all this pre- and post-report prayer required? No, prayer is only required before the reports by committee chairmen, as already noted.

• Is it pious or pietistic? While the intentions of the praying persons may be as pure as the intentions of fallen men may be, the addition of prayers (which often seem perfunctory and formulaic) to a crowded docket of business smacks of being “righteous overmuch.” Prayers late in the assembly, which are intentionally shortened to a few words, sometimes elicit audible appreciation—the relief felt is palpable. But does this not provoke us to ask if our current practice is mere box-ticking?

• Is it exasperating? YES, according to this writer’s personal experience and that of many fellow presbyters. The parade of prayers brings to mind vain repetition and tries patience, especially when there is much left to be done.

• Should it be exasperating? Perhaps not, but the volume of business that the PCA tries to cram into barely more than two days can lead to frustration and stress.

• Is it prudent? No, for the reasons listed above. It is exasperating and inefficient.

• What is the practical effect of extra prayer? We hate to say it, but the practical effect seems to merely be the prolongation of the assembly. Prayers which are merely tolerated or endured are unlikely to be efficacious.

• Is it a permanent fixture? No, it need not be. Because the addition of post-report prayer is simply traditional, it could be easily dispensed with. And because the RAO is easily amended, tightening up this (and possibly other GA scheduling and practice accretions) could be accomplished easily.

There is no reason that the deletion of certain prayers would mean that there must be less prayer at GA. The time saved would free up more time for earnest corporate prayer than the present practice allows.

Closing a report with a mere “Thank you, brothers,” is sufficient. And it may be a good way to love our neighbors in the cavernous General Assembly hall.

1. The BCO is 421 pages as of 2024. Interestingly, the minutes of the 2024 GA run to an eye-watering 1,283 pages.

2. As I like to say, the pontiff of the PCA is Pope Precedent the Last, the full formal title of whom is The Way We Have Always Done It As Far As We Can Remember Which Is Not For Very Long.