PART I

FORM OF GOVERNMENT

 

CHAPTER 1

 The Doctrine of Church Government.

 

1-1.      The scriptural form of church government, which is representative or presbyterian, is comprehended under five heads:  a.  The Church; b.  Its members; c.  Its officers; d.  Its courts; e.  Its orders.

 

1-2.      The Church which the Lord Jesus Christ has erected in this world for the gathering and perfecting of the saints is His visible kingdom of grace, and is one and the same in all ages.

 

1-3.      The members of this visible Church catholic are all those persons in every nation, together with their children, who make profession of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and promise submission to His laws.

 

1-4.      The officers of the Church, by whom all its powers are administered, are, according to the Scriptures, teaching and ruling elders and deacons.

 

1-5.      Ecclesiastical jurisdiction is not a several, but a joint power, to be exercised by presbyters in courts.  These courts may have jurisdiction over one or many churches, but they sustain such mutual relations as to realize the idea of the unity of the Church.

 

1-6.      The ordination of officers is ordinarily by a court, except in the case of ordination by a presbytery's evangelist (see BCO 8-6).

 

1-7.      This scriptural doctrine of Presbytery is necessary to the perfection of the order of the visible Church, but is not essential to its existence.

 

 

CHAPTER 2

The Visible Church Defined

 

2-1.      The Visible Church before the law, under the law, and now under the Gospel, is one and the same and consists of all those who make profession of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, together with their children.

 

2-2.      This visible unity of the body of Christ, though obscured, is not destroyed by its division into different denominations of professing Christians; but all of these which maintain the Word and Sacraments in their fundamental integrity are to be recognized as true branches of the Church of Jesus Christ.

 

2-3.      It is according to scriptural example that the Church should be divided into many individual churches.

 

CHAPTER 3

The Nature and Extent of Church Power

 

3-1.      The power which Christ has committed to His Church vests in the whole body, the rulers and those ruled, constituting it a spiritual commonwealth.  This power, as exercised by the people, extends to the choice of those officers whom He has appointed in His Church.

 

3-2.      Ecclesiastical power, which is wholly spiritual, is twofold.  The officers exercise it sometimes severally, as in preaching the Gospel, administering the Sacraments, reproving the erring, visiting the sick, and comforting the afflicted, which is the power of order; and they exercise it sometimes jointly in Church courts, after the form of judgment, which is the power of jurisdiction.

 

3-3.      The sole functions of the Church, as a kingdom and government distinct from the civil commonwealth, are to proclaim, to administer, and to enforce the law of Christ revealed in the Scriptures.

 

3-4.      The power of the Church is exclusively spiritual; that of the State includes the exercise of force.  The constitution of the Church derives from divine revelation; the constitution of the State must be determined by human reason and the course of providential events.  The Church has no right to construct or modify a government for the State, and the State has no right to frame a creed or polity for the Church.  They are as planets moving in concentric orbits:  "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21).

 

3-5.      The Church, with its ordinances, officers and courts, is the agency which Christ has ordained for the edification and government of His people, for the propagation of the faith, and for the evangelization of the world.

 

3-6.      The exercise of ecclesiastical power, whether joint or several, has the divine sanction when in conformity with the statutes enacted by Christ, the Lawgiver, and when put forth by courts or by officers appointed thereunto in His Word.

 

 

CHAPTER 4

 The Particular Church

 

4-1.      A particular church consists of a number of professing Christians, with their children, associated together for divine worship and godly living, agreeable to the Scriptures, and submitting to the lawful government of Christ's kingdom.

 

4-2.      Its officers are its teaching and ruling elders and its deacons.

 

4-3.      Its jurisdiction, being a joint power, is lodged in the church Session, which consists of its pastor, pastors, its associate pastor(s) and its ruling elders.

 

4-4.      The ordinances established by Christ, the Head, in His Church are prayer; singing praises; reading, expounding and preaching the Word of God; administering the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper; public solemn fasting and thanksgiving; catechizing; making offerings for the relief of the poor and for other pious uses; and  exercising discipline; the taking of solemn vows, and the ordination to sacred office.

 

4-5.      Churches without teaching elders ought not to forsake the assembling of themselves together, but should be convened by the Session on the Lord's Day, and at other suitable times, for prayer, praise, the presenting and expounding of the Holy Scriptures, and exhortation, or the reading of a sermon of some approved minister.  In like manner, Christians whose lot is cast in destitute regions ought to meet regularly for the worship of God.

 

 CHAPTER 5

The Organization of a Particular Church.

 A.  Mission Churches

 

5-1.      A mission church may be properly described in the same manner as the particular church is described in BCO 4-1.  It is distinguished from a particular church in that it has no permanent governing body, and thus must be governed or supervised by others.  However, its goal is to mature and be organized as a particular church as soon as this can be done decently and in good order.

