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CHAPTER 11. Jurisdiction of Church Courts
11-1. These assemblies are altogether distinct from the civil magistracy, and have no jurisdiction in political or civil affairs. They have no power to inflict temporal pains and penalties, but their authority is in all respects moral or spiritual.
11-2. The jurisdiction of Church courts is only ministerial and declarative, and relates to the doctrines and precepts of Christ, to the order of the Church, and to the exercise of discipline. First, they can make no laws binding the conscience; but may frame symbols of faith, bear testimony against error in doctrine and immorality in practice, within or without the Church, and decide cases of conscience. Secondly, they have power to establish rules for the government, discipline, worship, and extension of the Church, which must be agreeable to the doctrines relating thereto contained in the Scriptures, the circumstantial details only of these matters being left to the Christian prudence and wisdom of Church officers and courts. Thirdly, they possess the right to require obedience to the laws of Christ. Hence, they admit those qualified to sealing ordinances and to their respective offices, and they exclude the disobedient and disorderly from such offices or from sacramental privileges. The highest censure to which their authority extends is to cut off the contumacious and impenitent from the congregation of believers. Moreover, they possess all the administrative authority necessary to give effect to these powers.
11-3. All Church courts are one in nature, constituted of the same elements, possessed inherently of the same kinds of rights and powers, and differing only as the Constitution may provide. When, however, according to Scriptural example, and needful to the purity and harmony of the whole Church, disputed matters of doctrine and order arising in the lower courts are referred to the higher courts for decision, such referral shall not be so exercised as to impinge upon the authority of the lower court.
11-4. For the orderly and efficient dispatch of ecclesiastical business, it is necessary that the sphere of action of each court should be distinctly defined. The Session exercises jurisdiction over a single church, the Presbytery over what is common to the ministers, Sessions, and churches within a prescribed district, and the General Assembly over such matters as concern the whole Church. The jurisdiction of these courts is limited by the express provisions of the Constitution.
Every court has the right to resolve questions of doctrine and discipline seriously and reasonably proposed, and in general to maintain truth and righteousness, condemning erroneous opinions and practices which tend to the injury of the peace, purity, or progress of the Church. Although each court exercises exclusive original jurisdiction over all matters especially belonging to it, the lower courts are subject to the review and control of the higher courts, in regular gradation. These courts are not separate and independent tribunals, but they have a mutual relation, and every act of jurisdiction is the act of the whole Church performed by it through the appropriate organ.
The Church Session
12-1. The church Session consists of the pastor, associate pastor(s), if there be any, and the ruling elders of a church. If there are three or more ruling elders, the pastor and two ruling elders shall constitute a quorum. If there are fewer than three ruling elders, the pastor and one ruling elder shall constitute a quorum. Assistant pastor or pastors, although not members of the Session, may be invited to attend and participate in discussion without vote. When a church has no pastor and there are five or more ruling elders, three shall constitute a quorum; if there are less than five ruling elders, two shall constitute a quorum; if there is only one ruling elder, he does not constitute a Session, but he should take spiritual oversight of the church, should represent it at Presbytery, should grant letters of dismission, and should report to the Presbytery any matter needing the action of a Church court. Any Session, by a majority vote of its members, may fix its own quorum, provided that it is not smaller than the quorum stated in these paragraphs.
12-2. The pastor is, by virtue of his office, the moderator of the Session. In his absence, if any emergency should arise requiring immediate action, the Session may elect one of its members to preside. Should prudential reasons at any time make it advisable for a minister other than the pastor to preside, the pastor may, with the concurrence of the Session, invite a minister of the same Presbytery to perform this service.
12-3. When a church is without a pastor, the moderator of the Session may be either a minister appointed for that purpose by the Presbytery, with consent of the Session, or one invited by the Session to preside on a particular occasion, or one of its own members elected to preside. In judicial cases, the moderator shall be a minister of the Presbytery to which the church belongs.
12-4. Associate or assistant pastors may substitute for the pastor as moderator of the Session at the discretion of the pastor and Session.
