By Brad Isbell | March 26, 2024
An overture from a PCA session (meaning it failed to receive a majority at presbytery) would make the presbyterian judicial system more horizontal and lateral. The rationale (in part):
For small Presbyteries and Sessions, it can be particularly difficult to perform an investigation properly, let alone to execute a trial.
The proposed solution would allow courts (sessions and presbyteries) to pass a case to another court of the same level rather than kick it up to a higher court. The issue is that of reference. Here’s what chapter 41 of the PCA Book of Church Order looks like now:
References are rare, and most courts are never involved in one (41-5). Appeals and references are vertical, not horizontal. This may sound top-down, but the BCO includes important qualifiers (in chapter 39, Modes in Which the Proceedings of Lower Courts Come Under the Supervision of Higher Courts) that speak to the basic principles at play here:
2. A higher court should ordinarily exhibit great deference to a lower court regarding those factual matters which the lower court is more competent to determine, because of its proximity to the events in question, and because of its personal knowledge and observations of the parties and witnesses involved. Therefore, a higher court should not reverse a factual finding of a lower court, unless there is clear error on the part of the lower court.
3. A higher court should ordinarily exhibit great deference to a lower court regarding those matters of discretion and judgment which can only be addressed by a court with familiar acquaintance of the events and parties. Such matters of discretion and judgment would include, but not be limited to: the moral character of candidates for sacred office, the appropriate censure to impose after a disciplinary trial, or judgment about the comparative credibility of conflicting witnesses. Therefore, a higher court should not reverse such a judgment by a lower court, unless there is clear error on the part of the lower court. (bolding mine)
The amendment proposed in the overture:
To be sure, there is a voluntary principle in the proposed change—no court would be required to receive a lateral pass. If approved though, this amendment would fundamentally change the character of the presbyterian court system. One can imagine that parties in a case might accuse the court of cherry-picking or laziness. Two (or more) courts might appear to be cooperating in judicial matters. Logistical and travel hardships might be produced. Appeals and complaints would become more complicated than ever. The authors of the proposed amendment may assume that lateral process would speed up the proverbial slow-turning wheels of presbyterian justice, but the opposite might be the result. It’s easy to imagine (and wisdom requires imagination) that nearly every laterally referred case would result in complaint or appeal.
Back to the rationale: “For small Presbyteries [1] and Sessions, it can be particularly difficult to perform an investigation properly, let alone to execute a trial.” Sessions are considered competent in our system despite their varying sizes. And no one ever said that judicial process was easy. It certainly is not. But when difficult becomes impossible we have a mechanism in place: vertical reference.
In my opinion, this proposed amendment would create more problems than it would solve and would undermine a basic principle of our polity.
[1] As for “small presbyteries,” some presbyteries may be too small to function and handle the more complicated tasks and cases that come before them. For example, a presbytery with eight churches essentially must function as a committee of the whole for missions, theological examination, review, and pastoral care. “Too small” might mean, out of a handful of ministers and few involved ruling elders, no one is particularly gifted at administration or theological examination. Presbyteries can be too small. We have a mechanism for that, too: Petition to dissolve and join with another presbytery.
Brad Isbell is a PCA Ruling Elder serving on the session of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, TN.