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470 results for “Chapter 17: Doctrine of Ordination”
WCF
Westminster Confession of Faith
19
Of the Church
This catholic Church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less visible. And particular Churches, which are members thereof, are …
Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience
God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of …
Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience
And because the powers which God hath ordained, and the liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not intended …
Of God’s Covenant with Man
Under the gospel, when Christ, the substance, was exhibited, the ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are …
Of the Law of God
Beside this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a …
Of God’s Covenant with Man
This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law, and in the time of the gospel: …
Of Christ the Mediator
This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake; which that He might discharge, He was made under …
Of the Civil Magistrate
The civil magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of the Word and sacraments, or the power …
Of Synods and Councils
It belongs to synods and councils, ministerially to determine controversies of faith and cases of conscience; to set …
Of God’s Eternal Decree
The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care, that …
Of the Holy Scripture
We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to a high and reverent esteem …
Of the Holy Scripture
The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, …
Of Repentance unto Life
Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace, the doctrine whereof is to be preached by every minister of …
Of the Church
Unto this catholic visible Church Christ hath given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering …
Of Baptism
Although it be a great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance, yet grace and salvation are not …
Of Baptism
The efficacy of Baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is administered; yet notwithstanding, …
Of the Lord’s Supper
The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed His ministers to declare His word of institution to the …
Of the Lord’s Supper
That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of Christ’s …
Of the Lord’s Supper
Worthy receivers outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this sacrament, do then also, inwardly by faith, really …
WLC
Westminster Larger Catechism
14
What are the sins forbidden in the third commandment?
The sins forbidden in the third commandment are, the not using of God's name as is required; and …
What do we pray for in the second petition.?
In the second petition (which is, Thy kingdom come,) acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature …
What are the sins forbidden in the second commandment?
The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising, counseling, commanding, using, and anywise approving, any religious …
What are the duties required in the second commandment?
The duties required in the second commandment are, the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such …
What is required of them that receive the sacrament of the Lord's …
It is required of them that receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper, that, during the time of …
What is required in the third commandment?
The third commandment requires, That the name of God, his titles, attributes, ordinances, the word, sacraments, prayer, oaths, …
How is the word of God to be preached by those that …
They that are called to labor in the ministry of the word, are to preach sound doctrine, diligently, …
What is a sacrament?
A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ in his church, to signify, seal, and exhibit unto …
What is the duty of Christians, after they have received the sacrament …
The duty of Christians, after they have received the sacrament of the Lord's supper, is seriously to consider …
What do we pray for in the first petition?
In the first petition (which is, Hallowed be thy name,) acknowledging the utter inability and indisposition that is …
How was the covenant of grace administered under the Old Testament?
The covenant of grace was administered under the Old Testament, by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the passover, and …
Where is the moral law summarily comprehended?
The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments, which were delivered by the voice of God …
Who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment?
By father and mother, in the fifth commandment, are meant, not only natural parents, but all superiors in …
What are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits …
The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to his church the benefits of his mediation, are all …
WSC
Westminster Shorter Catechism
4
What is a sacrament?
A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ; wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of …
What is required in the second commandment?
The second commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances …
What is required in the third commandment?
The third commandment requireth the holy and reverend use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, Word, and works.