12-5. The church Session is charged with maintaining the spiritual government of the church, for which purpose it has power: a. To inquire into the knowledge, principles and Christian conduct of the church members under its care; to censure those found delinquent; to see that parents do not neglect to present their children for Baptism; to receive members into the communion of the Church; to remove them for just cause; to grant letters of dismissal to other churches, which when given to parents, shall always include the names of their non-communing, baptized children; b. To examine, ordain, and install ruling elders and deacons on their election by the church, and to require these officers to devote themselves to their work; to examine the records of the proceedings of the deacons; to approve and adopt the budget; c. To approve actions of special importance affecting church property; d. To call congregational meetings when necessary; to establish and control Sunday schools and Bible classes with special reference to the children of the church; to establish and control all special groups in the church such as Men in the Church, Women in the Church and special Bible study groups; to promote world missions; to promote obedience to the Great Commission in its totality at home and abroad; to order collections for pious uses; e. To exercise, in accordance with the Directory for Worship, authority over the time and place of the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments, over all other religious services, over the music in the services, and over the uses to which the church building and associated properties may be put; to take the oversight of the singing in the public worship of God; to ensure that the Word of God is preached only by such men as are sufficiently qualified (BCO 4-4, 53-2, 1 Timothy 2:11-12); to assemble the people for worship when there is no minister; to determine the best measures for promoting the spiritual interests of the church and congregation; f. To observe and carry out the lawful injunctions of the higher courts; and to appoint representatives to the higher courts, who shall, on their return, make report of their diligence.
12-6. The Session shall hold stated meetings at least quarterly. Moreover, the pastor has power to convene the Session when he may judge it requisite; and he shall always convene it when requested to do so by any two of the ruling elders. When there is no pastor, it may be convened by two ruling elders. The Session shall also convene when directed so to do by the Presbytery.
12-8. Every Session shall keep an accurate record of baptisms, of communing members, of non-communing members, and of the deaths and dismissions of church members.
12-9. Meetings of the Sessions shall be opened and closed with prayer
CHAPTER 13
The Presbytery
13-1. The Presbytery consists of all the teaching elders and churches within its bounds that have been accepted by the Presbytery. When the Presbytery meets as a court it shall comprise all teaching elders and ruling elders as elected by their Session. Each congregation is entitled to two (2) ruling elder representatives for the first 350 communing members or fraction thereof, and one additional ruling elder for each additional 500 communing members or fraction thereof.
13-2. A minister shall be required to hold his membership in the Presbytery within whose geographical bounds he resides, unless there are reasons which are satisfactory to his Presbytery why he should not do so. When a minister labors outside the geographical bounds of, or in a work not under the jurisdiction of his Presbytery, at home or abroad, it shall be only with the full concurrence of and under circumstances agreeable to his Presbytery, and to the Presbytery within whose geographical bounds he labors, if one exists. When a minister shall continue on the rolls of his Presbytery without a call to a particular work for a prolonged period, not exceeding three years, the procedure as set forth in BCO 34-10 shall be followed.
(EDITORIAL COMMENT: This provision, does not apply to the non-geographical Korean Language Presbyteries as long as the General Assembly mandates their existence.)
13-3. Every ruling elder not known to the Presbytery shall produce a certificate of his regular appointment from the Session of the church which he represents.
13-4. Any three ministers belonging to the Presbytery, together with at least three ruling elders, being met at the time and place appointed, shall be a quorum competent to proceed to business. However, any Presbytery, by a majority vote of those present at a stated meeting, may fix its own quorum provided it is not smaller than the quorum stated in this paragraph.
13-5. Ordinarily, only a minister who receives a call to a definite ecclesiastical work within the bounds of a particular Presbytery may be received as a member of that Presbytery except in cases where the minister is already honorably retired, or in those cases deemed necessary by the Presbytery, subject to the review of the General Assembly. In such cases deemed necessary, which may include the case of a minister without call whose circumstances appear to require relocation within the bounds of that Presbytery, the time allotment of BCO 13-2 shall be counted from the day the minister was first continued on the roll without call in any Presbytery.
