Book of Church Order (PCA)
The Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America, comprising the Form of Government, the Rules of Discipline, and the Directory for the Worship of God. 2024 edition, including amendments through the 51st General Assembly.
All Sections
The King and Head of the Church, Preliminary Principles, and the Constitution Defined
1.1
I. THE KING AND HEAD OF THE CHURCH Jesus Christ, upon whose shoulders the government rests, whose name is called …
1.2
II. PRELIMINARY PRINCIPLES The Presbyterian Church in America, in setting forth the form of government founded upon and agreeable to …
1.3
III. THE CONSTITUTION DEFINED The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America, which is subject to and subordinate to the …
Part I — Form of Government
2.1
1-1. The scriptural form of church government, which is representative or presbyterian, is comprehended under five heads: a. The Church; …
2.2
1-2. The Church which the Lord Jesus Christ has erected in this world for the gathering and perfecting of the …
2.3
1-3. The members of this visible Church catholic are all those persons in every nation, together with their children, who …
2.4
1-4. The officers of the Church, by whom all its powers are administered, are, according to the Scriptures, teaching and …
2.5
1-5. Ecclesiastical jurisdiction is not a several, but a joint power, to be exercised by presbyters in courts. These courts …
2.6
1-6. The ordination of officers is ordinarily by a court, except in the case of ordination by a presbytery's evangelist …
2.7
1-7. This scriptural doctrine of Presbytery is necessary to the perfection of the order of the visible Church, but is …
Part I — Form of Government
3.1
2-1. The Visible Church before the law, under the law, and now under the Gospel, is one and the same …
3.2
2-2. This visible unity of the body of Christ, though obscured, is not destroyed by its division into different denominations …
3.3
2-3. It is according to scriptural example that the Church should be divided into many individual churches.
Part I — Form of Government
4.1
3-1. The power which Christ has committed to His Church vests in the whole body, the rulers and those ruled, …
4.2
3-2. Ecclesiastical power, which is wholly spiritual, is twofold. The officers exercise it sometimes severally, as in preaching the Gospel, …
4.3
3-3. The sole functions of the Church, as a kingdom and government distinct from the civil commonwealth, are to proclaim, …
4.4
3-4. The power of the Church is exclusively spiritual; that of the State includes the exercise of force. The constitution …
4.5
3-5. The Church, with its ordinances, officers and courts, is the agency which Christ has ordained for the edification and …
4.6
3-6. The exercise of ecclesiastical power, whether joint or several, has the divine sanction when in conformity with the statutes …
Part I — Form of Government
5.1
4-1. A particular church consists of a number of professing Christians, with their children, associated together for divine worship and …
5.2
4-2. Its officers are its teaching and ruling elders and its deacons.
5.3
4-3. Its jurisdiction, being a joint power, is lodged in the church Session, which consists of its pastor, pastors, its …
5.4
4-4. The ordinances established by Christ, the Head, in His Church are prayer; singing praises; reading, expounding and preaching the …
5.5
4-5. Churches without teaching elders ought not to forsake the assembling of themselves together, but should be convened by the …
Part I — Form of Government
6.1
5-1. A mission church may be properly described in the same manner as the particular church is described in BCO …
6.2
5-2. Ordinarily, mission churches are established by Presbyteries within their boundaries. a. Initiatives to which the Presbytery may respond in …
6.3
5-3. The mission church, because of its transitional condition, requires a temporary system of government. Depending on the circumstances and …
6.4
5-4. Pastoral ministry for the mission church may be provided: a. by a minister of the Presbytery called by Presbytery …
6.5
5-5. The temporary government shall receive members (BCO 12-5.a) into the mission church according to the provisions of BCO 57 …
6.6
5-6. Mission churches and their members shall have the right of judicial process to the court having oversight of their …
6.7
5-7. Mission churches shall maintain a roll of communicant and non- communicant members, in the same manner as, but separate …
6.8
5-8. It is the intention of the Presbyterian Church in America that mission churches enjoy the same status as particular …
6.9
5-9. A new church can be organized only by the authority of Presbytery. a. A Presbytery should establish standing rules …
6.10
5-10. Upon organization, the newly elected session should meet as soon as is practicable to elect a stated clerk and …
Part I — Form of Government
7.1
6-1. The children of believers are, through the covenant and by right of birth, non-communing members of the church. Hence …
7.2
6-2. Communing members are those who have made a profession of faith in Christ, have been baptized, and have been …
7.3
6-3. All baptized persons are entitled to the watchful care, instruction and government of the church, even though they are …
7.4
6-4. Those only who have made a profession of faith in Christ, have been baptized, and admitted by the Session …
Part I — Form of Government
8.1
7-1. Under the New Testament, our Lord at first collected His people out of different nations, and united them to …
8.2
7-2. The ordinary and perpetual classes of office in the Church are elders and deacons. Within the class of elder …
8.3
7-3. No one who holds office in the Church ought to usurp authority therein, or receive any official titles of …
Part I — Form of Government
9.1
8-1. This office is one of dignity and usefulness. The man who fills it has in Scripture different titles expressive …
9.2
8-2. He that fills this office should possess a competency of human learning and be blameless in life, sound in …
9.3
8-3. It belongs to those in the office of elder, both severally and jointly, to watch diligently over the flock …
9.4
8-4. As the Lord has given different gifts to men and has committed to some special gifts and callings, the …
9.5
8-5. When a man is called to labor as a teaching elder, it belongs to his order, in addition to …
9.6
8-6. When a teaching elder is appointed to the work of an evangelist in foreign countries or where there are …
9.7
8-7. A Presbytery may, at its discretion, approve the call of a teaching elder to work with an organization outside …
9.8
8-8. A Presbytery may, at its discretion, approve the call of a teaching elder to work as a Chaplain whether …
9.9
8-9. As there were in the Church under the law, elders of the people for the government thereof, so in …
9.10
8-10. Elders being of one class of office, ruling elders possess the same authority and eligibility to office in the …
Part I — Form of Government
10.1
9-1. The office of deacon is set forth in the Scriptures as ordinary and perpetual in the Church. The office …
10.2
9-2. It is the duty of the deacons to minister to those who are in need, to the sick, to …
10.3
9-3. To the office of deacon, which is spiritual in nature, shall be chosen men of spiritual character, honest repute, …
10.4
9-4. The deacons of a particular church shall be organized as a Board, of which the pastor shall be an …
10.5
9-5. Deacons may properly be appointed by the higher courts to serve on committees, especially as treasurers. It is suitable …
10.6
9-6. The deacons may, with much advantage, hold conference from time to time for the discussion of the interests committed …
10.7
9-7. It is often expedient that the Session of a church should select and appoint godly men and women of …
Part I — Form of Government
11.1
10-1. The Church is governed by various courts, in regular gradation, which are all, nevertheless, Presbyteries, as being composed exclusively …
11.2
10-2. These courts are church Sessions, Presbyteries, and the General Assembly.