 

5-2.      Ordinarily, the responsibility for initiation and oversight of a mission church lies with Presbytery, exercised through its committee on Mission to North America, or by a Session, in cooperation with presbytery's Committee on Mission to North America.  However, if the mission church is located outside the bounds of Presbytery, the responsibility may be exercised through the General Assembly's Committee on Mission to North America.

 

5-3.      The mission church, because of its transitional condition, requires a temporary system of government.  Depending on the circumstances and at its own discretion, Presbytery may provide for such government in one of several ways:

1.     Appoint an evangelist as prescribed in BCO 8-6.

2.     Cooperate with the Session of a particular church in arranging a mother-daughter relationship with a mission church.  The Session may then serve as the temporary governing body of the mission church.

3.     Appoint a commission to serve as a temporary Session of the mission church. 

 

5-4.      At the discretion of the temporary governing body, members may be received into the mission church as prescribed in BCO 12.  These persons then become communicant or non-communicant members of the Presbyterian Church in America.

 

5-5.      Mission churches and their members shall have the right of judicial process to the court having oversight of their temporary governing body. 

 

5-6.      Mission churches shall maintain a roll of communicant and non-communicant members, in the same manner as, but separate from, other particular churches.

 

5-7.      It is the intention of the Presbyterian Church in America that mission churches enjoy the same status as particular churches in relation to civil government.

 

 

B.  The Organization of a Particular Church

 

 

5-8.      A new church can be organized only by the authority of Presbytery.  The Presbytery may proceed with the organization directly, or through an especially appointed commission, or through an evangelist to whom the Presbytery has entrusted the power to organize churches.  In the organization of a church, whatever be the way in which the matter originated, the procedure shall be as follows:

1.     The Presbytery shall receive and approve a petition subscribed to by those persons seeking to be organized into a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America, appointing a time and date for a service of organization.

2.     At the service and following the preaching of the Word, testimonials shall be presented to the Presbytery by such persons as are members of the church, if there be any, and applicants for admission to the church on profession of faith in Christ shall, on satisfactory examination, be received.

3.     These persons shall in the next place be required to enter into covenant, by answering the following question affirmatively, with uplifted hand:

Do you, in reliance on God for strength, solemnly promise and covenant that you will walk together as an organized church, on the principles of the faith and order of the Presbyterian Church in America, and that you will be zealous and faithful in maintaining the purity and peace of the whole body?

 4.   The presiding minister shall then say:

      I now pronounce and declare that you are constituted a church according to the Word of God and the faith and order of the Presbyterian Church in America.  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.

  5.   Action shall be taken to secure, as soon as practicable, the regular administration of the Word and     Sacraments.

 

5-9.      The following procedures shall be used in nominating and training ruling elders prior to organization and the election of a Session:

1.   All men of the mission church (unless they decline) shall receive instruction in the qualifications and work of the office of ruling elder by the organizing commission or the evangelist.

2.   These men shall be examined by the organizing commission or the evangelist concerning their Christian experience, their knowledge and acceptance of the constitutional standards of the church, and their willingness to assume the responsibility of the office of ruling elder according to the qualifications set forth in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.  The organizing commission or the evangelist shall present a list of all who are found qualified to be nominated.

3.   Not less than thirty (30) days prior to the date of election, petitioners shall submit, from the list of all those found qualified, nominations of members for the office of ruling elder to the Presbytery-designated organizing commission or evangelist.  (Compare BCO 24-1)

4.   The congregation will determine the number of ruling elders following procedures outlined in BCO 24-3 and 24-1.

5.   At the organizing meeting ordination and installation shall follow the procedure set forth in BCO 24-5.

6.   Those elected, ordained and installed ruling elders should meet as soon as is practicable to elect a moderator and a clerk.  The moderator may be one of their own number or any teaching elder of the Presbytery with Presbytery's approval.

 

5-10.    If deacons are elected, follow the procedures of (1) through (5) above.  If deacons are not elected, the duties of the office shall devolve upon the ruling elders.

5-11.    The following procedures may be used in the selection of a pastor in a newly organized congregation:

1.   Not less than thirty (30) days prior to the date of organization the petitioners shall elect from their own body a Pulpit Nominating Committee.  This election shall take place at a meeting of the petitioners announced at least one week in advance.  Only those who have made a written commitment to membership in the new church are eligible to vote at this meeting.

2.   The Pulpit Committee may report at the organizational meeting of the congregation, or any subsequent congregational meeting called for that purpose.

3.   If at the organizational meeting a pastor is called who is a member of the organizing Presbytery, he may be installed at that time by the Presbytery or a Commission authorized by the Presbytery to do so.  If the pastor elect is not a member of the organizing Presbytery, his call must be prosecuted under the provisions of BCO 21.