What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us …
The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are, his ordinances, especially …
BCO
Book of Church Order (PCA)
433
17-1
17-1. Those who have been called to office in the Church are to be inducted by the ordination …
17-2
17-2. Ordination is the authoritative admission of one duly called to an office in the Church of God, …
17-3
17-3. As every ecclesiastical office, according to the Scriptures, is a special charge, no man shall be ordained …
21-4
21-4. Ordination Requirements and Procedures a. An intern applying for ordination shall be required to present a diploma …
56-5
56-5. The minister shall then read the covenant promises: For to you is the promise, and to your …
21-5
21-5. The day appointed for the ordination having come, and the Presbytery being convened, a sermon suitable for …
24-6
24-6. The day having arrived, and the Session being convened in the presence of the congregation, a sermon …
11-2
11-2. The jurisdiction of Church courts is only ministerial and declarative, and relates to the doctrines and precepts …
1-6
1-6. The ordination of officers is ordinarily by a court, except in the case of ordination by a …
24-1
24-1. Every church shall elect persons to the offices of ruling elder and deacon in the following manner: …
9-7
9-7. It is often expedient that the Session of a church should select and appoint godly men and …
13-8
13-8. The Presbytery, before receiving into its membership any church, shall designate a commission to meet with the …
56-4
56-4. Before baptism, the minister is to use some words of instruction, touching the institution, nature, use, and …
19-2
19-2. Examination for Licensure. The examination for licensure shall be as follows: a. Give a statement of his …
14-6
14-6. The General Assembly shall have power: a. To receive and issue* all appeals, references, and complaints regularly …
21-9
21-9. In the installation of an ordained minister, the following questions are to be substituted for those addressed …
21-11
21-11. In the ordination of interns as evangelists the same questions are to be propounded as in the …
1-7
1-7. This scriptural doctrine of Presbytery is necessary to the perfection of the order of the visible Church, …
4-4
4-4. The ordinances established by Christ, the Head, in His Church are prayer; singing praises; reading, expounding and …
15-2
15-2. Among the matters that may be properly executed by commissions are the taking of the testimony in …
18-2
18-2. Every applicant for the ministry must put himself under the care of Presbytery, which should ordinarily be …
20-12
20-12. A candidate or licentiate found fit and called (in accordance with BCO 20-1) for missionary service by …
21-1
21-1. No minister, licentiate or candidate shall receive a call from a church but by the permission of …
21-2
21-2. When an intern has completed his internship to the satisfaction of the Presbytery, and has accepted a …
24-5
24-5. On the election of a ruling elder or deacon, if it appears that a large minority of …
24-7
24-7. Ordination to the offices of ruling elder or deacon is perpetual; nor can such offices be laid …
24-8
24-8. When a ruling elder or deacon who has been released from his official relation is again elected …
57-2
57-2. The time when young persons come to understand the Gospel cannot be precisely fixed. This must be …
57-5
57-5. The time having come for the making of a public profession, and those who have been approved …
58-4
58-4. On the day of the observance of the Lord's Supper, when the sermon is ended, the minister …
The King and Head of the Church
I. THE KING AND HEAD OF THE CHURCH Jesus Christ, upon whose shoulders the government rests, whose name …
1-1
1-1. The scriptural form of church government, which is representative or presbyterian, is comprehended under five heads: a. …
1-2
1-2. The Church which the Lord Jesus Christ has erected in this world for the gathering and perfecting …
1-3
1-3. The members of this visible Church catholic are all those persons in every nation, together with their …
1-4
1-4. The officers of the Church, by whom all its powers are administered, are, according to the Scriptures, …
1-5
1-5. Ecclesiastical jurisdiction is not a several, but a joint power, to be exercised by presbyters in courts. …
3-5
3-5. The Church, with its ordinances, officers and courts, is the agency which Christ has ordained for the …
5-9
5-9. A new church can be organized only by the authority of Presbytery. a. A Presbytery should establish …
8-1
8-1. This office is one of dignity and usefulness. The man who fills it has in Scripture different …
8-3
8-3. It belongs to those in the office of elder, both severally and jointly, to watch diligently over …
8-5
8-5. When a man is called to labor as a teaching elder, it belongs to his order, in …
8-7
8-7. A Presbytery may, at its discretion, approve the call of a teaching elder to work with an …
8-8
8-8. A Presbytery may, at its discretion, approve the call of a teaching elder to work as a …
11-3
11-3. All Church courts are one in nature, constituted of the same elements, possessed inherently of the same …
11-4
11-4. For the orderly and efficient dispatch of ecclesiastical business, it is necessary that the sphere of action …
13-6
13-6. Ministers seeking admission to a Presbytery from other Presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church in America shall be …
13-7