13-6. Ministers seeking admission to a Presbytery from other Presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church in America shall be examined on Christian experience, and also touching their views in theology, the Sacraments, and church government. If applicants come from other denominations, the Presbytery shall examine them thoroughly in knowledge and views as required by BCO 21-4 and require them to answer in the affirmative the questions put to candidates at their ordination. Ordained ministers from other denominations being considered by Presbyteries for reception may come under the extraordinary provisions set forth in BCO 21-4.
13-7. The Presbytery shall cause to be transcribed, in some convenient part of the book of records, the obligations required of ministers at their ordination, which shall be subscribed by all admitted to membership, in the following form:
I, _______________, do sincerely receive and subscribe to the above obligation as a just and true exhibition of my faith and principles, and do resolve and promise to exercise my ministry in conformity thereunto.
13-8. The Presbytery, before receiving into its membership any church, shall designate a commission to meet with the church's ruling elders to make certain that the elders understand and can sincerely adopt the doctrines and polity of the Presbyterian Church in America as contained in its Constitution. In the presence of the commission, the ruling elders shall be required to answer affirmatively the questions required of officers at their ordination. 13-9. The Presbytery has power to receive and issue* appeals, complaints, and references brought before it in an orderly manner. In cases in which the Session cannot exercise its authority, it shall have power to assume original jurisdiction. It has power: * Editor's note: "Issue" means "settling the issue of the case." a. To receive under its care candidates for the ministry; to examine and license candidates for the holy ministry; to receive, dismiss, ordain, install, remove and judge ministers; b. To review the records of church Sessions, redress whatever they may have done contrary to order and take effectual care that they observe the Constitution of the Church; c. To establish the pastoral relation and to dissolve it at the request of one or both of the parties, or where the interest of religion imperatively demands it; d. To set apart evangelists to their proper work; to require ministers to devote themselves diligently to their sacred calling and to censure the delinquent; e. To see that the lawful injunctions of the higher courts are obeyed; f. To condemn erroneous opinions which injure the purity or peace of the Church; to visit churches for the purpose of inquiring into and redressing the evils that may have arisen in them; to unite or divide churches, at the request of the members thereof; to form and receive new churches; to take special oversight of churches without pastors; to dissolve churches; to dismiss churches with their consent; g. To devise measures for the enlargement of the Church within its bounds; in general, to order whatever pertains to the spiritual welfare of the churches under its care; h. And, finally, to propose to the Assembly such measures as may be of common advantage to the Church at large.
13-10. When a Presbytery determines to dissolve a church, it shall give no less than sixty (60) days notice of such dissolution to the local church. With such notice, Presbytery shall communicate to the members their responsibility to transfer their membership to other particular or mission churches. In addition, Presbytery shall:
1. transfer membership to existing churches, with the consent of the individuals and the Sessions of the receiving churches; or 2. grant a letter of dismissal to an individual so requesting, testifying that the individual was a member in good standing of the local church at the date of dissolution (see BCO 46‑7). Until such time as the person is received by a church the Presbytery shall continue to provide pastoral oversight; or 3. place individuals under the oversight of a commission of Presbytery acting as a session (BCO 15-2), for up to one year, renewable, until such time as either a new congregation can be formed or such persons are dismissed to membership in another church.
13-11. The Presbytery shall keep a full and accurate record of its proceedings, and shall send it up to the General Assembly annually for review. It shall report to the General Assembly every year, all the important changes which may have taken place, such as licensures, ordinations, the receiving or dismissing of members, the removal of members by death, the union and the division of churches, and the formation of new ones.
13-12. The Presbytery shall meet at least twice a year on its own adjournment. The Moderator shall call a special meeting at the request or with the concurrence of three teaching elders and three ruling elders from at least three different churches. Should the Moderator be for any reason unable to act, the Stated Clerk shall, under the same requirements, issue the call. If both Moderator and Stated Clerk are unable to act, any three teaching elders and three ruling elders of at least three different churches shall have power to call a meeting. However, any Presbytery may prescribe in its rules its own requirements for calling a special meeting, provided that those requirements are not less than those stated in this section. Notice of the special meeting shall be sent not less than ten days in advance to each teaching elder and to the Clerk of Session of every church. In the notice, the purpose of the meeting shall be stated, and no business other than that named in the notice is to be transacted. The Presbytery also shall convene when directed to do so by the General Assembly, for the transaction of designated business only.