  

CHAPTER 6

Church Members

  

6-1.      The children of believers are, through the covenant and by right of birth, non-communing members of the church.  Hence they are entitled to Baptism, and to the pastoral oversight, instruction and government of the church, with a view to their embracing Christ and thus possessing personally all benefits of the covenant.

 

 6-2.      Communing members are those who have made a profession of faith in Christ, have been baptized, and have been admitted by the Session to the Lord's Table.  (See BCO 46-4 for associate members).

 

 6-3.      All baptized persons are entitled to the watchful care, instruction and government of the church, even though they are adults and have made no profession of their faith in Christ.

 

 6-4.      Those only who have made a profession of faith in Christ, have been baptized, and admitted by the Session to the Lord's Table, are entitled to all the rights and privileges of the church.  (See BCO 57-4 and 58-4)

 

CHAPTER 7

 Church Officers-General Classification

 

7-1.      Under the New Testament, our Lord at first collected His people out of different nations, and united them to the household of faith by the ministry of extraordinary officers who received extraordinary gifts of the Spirit and who were agents by whom God completed His revelation to His Church.  Such officers and gifts related to new revelation have no successors since God completed His revelation at the conclusion of the Apostolic Age.

 

7-2.      The ordinary and perpetual classes of office in the Church are elders and deacons.  Within the class of elder are the two orders of teaching elders and ruling elders.  The elders jointly have the government and spiritual oversight of the Church, including teaching.  Only those elders who are specially gifted, called and trained by God to preach may serve as teaching elders.  The office of deacon is not one of rule, but rather of service both to the physical and spiritual needs of the people.  In accord with Scripture, these offices are open to men only.

 

7-3.      No one who holds office in the Church ought to usurp authority therein, or receive any official titles of spiritual preeminence, except such as are employed in the Scriptures.

 

CHAPTER 8

 The Elder

  

8-1.      This office is one of dignity and usefulness.  The man who fills it has in Scripture different titles expressive of his various duties.  As he has the oversight of the flock of Christ, he is termed bishop or pastor.  As it is his duty to be grave and prudent, an example to the flock, and to govern well in the house and Kingdom of Christ, he is termed presbyter or elder.  As he expounds the Word, and by sound doctrine both exhorts and convinces the gainsayer, he is termed teacher.  These titles do not indicate different grades of office, but all describe one and the same office.

 

8-2.      He that fills this office should possess a competency of human learning and be blameless in life, sound in the faith and apt to teach.  He should exhibit a sobriety and holiness of life becoming the Gospel.  He should rule his own house well and should have a good report of them that are outside the Church.

 

8-3.      It belongs to those in the office of elder, both severally and jointly, to watch diligently over the flock committed to his charge, that no corruption of doctrine or of morals enter therein.  They must exercise government and discipline, and take oversight not only of the spiritual interests of the particular church, but also the Church generally when called thereunto.  They should visit the people at their homes, especially the sick.  They should instruct the ignorant, comfort the mourner, nourish and guard the children of the Church.  They should set a worthy example to the flock entrusted to their care by their zeal to evangelize the unconverted and make disciples.  All those duties which private Christians are bound to discharge by the law of love are especially incumbent upon them by divine vocation, and are to be discharged as official duties.  They should pray with and for the people, being careful and diligent in seeking the fruit of the preached Word among the flock.

 

8-4.      As the Lord has given different gifts to men and has committed to some special gifts and callings, the Church is authorized to call and appoint some to labor as teaching elders in such works as may be needful to the Church.  When a teaching elder is called to such needful work, it shall be incumbent upon him to make full proof of his ministry by disseminating the Gospel for the edification of the Church.  He shall make a report to the Presbytery at least once each year.

 

8-5.      When a man is called to labor as a teaching elder, it belongs to his order, in addition to those functions he shares with all other elders, to feed the flock by reading, expounding and preaching the Word of God and to administer the Sacraments.  As he is sent to declare the will of God to sinners, and to beseech them to be reconciled to God through Christ, he is termed ambassador.  As he bears glad tidings of salvation to the ignorant and perishing, he is termed evangelist.  As he stands to proclaim the Gospel, he is termed preacher.  As he dispenses the manifold grace of God, and the ordinances instituted by Christ, he is termed steward of the mysteries of God.

 

8-6.      When a teaching elder is appointed to the work of an evangelist, he is commissioned to preach the Word and administer the Sacraments in foreign countries or the destitute parts of the Church.  The Presbytery may by

separate acts from that by which it commissioned him, entrust to the evangelist for a period of twelve months the power to organize churches, and, until there is a Session in the church so organized, to instruct, examine, ordain, and install ruling elders and deacons therein, and to receive or dismiss members.