13-7. The Presbytery shall cause to be transcribed, in some convenient part of the book of records, the …
13-11
13-11. The Presbytery shall keep a full and accurate record of its proceedings, and shall send it up …
15-6
15-6. The General Assembly shall have power to commit to a commission, consisting of not less than three …
16-1
16-1. Ordinary vocation to office in the Church is the calling of God by the Spirit, through the …
16-2
16-2. The government of the Church is by officers gifted to represent Christ, and the right of God’s …
16-3
16-3. Upon those whom God calls to bear office in His Church He bestows suitable gifts for the …
16-4
16-4. Officers in the Presbyterian Church in America must be above reproach in their walk and Christlike in …
18-4
18-4. The candidate continues to be a private member of the church and subject to the jurisdiction of …
19-3
19-3. Questions for Licensure. If the Presbytery be satisfied with the trials of the applicant, it shall then …
19-7
19-7. The Holy Scriptures require that some trial be previously made of those who are to be ordained …
19-14
19-14. An intern, who, during his internship, is to serve a congregation in the capacity of the minister …
21-3
21-3. No Presbytery shall ordain any intern to the office of minister of the Word with reference to …
21-6
21-6. The candidate having answered these questions in the affirmative, the presiding minister shall propose to the church …
21-7
21-7. The people having answered these questions in the affirmative, by holding up their right hands, the candidate …
21-8
21-8. After the installation, the heads of families of the congregation then present, or at least the ruling …
21-10
21-10. The candidate having answered these question in the affirmative, the presiding minister shall propose to the church …
24-2
24-2. The pastor is, by virtue of his office, moderator of congregational meetings. If there is no pastor, …
24-3
24-3. All communing members in good and regular standing, but no others, are entitled to vote in the …
24-4
24-4. The voters being convened, the moderator shall explain the purpose of the meeting and then put the …
24-9
24-9. When a ruling elder or deacon cannot or does not for a period of one year perform …
24-10
24-10. When a deacon or ruling elder by reason of age or infirmity desires to be released from …
26-1
26-1. The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America, which is subject to and subordinate to the Scriptures …
27-4
27-4. The power which Christ has given the Church is for building up, and not for destruction. It …
29-1
29-1. An offense, the proper object of judicial process, is anything in the doctrines or practice of a …
30-3
30-3. Suspension from Sacraments is the temporary exclusion from those ordinances, and is indefinite as to its duration. …
33-1
33-1. Process against all church members, other than ministers of the Gospel, shall be entered before the Session …
34-1
34-1. Process against a minister shall be entered before the Presbytery of which he is a member. However, …
37-4
37-4. When an excommunicated person shall be so affected with his state as to be brought to repentance, …
43-10
43-10. The higher court has power, in its discretion, to annul the whole or any part of the …
47-1
47-1. Since the Holy Scriptures are the only infallible rule of faith and practice, the principles of public …
48-6
48-6. Let every person and family, in the morning, by secret and private prayer, for themselves and others, …
49-1
49-1. When the congregation is to meet for public worship, the people (having before prepared their hearts thereunto) …
50-4
50-4. How large a portion shall be read at once is left to the discretion of every minister; …
53-1
53-1. The preaching of the Word is an ordinance of God for the salvation of men. Serious attention …
53-2
53-2. The subject of a sermon should be some verse or verses of Scripture, and its object, to …
53-4
53-4. As a primary design of public ordinances is to unite the people in acts of common worship …
57-1
57-1. Believers’ children within the Visible Church, and especially those dedicated to God in Baptism, are non-communing members …
57-3
57-3. When unbaptized persons apply for admission into the Church, they shall, ordinarily, after giving satisfaction with respect …
57-4
57-4. It is recommended, as edifying and proper, that baptized persons, when admitted by the Session to the …
57-6
57-6. Persons received from other churches by letters of dismissal as well as those being received by reaffirmation …
58-3
58-3. It is proper that public notice should be given to the congregation, at least the Sabbath before …
58-7
58-7. The minister may, in a few words, put the communicants in mind: Of the grace of God, …
38-4
38-4. When a member of a particular church has willfully neglected the church for a period of one …
Preliminary Principles
II. PRELIMINARY PRINCIPLES The Presbyterian Church in America, in setting forth the form of government founded upon and …
The Constitution Defined
III. THE CONSTITUTION DEFINED The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America, which is subject to and subordinate …
2-1
2-1. The Visible Church before the law, under the law, and now under the Gospel, is one and …
2-2
2-2. This visible unity of the body of Christ, though obscured, is not destroyed by its division into …
2-3
2-3. It is according to scriptural example that the Church should be divided into many individual churches.