11.3
10-3. The pastor is, for prudential reasons, moderator of the Session. The moderator of the Presbytery may be elected at …
11.4
10-4. A clerk or clerks shall be elected by the Session, Presbytery, and General Assembly to serve for a definite …
11.5
10-5. Every meeting of the Session, Presbytery and General Assembly shall be opened and closed with prayer, and in closing …
11.6
10-6. The expenses of ministers and ruling elders in their attendance on the courts shall be defrayed by the bodies …
Part I — Form of Government
12.1
11-1. These assemblies are altogether distinct from the civil magistracy, and have no jurisdiction in political or civil affairs. They …
12.2
11-2. The jurisdiction of Church courts is only ministerial and declarative, and relates to the doctrines and precepts of Christ, …
12.3
11-3. All Church courts are one in nature, constituted of the same elements, possessed inherently of the same kinds of …
12.4
11-4. For the orderly and efficient dispatch of ecclesiastical business, it is necessary that the sphere of action of each …
Part I — Form of Government
13.1
12-1. The church Session consists of the pastor, associate pastor(s), if there be any, and the ruling elders of a …
13.2
12-2. The pastor is, by virtue of his office, the moderator of the Session. In the pastor’s absence, if any …
13.3
12-3. When a church is without a pastor, the moderator of the Session may be either a minister appointed for …
13.4
12-4. Associate or assistant pastors may substitute for the pastor as moderator of the Session at the discretion of the …
13.5
12-5. The church Session is charged with maintaining the spiritual government of the church, for which purpose it has power: …
13.6
12-6. The Session shall hold stated meetings at least quarterly. Moreover, the pastor has power to convene the Session when …
13.7
12-7. Every Session shall keep an accurate record of its proceedings, which record shall be submitted at least once in …
13.8
12-8. Every Session shall keep an accurate record of baptisms, of communing members, of non-communing members, and of the deaths …
13.9
12-9. Meetings of the Sessions shall be opened and closed with prayer.
Part I — Form of Government
14.1
13-1. The Presbytery consists of all the teaching elders and churches within its bounds that have been accepted by the …
14.2
13-2. A minister shall be required to hold his membership in the Presbytery within whose geographical bounds he resides, unless …
14.3
13-3. Every ruling elder not known to the Presbytery shall produce a certificate of his regular appointment from the Session …
14.4
13-4. Any three ministers belonging to the Presbytery, together with at least three ruling elders, being met at the time …
14.5
13-5. Ordinarily, only a minister who receives a call to a definite ecclesiastical work within the bounds of a particular …
14.6
13-6. Ministers seeking admission to a Presbytery from other Presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church in America shall be examined on …
14.7
13-7. The Presbytery shall cause to be transcribed, in some convenient part of the book of records, the obligations required …
14.8
13-8. The Presbytery, before receiving into its membership any church, shall designate a commission to meet with the church's ruling …
14.9
13-9. The Presbytery has power to receive and issue* appeals, complaints, and references brought before it in an orderly manner. …
14.10
13-10. When a Presbytery determines to dissolve a church, it shall give no less than sixty (60) days notice of …
14.11
13-11. The Presbytery shall keep a full and accurate record of its proceedings, and shall send it up to the …
14.12
13-12. The Presbytery shall meet at least twice a year on its own adjournment. The Moderator shall call a special …
14.13
13-13. Ministers in good standing in other Presbyteries, or in any evangelical church, being present at any meeting of Presbytery, …
Part I — Form of Government
15.1
14-1. The General Assembly is the highest court of this Church, and represents in one body all the churches thereof. …
15.2
14-2. The General Assembly, which is a permanent court, shall meet at least annually upon its own adjournment. It shall …
15.3
14-3. When an emergency shall require a meeting of the General Assembly earlier than the time to which it stands …
15.4
14-4. Each commissioner, before his name shall be enrolled as a member of the Assembly, shall produce appropriate credentials.