 

8-7.      A Presbytery may, at its discretion, approve the call of a teaching elder to work with an organization outside the jurisdiction of the Presbyterian Church in America, provided that he be engaged in preaching and teaching the Word, that the Presbytery be assured he will have full freedom to maintain and teach the doctrine of our Church, and that he report at least annually on his work.  As far as possible, such a teaching elder shall be a member of the Presbytery within whose bounds he labors.  (See BCO 20-1.)

 

8-8.      As there were in the Church under the law, elders of the people for the government thereof, so in the Gospel Church, Christ has furnished others besides ministers of the Word with gifts and commission to govern when called thereunto, who are called ruling elders.

 

8-9.      Elders being of one class of office, ruling elders possess the same authority and eligibility to office in the courts of the Church as teaching elders.  They should, moreover, cultivate zealously their own aptness to teach the Bible and should improve every opportunity of doing so.

 

CHAPTER 9

 The Deacon.

 

9-1.      The office of deacon is set forth in the Scriptures as ordinary and perpetual in the Church.  The office is one of sympathy and service, after the example of the Lord Jesus; it expresses also the communion of saints, especially in their helping one another in time of need.

 

9-2.      It is the duty of the deacons to minister to those who are in need, to the sick, to the friendless, and to any who may be in distress.  It is their duty also to develop the grace of liberality in the members of the church, to devise effective methods of collecting the gifts of the people, and to distribute these gifts among the objects to which they are contributed.  They shall have the care of the property of the congregation, both real and personal, and shall keep in proper repair the church edifice and other buildings belonging to the congregation.  In matters of special importance affecting the property of the church, they cannot take final action without the approval of the Session and consent of the congregation.

            In the discharge of their duties the deacons are under the supervision and authority of the Session.  In a church in which it is impossible for any reason to secure deacons, the duties of the office shall devolve upon the ruling elders.

 

9-3.      To the office of deacon, which is spiritual in nature, shall be chosen men of spiritual character, honest repute, exemplary lives, brotherly spirit, warm sympathies, and sound judgment.

 

9-4.      The deacons of a particular church shall be organized as a Board, of which the pastor shall be an advisory member.  The Board shall elect a chairman and a secretary from their number and a treasurer to whom shall be entrusted the funds for the current expenses of the church.  It shall meet separately at least once a quarter, and whenever requested by the Session.  The Board of each church shall determine the number necessary for a quorum.

            The Board shall keep a record of its proceedings, and of all funds and their distribution, and shall submit its minutes to the Session regularly, and at other times upon request of the Session.

            It is desirable that the Session and the Board of Deacons meet in joint session once a quarter to confer on matters of common interest.

 

 9-5.      Deacons may properly be appointed by the higher courts to serve on committees, especially as treasurers.  It is suitable also that they be appointed trustees of any fund held by any of the Church courts.  It may also be helpful for the Church courts, when devising plans of church finance, to invite wise and consecrated deacons to their councils.

 

9-6.      The deacons may, with much advantage, hold conference from time to time for the discussion of the interests committed to them.  Such conferences may include representatives of churches covering areas of smaller or larger extent.  Any actions taken by these conferences shall have only an advisory character.

 

9-7.      It is often expedient that the Session of a church should select and appoint godly men and women of the congregation to assist the deacons in caring for the sick, the widows, the orphans, the prisoners, and others who may be in any distress or need.

  

CHAPTER 10

 Church Courts in General

 

10-1.    The Church is governed by various courts, in regular gradation, which are all, nevertheless, Presbyteries, as being composed exclusively of presbyters.

 

10-2.    These courts are church Sessions, Presbyteries, and the General Assembly.

 

10-3.    The pastor is, for prudential reasons, moderator of the Session.  The moderator of the Presbytery may be elected at each stated meeting of the court, or for a period of time up to one year.  The moderator of the General Assembly shall be chosen at each stated meeting; he, or in case of his absence the last moderator present or the oldest minister longest a member of the court, shall open the next meeting with a sermon unless it is impracticable, and shall hold the chair until a new moderator be chosen.

            The moderator has all authority necessary for the preservation of order and for the proper and expeditious conduct of all business before the court, and for convening and adjourning the court according to its own ruling.  In any emergency, he may by circular letter change the time or place, or both, of meeting to which the court stands adjourned, giving reasonable notice thereof.

 

10-4.    A clerk or clerks shall be elected by the Session, Presbytery, and General Assembly to serve for a definite period as determined by the court.

            It is the duty of the clerk, besides recording the transactions, to preserve the records carefully, and to grant extracts from them whenever properly required.  Such extracts under the hand of the clerk shall be evidence to any ecclesiastical court, and to every part of the Church.

 

10-5.    Every meeting of the Session, Presbytery and General Assembly shall be opened and closed with prayer, and in closing the final session a psalm or hymn may be sung and the benediction pronounced.

 

10-6.    The expenses of ministers and ruling elders in their attendance on the courts shall be defrayed by the bodies which they respectively represent.