VPC First General Assemby

Vanguard Presbyterian Church

On September 10-11, 2025, the General Assembly of Vanguard Presbyterian Church met at Chapel Woods Presbyterian Church in Snellville, GA. The first order of business was to pass a motion to constitute ourselves as a General Assembly. It takes three presbyteries to call for a General Assembly per Presbyterian polity. Those presbyteries are New Side Presbytery in the southeast; Westminster Presbytery in the north; and, Knox Presbytery in the southwest. This is a beginning, but an important beginning nonetheless.

Following the preliminaries, the first item of business was to pass the Ad-Interim Committee Report on the Book of Church Order. There were several corrections to the BCO in accordance with the principles of Vanguard Presbyterian Church, which are:

1. Full subscription to the Westminster Standards.

2. A New Light/Old School view of revival and theology.

3. A Six Day/ 24 Hour view of Creation (“Young Earth”).

4. The office of Evangelist as a part of the permanent gifts of Christ to which elders are called.

5. An emphasis on the Person and work of the Holy Spirit and His necessity for ministry.

6. A non-hierarchical view of presbyterian polity which limits the carrying out of the Great Commission to local churches/sessions and presbyteries; and which prohibits permanent committees, boards, and agencies at the General Assembly level. It also prohibits executive (secret or exclusive) sessions at any level of the church.

This new denomination does not intend to be a big tent Presbyterian denomination which embraces several different viewpoints which are often contradictory of one another. For several centuries, Presbyterian and Reformed denominations have tried to function by allowing differences on issues which are more major than minor. That approach has never worked and never will. According to Romans 14 and 15, Christians are to allow brothers freedom in such areas that are considered adiaphora, “things indifferent.” There are many such things. There are also many issues that are not indifferent matters. On such things, there must be unity in the faith or else “a house divided against itself cannot stand,” as Jesus said. While not being listed above with the six principles, an unchanging BCO was one of the most important principles on which this denomination was started.

Some would argue that an unchanging or unamendable BCO (or, Constitution) places polity on a level with Scripture. Au contraire. It is actually just the opposite. Vanguard’s BCO has statements that are not included in any other BCO of any other Presbyterian and Reformed denominations, to our knowledge. Here is what the first section of Chapter Three says:

3-1 The Constitution of Vanguard Presbyterian Church is subject to and subordinate to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. The inerrant and infallible Word of God is the touchstone of all truth and by which all controversies are resolved. The regulative principle requires that every church be subject to and subordinate to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments in doctrine, polity, and worship. With the Scripture, therefore, as its foundation of all truth, the Constitution of this Church consists of The Westminster Confession of Faith; the Larger and Shorter Catechisms; and, the Book of Church Order which includes three parts: the Form of Government, the Rules of Discipline, and the Directory of Worship; all of which are adopted by this denomination.

The original BCO of the PCA did not include the first line of the above quote, but simply stated that the Constitution consisted on the Westminster Standards and the BCO. The most recent version of their BCO does include the first line, but does not include the next two statements above, nor the opening words of the next sentence. That might seem like a small difference, but it is not. During my four terms on the PCA’s Standing Judicial Commission, I often tried to have cases decided by referencing various Scripture passages. The other members of that body would argue that Scripture is not a part of the Constitution because the Scripture cannot be changed whereas the Constitution can be changed. Unless a Scripture was quoted in the Westminster Standards or the BCO, it was not allowed to be quoted in the decisions of the SJC. Thus, that was placing the Constitution above Scripture. Vanguard’s BCO clearly places the Constitution below the Scripture in theory and in practice by allowing the Scripture to be freely quoted in all her decisions. It is in ways like this that we must be discerning because error is often very subtle and slogans are not always according to the truth.

After much debate, the General Assembly passed a motion to adopt the following statement which was the original statement when the BCO was being developed before a five-year window was given to permit amendments:

3-2 The Scripture is unchanged and unchanging and cannot be amended. The Westminster Standards have stood the test of time and cannot be amended by this denomination. The Book of Church Order in its basic principles is remarkably consistent with the various manuals of polity of the Presbyterian and Reformed churches for the last 150 years or more. Therefore, neither can it nor should it be amended. Many errors in doctrine and polity have arisen in the Presbyterian and Reformed denominations through the overture process of amending the Book of Church Order and/or the Westminster Standards.

While it might seem to some people that an unamendable BCO is a travesty, the history of Presbyterian and Reformed denominations would argue that amending the BCO or Westminster Standards has always led to the destruction of those denominations. Besides, the Scripture is the basis for both parts of the Constitution and if any situation arises which is not addressed in either, the principles of the Scripture will be sufficient to guide the Church.

The second day of the Assembly was a time of joy and fellowship and the court adjourned until 2026 with a great sense of brotherly love and thankfulness to the Lord for bringing us together as a denomination.

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This is my first article in several months due to the health of my wife, Jane (without whose encouragement there would never have been a Vanguard Presbyterian Church). Jane finally got a biopsy on the Good Friday of 2025 and the results showed that she has Diffuse Large B-Cell lymphoma. She nearly died on May 20, 2025 as she was within hours of expiring. She could not life her head off the pillow, could not walk, could not understand what others were saying, could not communicate well enough for others to understand her, and had eaten almost nothing for over four weeks. She had lost a lot of weight over the previous year. But she woke up the next morning bright eyed and asking for ice cream, as she said, “If I am going to go out, I am going out with a party.” Interestingly, it was her sister’s birthday that day who was at the house helping me tend to Jane. Slowly, Jane has gotten better since then and has taken four rounds of chemotherapy. She has told me several times that she has more energy now than she has had in ten years. The cancer has not yet been completely eradicated from her body, but we pray that it will be. We are aware that if the cancer only goes into remission it could come back with a vengeance and cause her swift death. So, your ongoing prayers are appreciated for her full recovery. Her type of cancer can be eradicated with the proper treatment.

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My latest book, Jesus of Nazareth, is now in print. I wrote this book chronologically, geographically, culturally, politically, historically, religiously, and socially wherever and however those non-Biblical facts could shed light on Jesus’ life. It is a true biography of Jesus and not just a book that presents a few biographical facts about his life while mostly dealing with His teaching. There are many books on Jesus’ life which do that. Dr. Rick Light told me that this book can be used in Bible Colleges and seminaries as well as in Sunday School classes. It is written for the average believer and not only for theologians. Geoffrey Thomas, former pastor in Aberystwyth, Wales wrote: “Jesus of Nazareth is simply wonderful. It is aimed to be a classic.” You can purchase it through Amazon both in the US and internationally. If you want a signed copy you will need to order it directly through me. You can either send $30 through PayPal to my email address: drob9944@aol.com. You will need to provide your name and mailing address for a PayPal order. Or, you can send me a check for $30 to: Dewey Roberts, 726 Vintage Circle, Destin, FL 32541. If you do either of those latter two things, you will receive a signed copy. If you order directly through me, the price includes a 20% discount off the retail price of $29.95, plus $5 for shipping it to you.

Dewey Roberts, Pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, Destin, FL