3-1
3-1. The power which Christ has committed to His Church vests in the whole body, the rulers and …
3-2
3-2. Ecclesiastical power, which is wholly spiritual, is twofold. The officers exercise it sometimes severally, as in preaching …
3-3
3-3. The sole functions of the Church, as a kingdom and government distinct from the civil commonwealth, are …
3-4
3-4. The power of the Church is exclusively spiritual; that of the State includes the exercise of force. …
3-6
3-6. The exercise of ecclesiastical power, whether joint or several, has the divine sanction when in conformity with …
4-1
4-1. A particular church consists of a number of professing Christians, with their children, associated together for divine …
4-2
4-2. Its officers are its teaching and ruling elders and its deacons.
4-3
4-3. Its jurisdiction, being a joint power, is lodged in the church Session, which consists of its pastor, …
4-5
4-5. Churches without teaching elders ought not to forsake the assembling of themselves together, but should be convened …
5-1
5-1. A mission church may be properly described in the same manner as the particular church is described …
5-2
5-2. Ordinarily, mission churches are established by Presbyteries within their boundaries. a. Initiatives to which the Presbytery may …
5-3
5-3. The mission church, because of its transitional condition, requires a temporary system of government. Depending on the …
5-4
5-4. Pastoral ministry for the mission church may be provided: a. by a minister of the Presbytery called …
5-5
5-5. The temporary government shall receive members (BCO 12-5.a) into the mission church according to the provisions of …
5-6
5-6. Mission churches and their members shall have the right of judicial process to the court having oversight …
5-7
5-7. Mission churches shall maintain a roll of communicant and non- communicant members, in the same manner as, …
5-8
5-8. It is the intention of the Presbyterian Church in America that mission churches enjoy the same status …
5-10
5-10. Upon organization, the newly elected session should meet as soon as is practicable to elect a stated …
6-1
6-1. The children of believers are, through the covenant and by right of birth, non-communing members of the …
6-2
6-2. Communing members are those who have made a profession of faith in Christ, have been baptized, and …
6-3
6-3. All baptized persons are entitled to the watchful care, instruction and government of the church, even though …
6-4
6-4. Those only who have made a profession of faith in Christ, have been baptized, and admitted by …
7-1
7-1. Under the New Testament, our Lord at first collected His people out of different nations, and united …
7-2
7-2. The ordinary and perpetual classes of office in the Church are elders and deacons. Within the class …
7-3
7-3. No one who holds office in the Church ought to usurp authority therein, or receive any official …
8-2
8-2. He that fills this office should possess a competency of human learning and be blameless in life, …
8-4
8-4. As the Lord has given different gifts to men and has committed to some special gifts and …
8-6
8-6. When a teaching elder is appointed to the work of an evangelist in foreign countries or where …
8-9
8-9. As there were in the Church under the law, elders of the people for the government thereof, …
8-10
8-10. Elders being of one class of office, ruling elders possess the same authority and eligibility to office …
9-1
9-1. The office of deacon is set forth in the Scriptures as ordinary and perpetual in the Church. …
9-2
9-2. It is the duty of the deacons to minister to those who are in need, to the …
9-3
9-3. To the office of deacon, which is spiritual in nature, shall be chosen men of spiritual character, …
9-4
9-4. The deacons of a particular church shall be organized as a Board, of which the pastor shall …
9-5
9-5. Deacons may properly be appointed by the higher courts to serve on committees, especially as treasurers. It …
9-6
9-6. The deacons may, with much advantage, hold conference from time to time for the discussion of the …
10-1
10-1. The Church is governed by various courts, in regular gradation, which are all, nevertheless, Presbyteries, as being …
10-2
10-2. These courts are church Sessions, Presbyteries, and the General Assembly.