15.5
14-5. Any one hundred (100) of these commissioners, of whom half shall be teaching elders and half ruling elders, representing …
15.6
14-6. The General Assembly shall have power: a. To receive and issue* all appeals, references, and complaints regularly brought before …
15.7
14-7. Actions of the General Assembly pursuant to the provision of BCO 14-6 such as deliverances, resolutions, overtures, and judicial …
15.8
14-8. The whole business of the Assembly being finished, and the vote taken for final adjournment, the moderator shall say …
Part I — Form of Government
16.1
15-1. A commission differs from an ordinary committee in that while a committee is appointed to examine, consider, and report, …
16.2
15-2. Among the matters that may be properly executed by commissions are the taking of the testimony in judicial cases, …
16.3
15-3. Presbytery as a whole may hear a case, with or without process (BCO 31-38), a reference (BCO 41), an …
16.4
15-4. The General Assembly shall elect a Standing Judicial Commission to which it shall commit all matters governed by the …
16.5
15-5. a. In the cases committed to it, the Standing Judicial Commission shall have the judicial powers and be governed …
16.6
15-6. The General Assembly shall have power to commit to a commission, consisting of not less than three elders, the …
Part I — Form of Government
17.1
16-1. Ordinary vocation to office in the Church is the calling of God by the Spirit, through the inward testimony …
17.2
16-2. The government of the Church is by officers gifted to represent Christ, and the right of God’s people to …
17.3
16-3. Upon those whom God calls to bear office in His Church He bestows suitable gifts for the discharge of …
17.4
16-4. Officers in the Presbyterian Church in America must be above reproach in their walk and Christlike in their character. …
Part I — Form of Government
18.1
17-1. Those who have been called to office in the Church are to be inducted by the ordination of a …
18.2
17-2. Ordination is the authoritative admission of one duly called to an office in the Church of God, accompanied with …
18.3
17-3. As every ecclesiastical office, according to the Scriptures, is a special charge, no man shall be ordained unless it …
Part I — Form of Government
19.1
18-1. A candidate for the ministry is a member of the Church in full communion who, believing himself to be …
19.2
18-2. Every applicant for the ministry must put himself under the care of Presbytery, which should ordinarily be the Presbytery …
19.3
18-3. The applicant shall appear before the Presbytery in person, and shall be examined by the Presbytery on experiential religion …
19.4
18-4. The candidate continues to be a private member of the church and subject to the jurisdiction of the Session, …
19.5
18-5. For the development of his Christian character, for the service he can render, and for his more effective training, …
19.6
18-6. The Presbytery shall require every candidate for the ministry under its care to make a report to it at …
19.7
18-7. The Presbytery may, upon application of the candidate, give a certificate of dismission to another Presbytery. The candidate may …
19.8
18-8. An applicant coming as a candidate from another denomination must present testimonials of his standing in that body and …
Part I — Form of Government
20.1
19-1. To preserve the purity of the preaching of the Gospel, no man is permitted to preach in the pulpits …
20.2
19-2. Examination for Licensure. The examination for licensure shall be as follows: a. Give a statement of his Christian experience …
20.3
19-3. Questions for Licensure. If the Presbytery be satisfied with the trials of the applicant, it shall then proceed to …
20.4
19-4. The applicant having answered these questions in the affirmative, the moderator shall offer a prayer suitable for the occasion, …
20.5
19-5. When any licentiate shall have occasion to remove from the bounds of his Presbytery into those of another, the …
20.6
19-6. The license to preach the Gospel shall expire at the end of four years. The Presbytery may, if it …
20.7
19-7. The Holy Scriptures require that some trial be previously made of those who are to be ordained to the …
20.8
19-8. An applicant for internship must be a candidate and may be a licentiate in the Presbytery in which he …
20.9
19-9. Examination for Internship. Before the applicant begins his period of internship, he shall give to the Presbytery a written …
20.10
19-10. When an applicant is approved for internship, the moderator of the Presbytery shall offer a prayer suitable for the …
20.11
19-11. When any intern shall have occasion, while his internship is in progress, to remove from the bounds of his …
20.12
19-12. Presbyteries should require interns to devote themselves diligently to the trial of their gifts; and no one should be …
20.13
19-13. At the end of the period of time set by the Presbytery for his internship, an intern shall have …
20.14
19-14. An intern, who, during his internship, is to serve a congregation in the capacity of the minister of the …
20.15
19-15. Restrictions. The intern may be asked by the moderator of a Session temporarily to chair the meeting of the …
20.16
19-16. Where circumstances warrant, a Presbytery may approve previous experience which is equivalent to internship. This equivalency shall be decided …
Part I — Form of Government
21.1
20-1. Before a candidate, or licentiate, can be ordained to the office of the ministry, he must receive a call …
21.2
20-2. Every church should be under the pastoral oversight of a minister, and when a church has no pastor it …
21.3
20-3. When a congregation is convened for the election of a pastor it is important that they should elect a …
21.4
20-4. Method of voting: The voters being convened, and prayer for divine guidance having been offered, the moderator shall put …
21.5
20-5. On the election of a pastor, if it appears that a large minority of the voters are averse to …
21.6
20-6. Form of call: The terms of the call shall be approved by the congregation in the following or like …
21.7
20-7. If any church shall choose to designate its ruling elders and deacons, or a committee to sign its call, …
21.8
20-8. Prosecution of call: One or more commissioners shall be appointed by the church to present and prosecute the call …
21.9
20-9. When a pastor desires to accept a call to another Presbytery, he must be examined and approved by the …
21.10
20-10. A congregation desiring to call a pastor from his charge, shall, by its commissioners to the Presbytery, prosecute the …
21.11
20-11. If the congregation or other field of labor to which a minister, licentiate, or candidate is called, be under …
21.12
20-12. A candidate or licentiate found fit and called (in accordance with BCO 20-1) for missionary service by a missionary …
21.13
20-13. A missionary who is an ordained teaching elder in another denomination found fit and called (in accordance with BCO …
Part I — Form of Government
22.1
21-1. No minister, licentiate or candidate shall receive a call from a church but by the permission of his Presbytery. …
22.2
21-2. When an intern has completed his internship to the satisfaction of the Presbytery, and has accepted a call, the …
22.3
21-3. No Presbytery shall ordain any intern to the office of minister of the Word with reference to his laboring …
22.4
21-4. Ordination Requirements and Procedures a. An intern applying for ordination shall be required to present a diploma of Bachelor …
22.5
21-5. The day appointed for the ordination having come, and the Presbytery being convened, a sermon suitable for the occasion …
22.6
21-6. The candidate having answered these questions in the affirmative, the presiding minister shall propose to the church the following …
22.7
21-7. The people having answered these questions in the affirmative, by holding up their right hands, the candidate shall kneel, …
22.8
21-8. After the installation, the heads of families of the congregation then present, or at least the ruling elders and …
22.9
21-9. In the installation of an ordained minister, the following questions are to be substituted for those addressed to a …
22.10
21-10. The candidate having answered these question in the affirmative, the presiding minister shall propose to the church the following …
22.11
21-11. In the ordination of interns as evangelists the same questions are to be propounded as in the ordination of …
Part I — Form of Government
23.1
22-1. The various pastoral relations are pastor, associate pastor, and assistant pastor.
