03/16/2026
What happened at the 115th Spring Meeting of the Pacific Coast Presbytery?
The delegates of the Presbytery met March 13-14, 2026 in Irvine, CA hosted by the All Saints RPC of the same city. The saints there enabled us to do our business well with warm hospitality and care. For which we give much thanks.
We thanked Rev. Alex Tabaka for his service as Moderator and elected Elder Paul Hemphill as the new Moderator. Rev. Johnathan Kruis, Elder Sandor Patocs, Deacon Aaron Piper and I were reelected to our positions as Assistant Clerk, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, and Clerk respectively.
It was a busy meeting with eleven student exams administered. Pastor-elect Seni Adeyemi was sustained in his ordination exams. We look forward to him being ordained and installed as the next pastor of the All Saints RPC (Ontario, CA) congregation. Mr. WW was handed a call from the Irvine congregation to come alongside Rev. Hsing Tang. He accepted that call and was sustained in his three ordination exams. Two different commissions have been organized to ordain and install both these men. Continue to pray for San Diego, First RPC of Phoenix, and Great Basin RPC (Reno) as they are still in need of pastors.
In the RPCNA, ruling elders are permitted to preach occasionally as needed. If a ruling elder desires more “regular occasional preaching” (awkward language in our Directory of Church Government) he needs to be examined by the Presbytery. Elder Paul Hemphill from the Fresno congregation completed his exams and was licensed to preach.
An independent congregation in the Phoenix area has petitioned the Presbytery to enter. Their pastor, Dr. Owen Anderson, has been going through a series of exams. He competed those exams at this meeting and is eligible to receive a call in the RPCNA. A committee is working with him, his elders, deacons, and the congregation to bring them into the denomination. This will make the tenth congregation in the Pacific Coast Presbytery. As a reminder, in 2009, we had five congregations.
The San Diego RPC Session presented a young man for consideration in becoming and student under care. Mr. Joseph Wolcott is a first year student at Westminster West Theological Seminary. He shared his testimony, was asked questions from the Presbytery, and was taken under care as a student of theology.
We received a letter of apology from a rebuked member of the court concerning 9th Commandment violations in not upholding the good name of members of the Presbytery. We praise the Lord for this first step in possible reconciliation. We gave counsel for him to continue working with Synod’s Commission in the matter and to pursue a more personal path of reconciliation with those he has wronged.
The rest of our meeting was filled with the ordinary business of hearing from committees, board representatives, and congregations. Our various works have experienced ups and downs. We as a Presbytery have been through some difficult years, but it appears we are entering a season of relief. There were no difficult issues of discipline to deal with at this meeting, for which we give thanks. We enjoyed not only a busy meeting, but also a time of brotherly fellowship.
