by Zachary Groff | April 18, 2024 Confusion as a Instrument of the Devil One of the most powerful instruments of chaos in the devil’s arsenal is confusion. Through the use of slick words, direct contradiction, subtle deception, false information, and emotional manipulation, the church’s great foe frequently blows infernal smoke across our sight lines. … More God’s Winsome Watchmen in the PCA
By Alex Mark | April 17, 2024 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 In Favor of Requiring Exit Interviews
by Jason Cunningham | April 2, 2024 Having briefly analyzed the doctrine of the Christian Sabbath as it is articulated in the doctrinal Standards of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and explicated its biblical basis in parts one and two of this three-part series, I now intend to provide a working definition of confessional … More A Day Set Apart: Revisiting the “No Recreation” Clause of WCF 21.8, Part 3
by Jason Cunningham | March 30, 2024 In the opening article in this three-part series on the doctrine of the Christian Sabbath as it is observed in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), I provided a brief analysis of the doctrine, defending what is sometimes referred to as the “Puritan view.” In this second post, I more … More A Day Set Apart: Revisiting the “No Recreation” Clause of WCF 21.8, Part 2
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. … More An Overture that Doesn’t Make the “Grade”: The Presbyterian Judicial System is Necessarily “Vertically Inclined”
by Jason Cunningham | March 25, 2024 As a new member of the Credentials Committee of my presbytery, I was intrigued to discover that many ordination candidates in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) state a difference to the “no recreation” clause found in Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) 21.8.[1] Typically, candidates explain the difference with … More A Day Set Apart: Revisiting the “No Recreation” Clause of WCF 21.8, Part 1
By Brad Isbell | December 11, 2023 Thesis: No confessional presbyterian church will long remain confessional or Presbyterian if it loses Reformed worship. First, some definitions: Why will unscriptural, man-centered, culturally conditioned, over-contextualized worship undermine confessional orthodoxy? Because worship by its very form (which ought to be according to spirit—uppercase and lowercase— and truth) communicates … More Confessional Presbyterian Worship
by Scott Edburg | November 23, 2023 As fall fades to winter, 40 presbyteries have taken up the three proposed amendments to the Book of Church Order (BCO) initially approved and passed down by the 50th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Nearly half of the presbyteries have offered advice and consent … More November 2023 BCO Amendments Update
by Scott Edburg | October 29, 2023 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 … More October 2023 BCO Amendments Update
By Ryan Biese | October 11, 2023 How a church-plant, or “mission church,” (BCO 5-1) transitions to become a “Particular Church” is outlined in BCO 5-9. Until a “mission church” becomes a particular church, the church plant is usually under the care of a Presbytery by means of one of two temporary arrangements. In the … More Can a Temporary Session Impose a Pastor on a Church Plant?