23.2
22-2. The pastor and associate pastor are elected by the congregation using the form of call in BCO 20-6. An …
23.3
22-3. An assistant pastor is called by the Session, by the permission and approval of Presbytery, under the provisions of …
23.4
22-4. The relationship of the associate pastor to the church is determined by the congregation. The relationship of the assistant …
23.5
22-5. In order to provide necessary changes in pastorates, a temporary relation may be established between a church and a …
23.6
22-6. Such temporary relationships can take place at the invitation of the church Session to the minister of the Word, …
Part I — Form of Government
24.1
23-1. When any minister shall tender the resignation of his pastoral charge to his Presbytery, the Presbytery shall cite the …
24.2
23-2. The Presbytery may designate a minister as honorably retired when the minister by reason of age wishes to be …
24.3
23-3. A minister, being medically disabled or honorably retired, may be elected pastor emeritus by a congregation which seeks to …
Part I — Form of Government
25.1
24-1. Every church shall elect persons to the offices of ruling elder and deacon in the following manner: At such …
25.2
24-2. The pastor is, by virtue of his office, moderator of congregational meetings. If there is no pastor, the Session …
25.3
24-3. All communing members in good and regular standing, but no others, are entitled to vote in the election of …
25.4
24-4. The voters being convened, the moderator shall explain the purpose of the meeting and then put the question: Are …
25.5
24-5. On the election of a ruling elder or deacon, if it appears that a large minority of the voters …
25.6
24-6. The day having arrived, and the Session being convened in the presence of the congregation, a sermon shall be …
25.7
24-7. Ordination to the offices of ruling elder or deacon is perpetual; nor can such offices be laid aside at …
25.8
24-8. When a ruling elder or deacon who has been released from his official relation is again elected to his …
25.9
24-9. When a ruling elder or deacon cannot or does not for a period of one year perform the duties …
25.10
24-10. When a deacon or ruling elder by reason of age or infirmity desires to be released from the active …
Part I — Form of Government
26.1
25-1. The congregation consists of all the communing members of a particular church, and they only are entitled to vote.
26.2
25-2. Whenever it may seem for the best interests of the church that a congregational meeting should be held, the …
26.3
25-3. The quorum of the congregational meeting shall consist of one-fourth (1/4) of the resident communing members, if the church …
26.4
25-4. The pastor shall be the moderator of congregational meetings by virtue of his office. If it should be impracticable …
26.5
25-5. A clerk shall be elected by the congregation to serve at that meeting or for a definite period, whose …
26.6
25-6. A particular church which is not incorporated, desiring to elect trustees, may select from among its membership trustees or …
26.7
25-7. If a particular church is incorporated, the provisions of its charter and bylaws must always be in accord with …
26.8
25-8. The corporation of a particular church, through its duly elected trustees or corporation officers, (or, if unincorporated, through those …
26.9
25-9. All particular churches shall be entitled to hold, own and enjoy their own local properties, without any right of …
26.10
25-10. The provisions of this BCO 25 are to be construed as a solemn covenant whereby the Church as a …
26.11
25-11. While a congregation consists of all the communing members of a particular church, and in matters ecclesiastical the actions …
26.12
25-12. If a church is dissolved by the Presbytery at the request of the congregation and no disposition has been …
Part I — Form of Government
27.1
26-1. The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America, which is subject to and subordinate to the Scriptures of the …
27.2
26-2. Amendments to the Book of Church Order may be made only in the following manner: 1. Approval of the …
27.3
26-3. Amendments to the Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms may be made only in the following …
27.4
26-4. In voting upon an amendment to the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America, the Presbyteries may not divide …
27.5
26-5. Full organic union and consolidation of the Presbyterian Church in America with any other ecclesiastical body can be effected …
27.6
26-6. If by reason of the failure of a number of Presbyteries to act, or to report action, on any …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
28.1
27-1. Discipline is the exercise of authority given the Church by the Lord Jesus Christ to instruct and guide its …
28.2
27-2. All baptized persons, being members of the Church are subject to its discipline and entitled to the benefits thereof.
