by Brad Isbell | May 8, 2024
An overture to the 51st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America would expand the pool of representatives for those accused by church courts and bring the PCA’s practice more in line with that of her conservative presbyterian sister denominations. Church officers know that many church discipline cases end badly, with most accused dropping out of the process rather than being restored or convicted of anything other than contumacy—not participating in the process. Overture 26 seeks to keep accused church members in the process for their own good and reclamation. The whereases in the proposed amendment to the Book of Church Order (mostly just quoting other sections of the BCO) explain:
“Whereas, the exercise of discipline is highly important and necessary, and in its proper usage discipline maintains the glory of God, the purity of His Church, the keeping and reclaiming of disobedient sinners, and…the power which Christ has given the Church (including the exercise of church discipline) is for building up, and not for destruction, is to be exercised as under a dispensation of mercy and not of wrath…”
There is a present barrier to the reclamation of and restorative mercy for erring church members: the loneliness, complexity, and difficulty of standing church trial alone. Overture 26 might help alleviate some of these difficulties. At present, an accused church member “if he desires it, be represented before the Session by any communing member of the same particular church, or before any other court, by any member of that court.” This means a person accused by his or her session of some offense can be represented, but the pool of available representatives may be very small (if the church is small), unlikely to include many unbiased persons (again, if the church is small), or unlikely to include persons well-versed in the PCA’s processes (few are expert in these matters). Ruling elders (who are always church members) are among the available representatives but assumedly are already involved in the process and may not be unbiased or willing to oppose their brother elders.
The proposed amendment’s solution is to expand potential representatives to “a communing member in good standing of a PCA church or any member in good standing of a PCA court (meaning all elders, ruling and teaching).
Why is representation before church courts important? Here are a few reasons, most from the whereas sections of the overture:
- “the spiritual good of offenders themselves”—Representation may simply mean having someone to sit with an accused person at trial or help them with trial preparation. Help may mean hope and may allow an accused to stay in the restorative process rather than flee, thus separating themselves.
- “our robust, biblical processes of church discipline are necessarily unique, sometimes complicated, and foreign to the normal life experience of church members in particular”—In other words, our process is good and biblical…but complicated. Representation can help the accused with the complexity.
- “for building up, and not for destruction, (discipline) is to be exercised as under a dispensation of mercy and not of wrath.”—A court that does not “stack the deck” against an accused or callously allow them to be baffled and disadvantaged by process is being kind and merciful. These proposed rules would make it easier for the accused to obtain (or be assisted by the court to obtain) competent, unbiased representation.
- And, finally, because some members are more vulnerable than others, such as “a defendant who is young, female, or a newly received church member (who) may find appearing unrepresented before our church courts daunting and insurmountably difficult, and …persons involved in cases connected with abuse (who) stand in particular need of assistance and support”—It is right and good protect the vulnerable. Making it easier for the vulnerable to obtain help reflects God’s goodness and mercy.
Another possible benefit of ensuring that accused church members have competent representation is a reduction in the number of appealed cases. Sessions might have more incentive to carefully and reasonably follow process when accused persons are properly assisted and representated.
“no member of a church or court should be frustrated, disadvantaged, or dissuaded from appearing in a discipline case because of the difficulties outlined above”
The biblical wisdom of the changes proposed in this overture may be borne out by the fact that our nearest sister denominations in the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council already have broader rules for the representation of members in discipline cases as part of their books of order and discipline:
- The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church— “Advise the alleged offender that he has the following rights: (a) to be represented by an advocate, who shall be a member in good standing of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church…” (Book of Discipline, chapter 4).[1]
- The Orthodox Presbyterian Church—“The accused shall be entitled to the assistance of counsel. No person shall be eligible to act as counsel who is not a member in good standing of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.”
- The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America—“Each of the parties (involved in a church trial) shall be entitled to appear and to be represented by counsel. No person shall be permitted to act as counsel who is not a member of the (RPCNA) church and subject to the jurisdiction of its courts. This does not preclude the parties from seeking legal advice privately.”
Overture 26’s proposed changes would bring PCA discipline more in line with that of our presbyterian cousins.
[1] An earlier chapter seems to limit this to elders, but there is no local limitation to one court or church: “2.3 ADVOCATE. An elder in good standing in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church who assists or represents an alleged offender or victim in the disciplinary proceedings.”
Brad Isbell is a PCA Ruling Elder serving on the Session of Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Oak Ridge, TN.