PCANews -

 

Editor’s note: Presbyteries have been voting on overtures to be considered by the 32nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America. The General Assembly will meet in the Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Penn., June 14-18, 2004. Overture 9 is printed below along with the Committee(s) to which it has been assigned for consideration and recommendation to the General Assembly.

 

 

Overture:  #9

From:  Grace Presbytery

To:  Committee on Constitutional Business, Bills and Overtures

 

Title:  "Regarding Doctrinal Subscription, Amend BCO Preface, Section II, Preliminary Principles (by addition), Chapter 16 (by addition), and 21-4 (by deletion)."

 

Whereas, the Presbytery of Grace overtured the 11^th General Assembly asking that provision be made for the stating of "scruples" by those being examined by the Presbyteries (which the Assembly amended by the word "exceptions" but eventually answered the overture in the negative), and

 

Whereas, synods and councils may err (WCF 31-34), and

 

Whereas, the 30^th General Assembly approved and recommended to the Presbyteries, and the 31^st General Assembly subsequently approved and enacted what has been commonly referred to throughout the Church as the "Good Faith Subscription" amendment to the Book of Church Order Chapter 24 so that now it is only men seeking ordination as Teaching Elder who are required by their Presbytery to state specific instances in which they may differ with the Confession of Faith and Catechism, rather than all prospective officers and current officers of the Church, and

 

Whereas, a sizable minority voted against the enactment of the "Good Faith Subscription" amendment (40% of the commissioners voting voted in the negative), and

Whereas, the vote of the Presbyteries on the "Good Faith Subscription" amendment between the 30^th and 31^st General Assemblies indicated a sizable minority was opposed to that same amendment (it having been consented to with only two Presbytery votes more than required by BCO 26-2), and

 

Whereas, much of the opposition to the "Good Faith Subscription" amendment appears to have centered around four issues:

 

1.       The relationship of the Holy Scriptures to the Westminster Standards.

2.       The convoluted language of the Amendment itself.

3.       The placement of the Amendment in Chapter 24.

4.       Its application limited only to men coming before the Presbyteries for ordination as Teaching Elders rather than to all officers of the Church, and

 

Whereas, the "Good Faith Subscription" amendment did not fully address all of these issues, and

 

Whereas, the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America, as amended, does not contain any explanation or definition of what it means to "not be able in good faith sincerely to receive and adopt the Confession of Faith and Catechisms of this Church as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures," thus creating the probability of continued tension over the issues which the 30^th and 31^st General Assemblies hoped to reduce, and

 

Whereas, in the examination of candidates for the office of Ruling Elder and Deacon, Church Session currently are not bound by the language of BCO 21-4, and

 

Whereas, there is a compelling need to provide an equitable solution to the ongoing debate over the above mentioned issues, and

 

Whereas, there does not appear to be broad-based support even among those who prefer "Good Faith" subscription and those who prefer "Strict" or "Full" subscription to agree upon a procedure whereby exceptions may be stated by men seeking ordination and the church courts examining such men may consider those exceptions in the examination and ordination process, and

 

Whereas, there seems to be the need for amendments to the Book of Church Order that would address the continuing concerns over the above mentioned issues in the Presbyterian Church in America and redress actions taken by previous Assemblies;

 

Therefore, be it resolved that the Presbytery of Grace meeting on September 29, 2003 does overture the 32^nd General Assembly initiate the process of amending the present Book of Church Order by

 

First, amending the Preface of the Book of Church Order Section II. Preliminary Principles by the addition of the following as a new number 5 and then renumbering accordingly the remaining Principles:

 

In accordance with the above principles, it is necessary to make effective provision that all who are ordained as officers be sound in the faith, and that there are truths and forms of faith and practice, truth and duty to which men of good character and principles must agree.  Those truths and forms have been revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as interpreted by the Westminster Confession of Faith, together with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.

 

Second, amending Chapter 16 "Church Orders-The Doctrine of Vocation" in the Book of Church Order by the addition of a new number 16-3 and renumbering the remaining paragraph as 16-4:

 

16-3 These officers of Christ's Church must assent to specific questions for ordination, said questions serving as the vows of ordination for these officers (BCO 21-5; 24-5).

            

a.       These vows, though enumerated in a logical and sequential order, form a unified statement of belief and are not contrary, fragmented parts.

b.       A candidate for any office, as well as any officer who has been ordained, shall inform the court of which he is a member, before, during, and/or after the ordination process (BCO 21-5.2; 24-5.2), of any specific instance in which he may differ with the Confession of Faith and Catechisms (each such instance being referred to herein as an "exception").

c.       The court, upon being so informed, shall then take one of the following actions in regards to such stated exceptions:

 

1.       Find, during an examination, that the exception strikes at the vitals of the system of doctrine found in the Standards' interpretation of the Holy Scriptures and, in the case of a candidate (BCO 18), licentiate or intern (BCO 19), or a Ruling Elder or Deacon nominee (BCO 24-1), arrest the examination in order for the man to receive additional instruction with the intent that his views be corrected.