28.3
27-3. The exercise of discipline is highly important and necessary. In its proper usage discipline maintains: a. the glory of …
28.4
27-4. The power which Christ has given the Church is for building up, and not for destruction. It is to …
28.5
27-5. Scriptural law is the basis of all discipline because it is the revelation of God’s Holy will. Proper disciplinary …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
29.1
28-1. The spiritual nurture, instruction and training of the children of the Church are committed by God primarily to their …
29.2
28-2. The home and the Church should also make special provision for instructing the children in the Bible and in …
29.3
28-3. The Church should maintain constant and sympathetic relations with the children. It also should encourage them, on coming to …
29.4
28-4. Adult non-communing members, who receive with meekness and appreciation the oversight and instruction of the Church, are entitled to …
29.5
28-5. All non-communing members shall be deemed under the care of the church to which their parents belong, if they …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
30.1
29-1. An offense, the proper object of judicial process, is anything in the doctrines or practice of a Church member …
30.2
29-2. Offenses are either personal or general, private or public; but all of them being sins against God, are therefore …
30.3
29-3. Personal offenses are violations of the divine law, considered in the special relation of wrongs or injuries to particular …
30.4
29-4. Private offenses are those which are known only to a few persons. Public offenses are those which are notorious.
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
31.1
30-1. The censures, which may be inflicted by church courts, are admonition, suspension from the Sacraments, excommunication, suspension from office, …
31.2
30-2. Admonition is the formal reproof of an offender by a church court, warning him of his guilt and danger, …
31.3
30-3. Suspension from Sacraments is the temporary exclusion from those ordinances, and is indefinite as to its duration. There is …
31.4
30-4. Excommunication is the excision of an offender from the communion of the Church. This censure is to be inflicted …
31.5
30-5. Deposition is the degradation of an officer from his office, and may or may not be accompanied with the …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
32.1
31-1. Original jurisdiction (the right first or initially to hear and determine) in relation to ministers of the Gospel shall …
32.2
31-2. It is the duty of all church Sessions and Presbyteries to exercise care over those subject to their authority. …
32.3
31-3. The original and only parties in a case of process are the accuser and the accused. The accuser is …
32.4
31-4. Every indictment shall begin: “In the name of the Presbyterian Church in America,” and shall conclude, “against the peace, …
32.5
31-5. An injured party shall not become a prosecutor of personal offenses without having tried the means of reconciliation and …
32.6
31-6. When the offense is general, the case may be conducted either by any person appearing as prosecutor or by …
32.7
31-7. When the prosecution is instituted by the court, the previous steps required by our Lord in the case of …
32.8
31-8. Great caution ought to be exercised in receiving accusations from any person who is known to indulge a malignant …
32.9
31-9. Every voluntary prosecutor shall be previously warned, that if he fail to show probable cause of the charges, he …
32.10
31-10. When a member of a church court is under process, all his official functions may be suspended at the …
32.11
31-11. In the discussion of all questions arising in his own case, the accused shall exercise the rights of defendant …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
33.1
32-1. It is incumbent on every member of a court of Jesus Christ engaged in a trial of offenders, to …
33.2
32-2. Process against an offender shall not be commenced unless some person or persons undertake to make out the charge; …
33.3
32-3. It is appropriate that with each citation the moderator or clerk call the attention of the parties to the …
33.4
32-4. The citation shall be issued and signed by the moderator or clerk by order and in the name of …
33.5
32-5. In drawing the indictment, the times, places and circumstances should, if possible, be particularly stated, that the accused may …
33.6
32-6. a. When an accused person shall refuse to obey a citation, he shall be cited a second time. This …
33.7
32-7. The time which must elapse between the serving of the first citation on the accused person, and the meeting …
33.8
32-8. When the offense with which an accused person stands charged took place at a distance, and it is inconvenient …
33.9
32-9. When an offense, alleged to have been committed at a distance, is not likely otherwise to become known to …
33.10
32-10. Before proceeding to trial, courts ought to ascertain that their citations have been duly served.
33.11
32-11. In every process, if deemed expedient there may be a committee appointed, which shall be called the Judicial Committee, …
33.12
32-12. When the trial is about to begin, it shall be the duty of the moderator solemnly to announce from …
33.13
32-13. In order that the trial may be fair and impartial, the witnesses shall be examined in the presence of …
33.14
32-14. On all questions arising in the progress of a trial, the discussion shall first be between the parties; and …
33.15
32-15. When a court of first resort proceeds to the trial of a case, the following order shall be observed: …
33.16
32-16. Either party may, for cause, challenge the right of any member to sit in the trial of the case, …
33.17
32-17. Pending the trial of a case, any member of the court who shall express his opinion of its merits …
33.18
32-18. Minutes of the trial shall be kept by the clerk, which shall exhibit the charges, the answer, record of …
33.19
32-19. No professional counsel shall be permitted as such to appear and plead in cases of process in any court; …
33.20
32-20. The accused or a member of the court may object to the consideration of a charge, for example, if …
33.21
32-19. In any instances involving a personal offense (BCO 29-3), the court shall attempt to inform the offended person(s) …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
34.1
33-1. Process against all church members, other than ministers of the Gospel, shall be entered before the Session of the …
34.2
33-2. When an accused person is found contumacious (cf. 32-6), he shall be immediately suspended from the sacraments (and if …
34.3
33-3. If after further endeavor by the court to bring the accused to a sense of his guilt, he persists …
34.4
33-4. When it is impracticable immediately to commence process against an accused church member, the Session may, if it thinks …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
35.1
34-1. Process against a minister shall be entered before the Presbytery of which he is a member. However, if the …
35.2
34-2. As no minister ought, on account of his office, to be screened in his sin, or slightly censured, so …
35.3
34-3. If any one knows a minister to be guilty of a private offense, he should warn him in private. …
35.4
34-4. a. When a minister accused of an offense is found contumacious (cf. 32-6), he shall be immediately suspended from …
35.5
34-5. Heresy and schism may be of such a nature as to warrant deposition; but errors ought to be carefully …
35.6
34-6. If the Presbytery find on trial that the matter complained of amounts to no more than such acts of …
35.7
34-7. When a minister, pending a trial, shall make confession, if the matter be base and flagitious, such as drunkenness, …
35.8
34-8. A minister under indefinite suspension from his office or deposed for scandalous conduct shall not be restored, even on …
35.9
34-9. When a minister is deposed, his pastoral relation shall be dissolved; but when he is suspended from office it …
35.10
34-10. Whenever a minister of the Gospel shall habitually fail to be engaged in the regular discharge of his official …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
36.1
35-1. All persons of proper age and intelligence are competent witnesses, except such as do not believe in the existence …
36.2
35-2. The accused party is allowed, but shall not be compelled, to testify; but the accuser shall be required to …
36.3
35-3. A court may, at the request of either party, or at its own initiative, make reasonable accommodation to prevent …
36.4
35-4. The testimony of more than one witness shall be necessary in order to establish any charge; yet if, in …
36.5
35-5. It belongs to the court to judge the degree of credibility to be attached to all evidence.