10-3
10-3. The pastor is, for prudential reasons, moderator of the Session. The moderator of the Presbytery may be …
10-4
10-4. A clerk or clerks shall be elected by the Session, Presbytery, and General Assembly to serve for …
10-5
10-5. Every meeting of the Session, Presbytery and General Assembly shall be opened and closed with prayer, and …
10-6
10-6. The expenses of ministers and ruling elders in their attendance on the courts shall be defrayed by …
11-1
11-1. These assemblies are altogether distinct from the civil magistracy, and have no jurisdiction in political or civil …
12-1
12-1. The church Session consists of the pastor, associate pastor(s), if there be any, and the ruling elders …
12-2
12-2. The pastor is, by virtue of his office, the moderator of the Session. In the pastor’s absence, …
12-3
12-3. When a church is without a pastor, the moderator of the Session may be either a minister …
12-4
12-4. Associate or assistant pastors may substitute for the pastor as moderator of the Session at the discretion …
12-5
12-5. The church Session is charged with maintaining the spiritual government of the church, for which purpose it …
12-6
12-6. The Session shall hold stated meetings at least quarterly. Moreover, the pastor has power to convene the …
12-7
12-7. Every Session shall keep an accurate record of its proceedings, which record shall be submitted at least …
12-8
12-8. Every Session shall keep an accurate record of baptisms, of communing members, of non-communing members, and of …
12-9
12-9. Meetings of the Sessions shall be opened and closed with prayer.
13-1
13-1. The Presbytery consists of all the teaching elders and churches within its bounds that have been accepted …
13-2
13-2. A minister shall be required to hold his membership in the Presbytery within whose geographical bounds he …
13-3
13-3. Every ruling elder not known to the Presbytery shall produce a certificate of his regular appointment from …
13-4
13-4. Any three ministers belonging to the Presbytery, together with at least three ruling elders, being met at …
13-5
13-5. Ordinarily, only a minister who receives a call to a definite ecclesiastical work within the bounds of …
13-9
13-9. The Presbytery has power to receive and issue* appeals, complaints, and references brought before it in an …
13-10
13-10. When a Presbytery determines to dissolve a church, it shall give no less than sixty (60) days …
13-12
13-12. The Presbytery shall meet at least twice a year on its own adjournment. The Moderator shall call …
13-13
13-13. Ministers in good standing in other Presbyteries, or in any evangelical church, being present at any meeting …
14-1
14-1. The General Assembly is the highest court of this Church, and represents in one body all the …
14-2
14-2. The General Assembly, which is a permanent court, shall meet at least annually upon its own adjournment. …
14-3
14-3. When an emergency shall require a meeting of the General Assembly earlier than the time to which …
14-4
14-4. Each commissioner, before his name shall be enrolled as a member of the Assembly, shall produce appropriate …
14-5
14-5. Any one hundred (100) of these commissioners, of whom half shall be teaching elders and half ruling …
14-7
14-7. Actions of the General Assembly pursuant to the provision of BCO 14-6 such as deliverances, resolutions, overtures, …
14-8
14-8. The whole business of the Assembly being finished, and the vote taken for final adjournment, the moderator …
15-1
15-1. A commission differs from an ordinary committee in that while a committee is appointed to examine, consider, …
15-3
15-3. Presbytery as a whole may hear a case, with or without process (BCO 31-38), a reference (BCO …
15-4
15-4. The General Assembly shall elect a Standing Judicial Commission to which it shall commit all matters governed …
15-5
15-5. a. In the cases committed to it, the Standing Judicial Commission shall have the judicial powers and …
