Ben, Jared, and Scott are joined by Stephen Estock, coordinator of the PCA's Committee on Discipleship Ministries (CDM), as the RAO series continues through the permanent committees and agencies. Stephen shares his path from Birmingham to the Air Force, Covenant Seminary, and the pastorate, and how he came to lead CDM, formerly Christian Education and Publications.

He describes CDM's mission to strengthen the local church as it makes disciples, organized around five streams: children, youth, women, men, and older adults. CDM calls itself "a broker of relationships and resources," connecting people to people and people to resources through ministry teams drawn from local churches. The conversation covers CDM's conferences, including the first men's ministry conference and the Pressing On conference for the wives of elders. It also covers how presbytery committees can encourage non-ordained ministry workers, and the fifty-year joint ministry with the OPC in Great Commission Publications.

Stephen also recommends resources worth knowing about, including Heirs of the Covenant, the Road Talk, Meal Talk, and Soul Talk booklets, Children's Ministry 101, the Westminster Confession in everyday language, and the BCO Basics video series. He closes with encouragements and challenges in discipleship ministry and three prayer requests: keep us faithful, keep us grounded, provide for us.

Links and resources

• Committee on Discipleship Ministries
• CDM conferences: Men's Ministry Conference, Pressing On (women), Children's LEAD 2026, Student ministry conference
• Great Commission Publications
• Heirs of the Covenant (Susan Hunt)
• Westminster Reader
• Road Talk and Meal Talk (John Kwasny)
• Children's Ministry 101 (CDM children's resources)
• The Westminster Confession of Faith in Everyday Language (Jimmy Agan)
• BCO Basics (free video series)

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Ben and Jared are joined again by PCA Stated Clerk Fred Greco to walk through Chapter 3 of the Rules of Assembly Operation, which covers the Stated Clerk. Fred explains what the job is and isn't: clerical rather than spiritual leadership ("He's not the bishop of the PCA"), the qualifications in RAO 3-5, and why the clerk is a trusted source of constitutional advice precisely because he doesn't take sides.

The conversation moves through the clerk's role as an ambassador to other denominations, the structure and culture of the Administrative Committee staff, and the unglamorous logistics behind General Assembly, down to charging stations. Fred describes the AC as "the utility company of the PCA": the ministry nobody notices when it works. He also makes the case for the PCA Historical Center and Wayne Sparkman's work there, and invites listeners to consider a donation to the Administrative Committee.

Links:

• PCA Historical Center
• PCA Administrative Committee
• Polity Matters #91, 52nd PCAGA Recap (with Wayne Sparkman)

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Jared Nelson and Scott Edburg are joined by Mel Duncan, moderator of the 53rd General Assembly, to walk through the first two chapters of the Rules of Assembly Operations. Chapter 1 covers calling the General Assembly to order, the opening sermon and exhortation, the stated clerk's enrollment report, and the election of the moderator, including nominating speeches, ballots, and clickers. Chapter 2 turns to the moderator's duties: presiding, inviting others to preside, calling the next assembly to order, and the floor privileges of former moderators.

Mel describes the moderator as a servant of the assembly rather than its master. "You're the umpire," he says, and the job is to call balls and strikes. Along the way he talks about why a moderator has to know the docket, how much the stated clerk carries, the unwritten duties that come with the office (study committees and a committee for fasting and prayer among them), and the practical challenges of sound, lighting, microphones, and the kill switch. He also gets into a point of order and the clickers, and closes with gratitude for the PCA.

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