36.6
35-6. No witness afterwards to be examined, unless a member of the court, shall be present during the examination of …
36.7
35-7. Witnesses shall be examined first by the party introducing them; then cross-examined by the opposite party; after which any …
36.8
35-8. The oath or affirmation to a witness shall be administered by the Moderator in the following or like terms: …
36.9
35-9. All testimony shall be recorded (transcription, audiotape, videotape, or some other electronic means) and witnesses informed of such prior …
36.10
35-10. The records of a court or any part of them, whether original or transcribed, if regularly authenticated by the …
36.11
35-11. In like manner, testimony taken by one court and regularly certified shall be received by every other court as …
36.12
35-12. When it is not convenient for a court to have the whole or perhaps any part of the testimony …
36.13
35-13. A member of the court shall not be disqualified from sitting as a judge by having given testimony in …
36.14
35-14. An officer or private member of the church refusing to testify may be censured for contumacy.
36.15
35-15. If after trial before any court new testimony be discovered, which the accused believes important, it shall be his …
36.16
35-16. If, in the prosecution of an appeal, new evidence be offered which, in the judgment of the appellate court, …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
37.1
36-1. When any member or officer of the Church shall be found guilty of an offense the court shall proceed …
37.2
36-2. Church censures and the modes of administering them should be suited to the nature of the offenses. For private …
37.3
36-3. The Censure of Admonition should be administered in private by one or more members of the court if the …
37.4
36-4. Definite suspension from office should be administered in the presence of the court alone or in open session of …
37.5
36-5. Indefinite suspension from office or the Sacraments should be administered after the manner prescribed for definite suspension, but with …
37.6
36-6. Excommunication is to be administered according to one or other of the two modes laid down for indefinite suspension, …
37.7
36-7. The censure of deposition shall be administered by the moderator in the words following: Whereas, ____________________, a teaching elder …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
38.1
37-1. A person who has been definitely suspended from office shall be restored by the court at the end of …
38.2
37-2. After any person has been indefinitely suspended from the Sacraments, it is proper that the rulers of the church …
38.3
37-3. When the court shall be satisfied as to the reality of the repentance of an indefinitely suspended offender, he …
38.4
37-4. When an excommunicated person shall be so affected with his state as to be brought to repentance, and to …
38.5
37-5. The restoration of a deposed officer, after public confession has been made in a manner similar to that prescribed …
38.6
37-6. When a ruling elder or deacon has been absolved from the censure of deposition, he cannot be allowed to …
38.7
37-7. When a person under censure shall reside at such a distance from the court by which he was sentenced …
38.8
37-8. In the restoration of a minister who is under indefinite suspension from the Sacraments, and/or his office, or has …
38.9
37-9. In the case of the removal of censures from, or the restoration of, a minister, jurisdiction shall be as …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
39.1
38-1. When any person shall come forward and make his offense known to the court, a full statement of the …
39.2
38-2. A minister of the Gospel against whom there are no charges, if fully satisfied in his own conscience that …
39.3
38-3. a. When a member or officer in the Presbyterian Church in America shall attempt to withdraw from the communion …
39.4
38-4. When a member of a particular church has willfully neglected the church for a period of one year, or …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
40.1
39-1. The acts and decisions of a lower court are brought under the supervision of a higher court in one …
40.2
39-2. When the proceedings of a lower court are before a higher court, the members of the lower court shall …
40.3
39-3. While affirming that the Scripture is “the supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined” …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
41.1
40-1. It is the right and duty of every court above the Session to review, at least once a year, …
41.2
40-2. In reviewing records of a lower court the higher court is to examine: 1. Whether the proceedings have been …
41.3
40-3. It is ordinarily sufficient for the higher court merely to record in its own minutes and in the records …
41.4
40-4. Courts may sometimes entirely neglect to perform their duty, by which neglect heretical opinions or corrupt practices may be …
41.5
40-5. When any court having appellate jurisdiction shall receive a credible report with respect to the court next below of …
41.6
40-6. In process against a lower court, the trial shall be conducted according to the rules provided for process against …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
42.1
41-1. A reference is a written representation and application made by a lower court to a higher for advice or …
42.2
41-2. Among proper subjects for reference are matters that are new, delicate or difficult; or on which the members of …
42.3
41-3. In making a reference the lower court may ask for advice only, or for final disposition of the matter …
42.4
41-4. A reference may be presented to the higher court by one or more representatives appointed by the lower court …
42.5
41-5. Although references are sometimes proper, in general it is better that every court should discharge the duty assigned it …
42.6
41-6. When a court makes a reference, it ought to have all the testimony and other documents duly prepared, produced …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
43.1
42-1. An appeal is the transfer to a higher court of a judicial case on which judgment has been rendered …
43.2
42-2. The only parties entitled to an appeal are those who have submitted to a regular trial, those appealing a …
43.3
42-3. The grounds of appeal are such as the following: any irregularity in the proceedings of the lower court; refusal …
43.4
42-4. Notice of appeal may be given the court before its adjournment. Written notice of appeal, with supporting reasons, shall …
43.5
42-5. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the lower court to file with the clerk of the …
43.6
42-6. Notice of appeal shall have the effect of suspending the judgment of the lower court until the case has …
43.7
42-7. If a lower court shall neglect to send up “the Record of the Case” or any part of it, …
43.8
42-8. After a higher court has decided that an appeal is in order and should be entertained by the court, …
43.9
42-9. The decision of the higher court may be to affirm in whole or in part; to reverse in whole …
43.10
42-10. An appellant may represent himself or be represented as provided in BCO 32-19.