13-13. Ministers in good standing in other Presbyteries, or in any evangelical church, being present at any meeting of Presbytery, may be invited to sit as visiting brethren. It is proper for the moderator to introduce these brethren to the Presbytery. This provision shall also apply to the General Assembly.
CHAPTER 14 The General Assembly
14-1. The General Assembly is the highest court of this Church, and represents in one body all the churches thereof. It bears the title of The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, and constitutes the bond of union, peace and correspondence among all its congregations and courts.
Principles for the Organization of the Assembly: 1. The Church is responsible for carrying out the Great Commission. 2. The initiative for carrying out the Great Commission belongs to the Church at every court level, and the Assembly is responsible to encourage and promote the fulfillment of this ministry by the various courts. 3. The work of the Church as set forth in the Great Commission is one work, being implemented at the General Assembly level through equally essential committees. 4. It is the responsibility of every member and every member congregation to support the whole work of the denomination as they be led in their conscience held captive to the Word of God. 5. It is the responsibility of the General Assembly to evaluate needs and resources, and to act on priorities for the most effective fulfillment of the Great Commission. 6. The Church recognizes the right of individuals and congregations to labor through other agencies in fulfilling the Great Commission. 7. The Assembly's committees are to serve and not to direct any Church judicatories. They are not to establish policy, but rather execute policy established by the General Assembly. 8. The committees serve the Church through the duties assigned by the General Assembly. 9. The Assembly's committees are to include proportionate representation of all presbyteries, wherever possible. 10. The committees are to be established on the basis of an equal number between teaching and ruling elders. 11. A Nominating Committee shall be comprised of one representative elected by each Presbytery in the following manner. Each Presbytery shall be assigned to a class by the stated clerk based on its date of formation. The members shall serve in classes of three year terms, alternating between ruling and teaching elders. When necessary, unexpired terms shall be filled by an elder of the same class, teaching or ruling. This committee is to present all nominations for which it is responsible to the next meeting of the Assembly from a slate of men nominated by the Presbyteries. Presbyteries shall utilize the nominating forms provided by the stated clerk for their nominations. Each presbytery may present one teaching elder and one ruling elder for each committee or agency. In addition to nominees for expired terms, the Committee shall nominate for each permanent committee one ruling and one teaching elder as alternates to fill any vacancies that may occur during the year. Each alternate should attend each meeting and fill any vacancy necessary to meet a quorum. In addition to the new nominees from the Presbyteries, alternates not assuming any vacancies during a year will be automatically considered by the Nominating Committee as candidates for nomination to that same committee. 12. The Assembly permanent committees are the Administrative Committee of General Assembly, Committee on Christian Education and Publications, Committee on Mission to North America, Committee on Mission to the World, and Committee on Reformed University Ministries. The Administrative Committee of General Assembly shall consist of twenty (20) members: a. Eleven Members in classes elected through the standard nomination and election procedure, b. One member each from the following program committees or agencies: 1. Christian Education and Publication; 2. Covenant College; 3. Covenant Theological Seminary; 4. PCA Retirement & Benefits, Inc
5. Mission to North America; 6. Mission to the World; 7. PCA Foundation; 8. Ridge Haven Conference Center; 9. Reformed University Ministries. The eleven members at large shall serve a term of four years. The chairman of the Administrative Committee shall be one of its members at large. Each program committee and agency shall designate its member each year at the last meeting of the committee or board before the meeting of General Assembly. The chief administrative officers of the program committees and agencies may attend any meeting of the Administrative Committee. They shall be entitled to the privilege of the floor but shall not have a vote and must be excluded when an executive session is called. Committee on Christian Education and Publications, Committee on Mission to North America, Committee on Mission to the World, and Committee on Reformed University Ministries shall consist of fifteen (15) men divided into five classes of three men each, with two men being TEs and one RE or two men being REs and one TE on alternate years, elected to serve five-year terms. Committees on Christian Education and Publications, Mission to North America, Mission to the World, and Reformed University Ministries shall have one ruling and one teaching elder as alternates to fill any vacancy that may occur during the year. Persons who have served for a full term, or for at least two years of a partial term, on one of the Assembly’s permanent committees or agencies shall not be eligible for re-election to an Assembly committee until one year has elapsed. (Exceptions may be permitted in agency bylaws approved by the Assembly.) 13. The General Assembly establishes personnel salaries after hearing recommendations from the appropriate committee. 14. The Assembly shall elect a six-man Theological Examining Committee (three teaching elders and three ruling elders of three classes of two men each). Nominations for this Committee will be presented by the Assembly’s Nominating Committee.
