The Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of Eastern Canada was held at Christ Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
In attendance were 22 teaching elders, 14 ruling elders, and 1 candidate.
The Moderator, TE Frank Garcia, called the meeting to order at 10:03 AM, and the Presbytery worshiped together with the Moderator presiding. The Moderator read from John 6:60-65 and shared a devotion.
Actions of the Presbytery*
– The Presbytery approved the letter calling TE Jim Poopalapillai to serve as Pastor of Bedford Presbyterian Church.
– The Presbytery designated TE Glenn Davis as honorably retired.
– The Presbytery increased the Stated Clerk stipend for 2026 by 2%, and directed the Administrative Committee to do an audit and review of hours involved for the Stated Clerk stipend and confirm the stipend is suitable.
– The Presbytery set the “partnership shares” (the contribution to the administrative fund from each particular church of the Eastern Canada Presbytery) at $35 per member or $30 per average adult attendee, whichever more fairly represents the congregation, with all receipts to be allocated as to $10/member or $8/average adult attendee to the Administrative Fund and $25/member or $22/average adult attendee to the Church Planting Fund.
– The Presbytery approved the disbursement of USD 500 from the Administrative Fund to the local Host Committee for the 53rd General Assembly.
– The Presbytery approved organizing a Diaconal Ministries Mini-Conference, to coincide with the Presbytery meeting in February 2026, and approved to financially support this conference with up to $2,500.
– The Presbytery accepted the petition from The Vine Presbyterian Church to organize, and approved the letter calling TE Kiernan Stringer as Senior Pastor, and the letter calling TE Jeffrey Hynds as Associate Pastor.
– The Presbytery encouraged TE Lyndon Jost to pursue conversations with like minded Korean churches who may be interested in joining the PCA.
– In his report on the work of the MNA committee, TE Ben Jolliffe featured two more priority cities for church planting: St John (NB) and Oshawa (ON).
– The Moderator invited TE Bill Radford to address the Presbytery, as it was his last Presbytery meeting before his resignation at the end of 2025.
– The Presbytery voted on 13 amendments to the BCO.
– TE Lyndon Jost was elected as the Presbytery Moderator for 2026. The Presbytery also elected new members to serve on the Presbytery committees.
– The next stated meeting of Presbytery was set for Friday, February 27, 2026, at Grace Toronto Church.
*not all actions of the presbytery are listed here for the sake of confidentiality
Presbytery of Eastern Canada 