43.11
42-11. An appellant shall be considered to have abandoned his appeal if he fails to appear before the higher court, …
43.12
42-12. If an appellant manifests a litigious or otherwise un-Christian spirit in the prosecution of his appeal, he shall receive …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
44.1
43-1. A complaint is a written representation made against some act or decision of a court of the Church. It …
44.2
43-2. A complaint shall first be made to the court whose act or decision is alleged to be in error. …
44.3
43-3. If, after considering a complaint, the court alleged to be delinquent or in error is of the opinion that …
44.4
43-4. Notice of complaint shall not have the effect of suspending the action against which the complaint is made, unless …
44.5
43-5. The court against which complaint is made shall appoint one or more representatives to defend its action before the …
44.6
43-6. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the lower court to file with the clerk of the …
44.7
43-7. The complainant shall be considered to have abandoned his complaint if he fails to appear before the higher court, …
44.8
43-8. Subject to the provisions below, after the higher court has decided that the notice filed with its clerk was …
44.9
43-9. At the hearing, after all the papers bearing on the complaint have been read, the complainant and respondent will …
44.10
43-10. The higher court has power, in its discretion, to annul the whole or any part of the action of …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
45.1
45-1. Any member of a court who had a right to vote on a question, and is not satisfied with …
45.2
45-2. A dissent is a declaration on the part of one or more members of a minority, expressing a different …
45.3
45-3. A protest is a more solemn and formal declaration by members of a minority, bearing their testimony against what …
45.4
45-4. An objection is a declaration by one or more members of a court who did not have the right …
45.5
45-5. If a dissent, protest, or objection be couched in temperate language, and be respectful to the court, it shall …
Part II — The Rules of Discipline
46.1
46-1. When a church member shall remove his residence beyond the bounds of the congregation of which he is a …
46.2
46-2. When a church member shall remove his residence beyond the bounds of the church of which he is a …
46.3
46-3. Members of one church dismissed to join another shall be held to be under the jurisdiction of the Session …
46.4
46-4. Associate members are those believers temporarily residing in a location other than their permanent homes. Such believers may become …
46.5
46-5. (Vacated) [see 38-4]
46.6
46-6. When a Presbytery shall dismiss a minister, licentiate or candidate, the name of the Presbytery to which he is …
46.7
46-7. No certificate of dismission from either a Session or a Presbytery shall be valid testimony of good standing for …
46.8
46-8. When a Presbytery shall divest a minister of his office without censure, or depose him without excommunication, it shall …
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
47.1
47-1. Since the Holy Scriptures are the only infallible rule of faith and practice, the principles of public worship must …
47.2
47-2. A service of public worship is not merely a gathering of God’s children with each other, but before all …
47.3
47-3. The end of public worship is the glory of God. His people should engage in all its several parts …
47.4
47-4. Public worship is Christian when the worshippers recognize that Christ is the Mediator by whom alone they can come …
47.5
47-5. Public worship must be performed in spirit and in truth. Externalism and hypocrisy stand condemned. The forms of public …
47.6
47-6. The Lord Jesus Christ has prescribed no fixed forms for public worship but, in the interest of life and …
47.7
47-7. Public worship differs from private worship in that in public worship God is served by His saints unitedly as …
47.8
47-8. It behooves God’s people not only to come into His presence with a deep sense of awe at the …
47.9
47-9. The Bible teaches that the following are proper elements of worship service: reading of Holy Scripture, singing of psalms …
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
48.1
48-1. “The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word; …
48.2
48-2. God commanded His Old Testament people to keep holy the last day of the week, but He sanctified the …
48.3
48-3. It is the duty of every person to remember the Lord’s Day; and to prepare for it before its …
48.4
48-4. The whole day is to be kept holy to the Lord; and to be employed in the public and …
48.5
48-5. Let the provisions for the support of the family on that day be so ordered that others be not …
48.6
48-6. Let every person and family, in the morning, by secret and private prayer, for themselves and others, especially for …
48.7
48-7. Let the time not used for public worship be spent in prayer, in devotional reading, and especially in the …
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
49.1
49-1. When the congregation is to meet for public worship, the people (having before prepared their hearts thereunto) ought all …
49.2
49-2. Let the people assemble at the appointed time, that all being present at the beginning they may unite with …
49.3
49-3. Let the people upon entering the church take their seats in a decent and reverent manner, and engage in …
49.4
49-4. All who attend public worship are expected to be present in a spirit of reverence and godly fear, forbearing …
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
50.1
50-1. The public reading of the Holy Scriptures is performed by the minister as God’s servant. Through it God speaks …
50.2
50-2. The reading of the Holy Scriptures in the congregation is a part of the public worship of God and …
50.3
50-3. The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments shall be read from a good translation, not a paraphrase, …
50.4
50-4. How large a portion shall be read at once is left to the discretion of every minister; and he …
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
51.1
51-1. Praising God through the medium of music is a duty and a privilege. Therefore, the singing of hymns and …
51.2
51-2. In singing the praises of God, we are to sing in the spirit of worship, with understanding in our …
51.3
51-3. It is recommended that Psalms be sung along with the hymns of the Church, but that caution be observed …
51.4
51-4. The leadership in song is left to the judgment of the Session, who should give careful thought to the …
51.5
51-5. The proportion of the time of public worship given to praise is left to the judgment of the minister, …
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
52.1
52-1. It is proper to begin the public worship in the sanctuary with the Doxology followed by a short prayer, …
52.2
52-2. Then, after singing a psalm, or hymn, it is proper that, before the sermon, there should be a full …
52.3
52-3. Ordinarily there should be prayer after the sermon having relation to the subject that has been treated in the …
52.4
52-4. Ministers are not to be confined to fixed forms of prayer for public worship, yet it is the duty …
52.5
52-5. All prayer is to be offered in the language of the people.