This committee shall examine all first and second level administrative officers of committees, boards and agencies, and those acting temporarily in these positions who are being recommended for first time employment. They are to be examined in the areas of: a. Christian experience, b. Theology, c. The Sacraments, d. Church government, e. Bible content, f. Church history, and the g. History of the Presbyterian Church in America. No person will begin work or move on the field without prior examination and approval by the General Assembly’s Theological Examining Committee. No first level administrative officer will be presented to the Assembly for election who has not met the approval of this committee.
15. All business shall ordinarily come to the floor of the Assembly for final action through committees of commissioners, except reports of the Standing Judicial Commission, the Committee on Constitutional Business, the Committee on Review of Presbytery Records, the Nominating Committee and Ad Interim committees, which shall come directly to the Assembly.
14-2. The General Assembly, which is a permanent court, shall meet at least annually upon its own adjournment. It shall consist of all teaching elders in good standing with their Presbyteries, and ruling elders as elected by their Session. Each congregation is entitled to two ruling elder representatives for the first 350 communing members or fraction thereof, and one additional ruling elder for each additional 500 communing members or fraction thereof.
14-3. When an emergency shall require a meeting of the General Assembly earlier than the time to which it stands adjourned, the moderator shall issue a call for a special meeting at the request or with the concurrence of ten percent (10%) of the commissioners who had seats in the Assembly at its preceding meeting, of whom at least ten shall be teaching elders and at least ten ruling elders, representing at least one-third (1/3) of the Presbyteries. Should the moderator be for any reason unable to act, the stated clerk shall under the same requirements issue the call. The members of the special meeting shall be the commissioners elected to the preceding meeting of the Assembly or their alternates. A Session, however, shall have the right to elect a commissioner or alternate in the stead of one who had died since the last meeting of the Assembly, or of one who has notified the moderator of the Session of his inability to serve. Notice of the special meeting shall be sent not less than twenty (20) days in advance to each commissioner and to the moderator of each Presbytery. In the notice the purpose of the meeting is to be stated and no other business is to be transacted.
14-4. Each commissioner, before his name shall be enrolled as a member of the Assembly, shall produce appropriate credentials.
14-5. Any one hundred (100) of these commissioners, of whom half shall be teaching elders and half ruling elders, representing at least one-third (1/3) of the Presbyteries, being met on the day and at the place appointed, shall be a quorum for the transaction of business.
14-6. The General Assembly shall have power: a. To receive and issue* all appeals, references, and complaints regularly brought before it from the lower courts; to bear testimony against error in doctrine and immorality in practice, injuriously affecting the Church; to decide in all controversies respecting doctrine and discipline; b. To give its advice and instruction, in conformity with the Constitution, in all cases submitted to it; c. To review the records of the Presbyteries, to take care that the lower courts observe the Constitution; to redress whatever they may have done contrary to order; d. To devise measures for promoting the prosperity and enlargement of the Church; e. To erect new Presbyteries, and unite and divide those which were erected with their consent; f. To institute and superintend the agencies necessary in the general work of evangelization; to appoint ministers of such labors as fall under its jurisdiction; g. To suppress schismatical contentions and disputations, according to the rules provided therefore; * Editor's note: "Issue" means "settling the issue of the case". h. To receive under its jurisdiction, with the consent of three-fourths (3/4) of the Presbyteries, other ecclesiastical bodies whose organization is conformed to the doctrine and order of this Church; to authorize Presbyteries to exercise similar power in receiving bodies suited to become constituents of those courts, and lying within their geographical bounds respectively; i. To superintend the affairs of the whole Church; j. To correspond with other churches; to unite with other ecclesiastical bodies whose organization is conformed to the doctrines and order of this Church, such union to be effected by a mode of procedure defined in BCO 26; and k. In general to recommend measures for the promotion of charity, truth and holiness through all the churches under its care.
