October 2023 BCO Amendments Update

Posted on by Zack Groff

by Scott Edburg | October 29, 2023

Image Credit: Richard via Adobe Stock

As October ends, 26 presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) have offered their advice and consent concerning the three Book of Church Order (BCO) amendment items sent down from the 50th General Assembly. As a general reminder, there is a three-step process that the PCA must follow in order for a proposed amendment to the BCO to be ratified:

  1. The General Assembly must approve it by a simple majority.
  2. Then it must pass 2/3rds (currently 59 presbyteries) of the PCA’s 88 presbyteries by a simple majority.
  3. If an amendment receives 2/3rds support, it must then be approved by the next assembly for final ratification.

Overture 26 (Item 1)

Overture 26 (Item 1) on the use of officer titles continues to see wide support throughout the presbyteries in the PCA. This item would forbid the usage of “pastor/elder or deacon” for those who are not ordained to ecclesiastical office.  Of the 26 presbyteries to vote, 24 of them affirmed this item while 2 presbyteries failed them. For this amendment to pass, 35 of the remaining 62 presbyteries (or 57% of the remaining presbyteries) must affirm this amendment. The raw individual vote tally for this item presently sits at 728-143 (84%-16%).[1]

Overture 23 (Item 2)

Overture 23 (Item 2) on officers conforming to the biblical requirement for chastity has also seen wide support throughout the presbyteries. This amendment concerns sexuality (likely the final amendment in response to so-called “Side B Gay Christianity” and the Revoice Conference controversy that has disturbed the PCA since 2018), has passed 25 of the 26 presbyteries. It needs34 more affirmatives in order for it to be considered at the 51st General Assembly. The raw vote tally for this item is 856-45 (95%-5%).

Overture 27 (item 3)         

Overture 27 (Item 3) on personal confessions of sin for cases without process has received the strongest support of the three items before the presbyteries. This amendment seeks to involve the offended party in a case without process. This amendment has passed 25 of the 26 presbyteries.With the support of 34 more presbyteries, this item will come before the 51st General Assembly. The raw vote tally for this item is 823-31 (96%-4%).

Looking Forward

There are around 62 presbyteries yet to offer their advice and consent for these three items. 18 of these presbyteries will take up the amendments in November. If you know when a presbytery will take up the amendments, please fill out this form or email me at [email protected]. This information will help me keep accurate records with timely information. Continue to pray for our presbyteries as they consider the items before them. As a reminder, these results are unofficial and need to be confirmed by the Stated Clerk’s Office in the Spring.

[1]  All information in this spreadsheet is unofficial. For official information, wait for reports from byFaith or the Stated Clerk’s Office. With that said, the data has been reconciled by individuals from the voting presbyteries.

Scott Edburg is a PCA Teaching Elder serving as Pastor of Providence Presbyterian Church in Troy, IL.