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
53.1
53-1. The preaching of the Word is an ordinance of God for the salvation of men. Serious attention should be …
53.2
53-2. The subject of a sermon should be some verse or verses of Scripture, and its object, to explain, defend …
53.3
53-3. Preaching requires much study, meditation, and prayer, and ministers should prepare their sermons with care, and not indulge themselves …
53.4
53-4. As a primary design of public ordinances is to unite the people in acts of common worship of the …
53.5
53-5. By way of application of the sermon the minister may urge his hearers by commandment or invitation to repent …
53.6
53-6. No person should be invited to preach in any of the churches under our care without the consent of …
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
56.1
56-1. Baptism is not to be unnecessarily delayed; not to be administered, in any case, by any private person; but …
56.2
56-2. It is not to be privately administered, but in the presence of the congregation under the supervision of the …
56.3
56-3. After previous notice is given to the minister, the child to be baptized is to be presented, by one …
56.4
56-4. Before baptism, the minister is to use some words of instruction, touching the institution, nature, use, and ends of …
56.5
56-5. The minister shall then read the covenant promises: For to you is the promise, and to your children, and …
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
57.1
57-1. Believers’ children within the Visible Church, and especially those dedicated to God in Baptism, are non-communing members under the …
57.2
57-2. The time when young persons come to understand the Gospel cannot be precisely fixed. This must be left to …
57.3
57-3. When unbaptized persons apply for admission into the Church, they shall, ordinarily, after giving satisfaction with respect to their …
57.4
57-4. It is recommended, as edifying and proper, that baptized persons, when admitted by the Session to the Lord’s Supper, …
57.5
57-5. The time having come for the making of a public profession, and those who have been approved by the …
57.6
57-6. Persons received from other churches by letters of dismissal as well as those being received by reaffirmation of faith …
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
58.1
58-1. The Communion, or Supper of the Lord, is to be observed frequently; the stated times to be determined by …
58.2
58-2. The ignorant and scandalous are not to be admitted to the Lord's Supper.
58.3
58-3. It is proper that public notice should be given to the congregation, at least the Sabbath before the administration …
58.4
58-4. On the day of the observance of the Lord's Supper, when the sermon is ended, the minister shall show: …
58.5
58-5. The table, on which the elements are placed, being decently covered, and furnished with bread and wine, and the …
58.6
58-6. Since believers are to act personally in all their covenanting with the Lord, it is proper that a part …
58.7
58-7. The minister may, in a few words, put the communicants in mind: Of the grace of God, in Jesus …
58.8
58-8. As past custom has been found in many parts of the Presbyterian Church, our congregations are urged to have …
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
59.1
59-1. Marriage is a divine institution though not a sacrament, nor peculiar to the Church of Christ. It is proper …
59.2
59-2. Christians should marry in the Lord; therefore it is fit that their marriage be solemnized by a lawful minister, …
59.3
59-3. Marriage is only to be between one man and one woman (Gen. 2:24, 25; Matt. 19:4-6, 1 Cor. 7:2), …
59.4
59-4. The parties should be of such years of discretion as to be capable of making their own choice; and …
59.5
59-5. Parents should neither compel their children to marry contrary to their inclinations, nor deny their consent without just and …
59.6
59-6. Marriage is of a public nature. The welfare of civil society, the happiness of families, and the credit of …
59.7
59-7. The minister should keep a proper register of the names of all persons whom he marries, and of the …
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
62.1
62-1. The observance of days of fasting and of thanksgiving, as the dispensations of Divine Providence may direct, is both …
62.2
62-2. Fasting and thanksgiving may be observed by individual Christians; by families; by particular congregations; by a number of congregations …
62.3
62-3. It should be left to the judgment and discretion of every Christian and family to determine when it is …
62.4
62-4. Public notice should be given a sufficient time before the appointed day of fasting or thanksgiving, that persons may …
62.5
62-5. There should be public worship upon all such days; and the prayers, psalms or hymns, the selection of Scripture, …
62.6
62-6. On days of fasting, the minister should point out the authority and providences calling for the observance; and he …
62.7
62-7. On days of thanksgiving, he should give information respecting the authority and providences which call for the observance; and …
Part III — The Directory for the Worship of God
63.1
63-1. In addition to public worship, it is the duty of each person in secret, and of every family in …
63.2
63-2. Secret worship is most plainly enjoined by our Lord. In this duty everyone, apart, should spend some time in …
63.3
63-3. Family worship, which should be observed by every family, consists in prayer, reading the Scriptures, and singing praises; or …
63.4
63-4. Parents should instruct their children in the Word of God, and in the principles of our holy religion. The …
63.5
63-5. Parents should set an example of piety and consistent living before the family. Unnecessary private visits on the Lord’s …
63.6
63-6. In the supreme task of religious education, parents should co-operate with the Church by setting their children an example …
Section of the Day
17-1
17-1. Those who have been called to office in the Church are to be inducted by the ordination of a court.
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