14-7. Actions of the General Assembly pursuant to the provision of BCO 14-6 such as deliverances, resolutions, overtures, and judicial decisions are to be given due and serious consideration by the Church and its lower courts when deliberating matters related to such action. Judicial decisions shall be binding and conclusive on the parties who are directly involved in the matter being adjudicated, and may be appealed to in subsequent similar cases as to any principle which may have been decided. (See BCO 3-5 and 6, and WCF 31:3.)
14-8. The whole business of the Assembly being finished, and the vote taken for final adjournment, the moderator shall say from the chair:
By virtue of the authority delegated to me by the Church, I do now declare that the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America is adjourned, to convene at __________ on the _________ day of __________________A. D.
After which he shall pray and return thanks, and pronounce or cause to be pronounced on those present the apostolic benediction.
Ecclesiastical Commissions
15-1. A commission differs from an ordinary committee in that while a committee is appointed to examine, consider and report, a commission is authorized to deliberate upon and conclude the business referred to it, except in the case of judicial commissions of a Presbytery appointed under BCO 15-3. A commission shall keep a full record of its proceedings, which shall be submitted to the court appointing it. Upon such submission this record shall be entered on the minutes of the court appointing, except in the case of a presbytery commission serving as a session or a judicial commission as set forth in BCO 15-3. When a commission is appointed to serve as an interim Session, its actions are the actions of a Session, not a Presbytery. Every commission of a Presbytery or Session must submit complete minutes and a report of its activities at least once annually to the court which commissioned it.
15-2. Among the matters that may be properly executed by commissions are the taking of the testimony in judicial cases, the ordination of ministers, the installation of ministers, the visitation of portions of the church affected with disorder, and the organization of new churches. Every commission appointed by Presbytery shall consist of at least two teaching elders and two ruling elders, and the Presbytery at the time of the appointment of the commission shall determine what the quorum shall be. However, should a Presbytery clothe a commission with judicial powers and authority to conduct judicial process, or with power to ordain or install a teaching elder of the Gospel, the quorum of such commission shall not be less than two teaching elders and two ruling elders. The quorum for a commission appointed as an interim session need not conform to the requirements of a judicial commission, but only to those of a session (BCO 12-1). When the ordination of a minister is committed to a commission, the Presbytery itself shall conduct the previous examination.
15-3. Presbytery as a whole may try a judicial case within its jurisdiction (including the right to refer any strictly constitutional issue to a study committee with options listed below), or it may of its own motion commit any judicial case to a commission. Such a commission shall be appointed by the Presbytery from its members other than members of the Session of the church from which the case comes up. The commission shall try the case in the manner presented by the Rules of Discipline and shall submit to the Presbytery a full statement of the case and the judgment rendered. The Presbytery without debate shall approve or disapprove of the judgment, or may refer, (a debatable motion), any strictly constitutional issue(s) to a study committee. In case of referral, the Presbytery shall either dismiss some or all of the specific charges raised in the case or decide the case only after the report of the study committee has been heard and discussed. If Presbytery approves, the judgment of the commission shall be final and shall be entered on the minutes of Presbytery as the action. If Presbytery disapproves, it shall hear the case as a whole, or appoint a new commission to hear the case again.
