By Daniel Thornton | June 12, 2023 Please note that the Editorial Board of Presbyterian Polity does not necessarily endorse all views expressed on the blog of this site, but the editors are pleased to present well-crafted position papers on issues facing Presbyterian churches and denominations. What follows is one such paper for our readers’ … More Constraining Choice of Counsel Contravenes Christ
By Jacob Gerber | June 9, 2023 Please note that the Editorial Board of Presbyterian Polity does not necessarily endorse all views expressed on the blog of this site, but the editors are pleased to present well-crafted position papers on issues facing Presbyterian churches and denominations. What follows is one such paper for our readers’ … More Overture 11 & Making Objections to SJC Decisions
By Dan Barber | June 8, 2023 Please note that the Editorial Board of Presbyterian Polity does not necessarily endorse all views expressed on the blog of this site, but the editors are pleased to present well-crafted position papers on issues facing Presbyterian churches and denominations. What follows is one such paper for our readers’ … More Response: Making the Case FOR Overtures 10 & 14
By Matt Fender | June 6, 2023 Please note that the Editorial Board of Presbyterian Polity does not necessarily endorse all views expressed on the blog of this site, but the editors are pleased to present well-crafted position papers on issues facing Presbyterian churches and denominations. What follows is one such paper for our readers’ … More Should Atheists Be Able to Testify in Church Courts?
By Matt Fender | June 2, 2023 Please note that the Editorial Board of Presbyterian Polity does not necessarily endorse all views expressed on the blog of this site, but the editors are pleased to present well-crafted position papers on issues facing Presbyterian churches and denominations. What follows is one such paper for our readers’ … More Making the Case against Overtures 10 & 14
By Jacob Gerber | March 13, 2023 Who Is Responsible for Church Discipline? Church discipline is painful and messy. Even the very lowest levels of church discipline are agonizing, when we admonish someone we notice to be sinning. The pain of church discipline only ratchets up, though, as we approach the ultimate censure of the … More Who Is Responsible for Church Discipline?
By Jacob Gerber | November 5, 2022 The Presbyteries of the PCA are currently voting on two Book of Church Order (BCO) amendments that are very similar: Item 6 (Overture 2021-20) and Item 11 (Overture 2021-21). In their final forms, both seek to require a 2/3 vote to suspend the official functions of an officer, … More 2022 Proposals: The Case for Item 6 & Against Item 11
By Jacob Gerber | October 7, 2022 The list of Book of Church Order (BCO) amendments handed down to the Presbyteries from the 49th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is daunting. For a basic refresher on the amendments before us, including a breakdown of the votes that they received in Overtures and … More Researching the Rationales of PCAGA49’s Proposed BCO Amendments
By Jacob Gerber | August 16, 2022 In my last article, I detailed the parliamentary rules[1] which require minority reports from the Committee on Constitutional Business (CCB) the right to be presented to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) for consideration. Further, I showed how our parliamentary rules for handling such … More Minority Reports, CCB, & the SJC – Part 2: Why This is Important
By Jacob Gerber | August 11, 2022 Background At the 49th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the Committee on Constitutional Business (CCB) presented its annual report, which included the results of its review of the minutes of the Standing Judicial Commission (SJC), according to the PCA’s Rules of Assembly Operations (RAO): … More Minority Reports, CCB, & the SJC – Part 1: The Parliamentary Rules