2.       Find, during an examination, that the exception strikes at the vitals of the system of doctrine found in the Standards' interpretation of the Holy Scriptures and, in the case of an ordinand, Ruling Elder, or Deacon nominee disapprove the examination, recording in its minutes the actions of the court.

3.       Find, during an examination, that the exception does not strike at the vitals of the system of doctrine found in the Standard's interpretation of the Holy Scriptures and, in the case of the ordinand, Ruling Elder, or Deacon nominee, approve the examination, recording in its minutes the findings of the court.

4.       Find, in the case of an ordained officer who reports his exception(s) to the court, that the exception does not strike at the vitals of the system of doctrine found in the Standard's interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, recording in its minutes the actions of the court.

5.       Find, in the case of an ordained officer who reports his exception(s) to the court, that the exception strikes at the vitals of the system of doctrine found in the Standards' interpretation of the Holy Scriptures recording in its Minutes the actions of the court.  Further, in such event the court shall proceed to the steps of the discipline to the end that the officer shall repent of his erroneous beliefs or be removed from his office.

 

Third, amending the Book of Church Order 21-4 by striking the following two paragraphs from 21-4 as finally adopted by the 31^st General Assembly:

 

While our Constitution does not require the candidate's affirmation of every statement and/or proposition of doctrine in our Confession of Faith and Catechisms, it is the right and responsibility of the Presbytery to determine if the candidate is out of accord with any of the fundamentals of these doctrinal standards and, as a consequence, may not be able in good faith sincerely to receive and adopt the Confession of Faith and Catechisms of this Church as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures (cf. BCO 21-5, Q.2; 24-5, Q.2).

             

Therefore, in examining a candidate for ordination, the Presbytery shall inquire not only into the candidate's knowledge and views in the areas specified above, but also shall require the candidate to state the specific instances in which he may differ with the Confession of Faith and Catechisms in any of their statements and/or propositions.  The court may grant an exception to any difference of doctrine only if in the court's judgment the candidate's declared difference is not out of accord with any fundamental of our system of doctrine because the difference is neither hostile to the system nor strikes at the vitals of religion.

 

And be it further resolved, that the Presbytery of Grace states that the proposed amendments may be amended by the Standing/Permanent Committee of the General Assembly to which this Overture may be referred, as well as any Committee of Commissioners which might review the Overture.  In addition, the Presbytery of Grace would support even a change of placement of the first two proposed amendments within the Book of Church Order but offers the following rationale for its suggested placement.

 

As to the creation of a new Preliminary Principle #5, we find it striking that the previous two Principles speak, first of the appointment of officers to preach the Word, administer the Sacraments, and exercise discipline in order to preserve the truth and duty, and second, the importance to distinguish between truth and falsehood.  But we are troubled by the fact that the present #5, while important to retain, immediately speaks of the differences that men may hold yet still be ordained without some sort of sentiment about what must be embraced as truth by all officers.  Therefore we offer the new #5 principle which demonstrates the source and embodiment of truth, the Holy Scriptures, and the relationship of the Standards to the Holy Scriptures.

 

As to the creation of a new Chapter 16, paragraph 3, we believe that it addresses the need to see that all officers, whether Elders or Deacons, are treated the same with respect to exceptions taken to the Standards.  Further, the new paragraph both defines an "exception" and permits the stating of exceptions by the candidate and the granting of exceptions by the court with ordination to follow.  We are convinced that the point of tension in the Presbyterian Church in America is not to be found in the labels "Good Faith" versus "Strict" of "Full" but with the ability to state exceptions that may not strike at the vitals of the system of doctrine found in the Holy Scriptures as interpreted by the Standards.  While we are aware of the opposing groups within the denomination who would insist that ordination requires assent without any exceptions or ordination must be granted regardless of any exceptions that might be stated, we believe that the overwhelming majority of Elders in the denomination desire an objective method of hearing and acting upon stated exceptions to our Standards by Ruling Elder and Deacon nominees, candidates, licentiates, interns, ordinands and Teaching Elders.

 

As to the removal of the 31^st General Assembly's "Good Faith" amendment, we believe that the adoption, in some form, of the previous two amendments obviates the necessity of that new portion of the Book of Church Order while achieving the very same goal.

 

Adopted by Grace Presbytery on January 13, 2004

Attested by:  /s/ Eugene C. Case, Stated Clerk of Presbytery