15-4. The General Assembly shall elect a Standing Judicial Commission to which it shall commit all judicial cases within its jurisdiction. This commission shall consist of twenty-four (24) members divided into four classes of three teaching elders and three ruling elders in each class. Each class shall serve a four-year term and each subsequent Assembly shall declare the Standing Judicial Commission as a whole to be its commission. Nominations and vacancies shall be filled according to BCO 14-1(11), with nominations allowed from the floor. No person may be elected if there is already a member of the commission from the same Presbytery; but if a person is elected and changes Presbytery, he may continue to serve his full term. No person may serve concurrently on the General Assembly’s Standing Judicial Commission and any of the General Assembly’s permanent committees.
15-5. a. In the cases committed to it, the Standing Judicial Commission shall have the judicial powers and be governed by the judicial procedures of the General Assembly. The decision of the Standing Judicial Commission shall be the final decision of the General Assembly except as set forth below, to which there may be no complaint or appeal. Members of the Standing Judicial Commission may file concurring or dissenting opinions, or a minority report as set forth in (c) below. The General Assembly may direct the Standing Judicial Commission to retry a case if upon the review of its minutes exceptions are taken with respect to that case. b. In each case the Standing Judicial Commission shall issue a summary of the facts, a statement of the issues, its judgment and its reasoning, together with any concurring or dissenting opinions, all of which shall be entered on the minutes of the General Assembly and shall be reported by the Stated Clerk to the next General Assembly. The judgment shall be effective from the time of its announcement to the parties. c. (1) If, within twenty-four (24) hours of the time of adjournment of a Standing Judicial Commission meeting at which a final decision was rendered in a case, at least one-third (1/3) of the voting members of the Standing Judicial Commission file written notice of their intention to file a minority decision with the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, and within twenty (20) days from the adjournment do file such a minority decision, such minority decision shall be considered a minority report and shall be referred, with the report of the Standing Judicial Commission, to the General Assembly. In each instance “file” shall be understood as defined by the Operating Manual for Standing Judicial Commission. (2) No such reference* from the Standing Judicial Commission shall be considered by the General Assembly unless the report of the Standing Judicial Commission and the minority report have been mailed to the clerk of Session of each church at least thirty (30) days prior to the meeting of the General Assembly. (3) The Assembly shall act upon such a reference* from the Standing Judicial Commission, in each case without question, discussion, debate, or amendment, as follows: a. The Standing Judicial Commission shall have 30 minutes to present its decision to the Assembly. *NOTE: It was the opinion of the 26th General Assembly that “reference” is NOT to be understood as the technical term “reference” in BCO 41-1. b. The minority shall have 30 minutes to present its decision to the Assembly. c. The Standing Judicial Commission shall have 10 minutes to reply to the minority report. d. The decision of the minority shall be proposed and the General Assembly shall, without question, discussion, debate, or amendment approve or disapprove of the minority report. e. If the General Assembly disapproves the minority report, the General Assembly shall take up the decision of the Standing Judicial Commission and without question, discussion, debate, or amendment, approve or disapprove of the decision of the Standing Judicial Commission. (4) If the General Assembly approves of a proposed decision, it shall be the decision of the General Assembly, and printed in its minutes. There may be no complaint or appeal from such a final decision of the General Assembly. If the General Assembly finally disapproves of both proposed decisions, it must set the case for hearing before the General Assembly or a special commission appointed by it, and in either instance the case shall be tried on the record as delivered to the Stated Clerk. Any such special commission shall then proceed to consider the case and shall report its decision, in like manner, to the General Assembly for its approval or disapproval. In any event, the full record of the case, including written testimony of witnesses, all documents, exhibits and papers shall be delivered to the Stated Clerk for permanent preservation.”
15-6. The General Assembly shall have power to commit to a commission, consisting of not less than three elders, the task of forming a provisional Presbytery in a foreign country where there exists no compatible indigenous presbyterian and reformed Church. Such a commission shall have authority to act as the Presbytery in all matters pertaining to the establishment and ordering of a national Church and shall report annually to the General Assembly. The commission shall be dissolved when there are at least three national teaching elders and three organized churches under its care, and these shall then constitute a separate national Church.
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