18-1
18-1. A candidate for the ministry is a member of the Church in full communion who, believing himself …
18-3
18-3. The applicant shall appear before the Presbytery in person, and shall be examined by the Presbytery on …
18-5
18-5. For the development of his Christian character, for the service he can render, and for his more …
18-6
18-6. The Presbytery shall require every candidate for the ministry under its care to make a report to …
18-7
18-7. The Presbytery may, upon application of the candidate, give a certificate of dismission to another Presbytery. The …
18-8
18-8. An applicant coming as a candidate from another denomination must present testimonials of his standing in that …
19-1
19-1. To preserve the purity of the preaching of the Gospel, no man is permitted to preach in …
19-4
19-4. The applicant having answered these questions in the affirmative, the moderator shall offer a prayer suitable for …
19-5
19-5. When any licentiate shall have occasion to remove from the bounds of his Presbytery into those of …
19-6
19-6. The license to preach the Gospel shall expire at the end of four years. The Presbytery may, …
19-8
19-8. An applicant for internship must be a candidate and may be a licentiate in the Presbytery in …
19-9
19-9. Examination for Internship. Before the applicant begins his period of internship, he shall give to the Presbytery …
19-10
19-10. When an applicant is approved for internship, the moderator of the Presbytery shall offer a prayer suitable …
19-11
19-11. When any intern shall have occasion, while his internship is in progress, to remove from the bounds …
19-12
19-12. Presbyteries should require interns to devote themselves diligently to the trial of their gifts; and no one …
19-13
19-13. At the end of the period of time set by the Presbytery for his internship, an intern …
19-15
19-15. Restrictions. The intern may be asked by the moderator of a Session temporarily to chair the meeting …
19-16
19-16. Where circumstances warrant, a Presbytery may approve previous experience which is equivalent to internship. This equivalency shall …
20-1
20-1. Before a candidate, or licentiate, can be ordained to the office of the ministry, he must receive …
20-2
20-2. Every church should be under the pastoral oversight of a minister, and when a church has no …
20-3
20-3. When a congregation is convened for the election of a pastor it is important that they should …
20-4
20-4. Method of voting: The voters being convened, and prayer for divine guidance having been offered, the moderator …
20-5
20-5. On the election of a pastor, if it appears that a large minority of the voters are …
20-6
20-6. Form of call: The terms of the call shall be approved by the congregation in the following …
20-7
20-7. If any church shall choose to designate its ruling elders and deacons, or a committee to sign …
20-8
20-8. Prosecution of call: One or more commissioners shall be appointed by the church to present and prosecute …
20-9
20-9. When a pastor desires to accept a call to another Presbytery, he must be examined and approved …
20-10
20-10. A congregation desiring to call a pastor from his charge, shall, by its commissioners to the Presbytery, …
20-11
20-11. If the congregation or other field of labor to which a minister, licentiate, or candidate is called, …
20-13
20-13. A missionary who is an ordained teaching elder in another denomination found fit and called (in accordance …
22-1
22-1. The various pastoral relations are pastor, associate pastor, and assistant pastor.
22-2
22-2. The pastor and associate pastor are elected by the congregation using the form of call in BCO …
22-3
22-3. An assistant pastor is called by the Session, by the permission and approval of Presbytery, under the …
22-4
22-4. The relationship of the associate pastor to the church is determined by the congregation. The relationship of …
22-5
22-5. In order to provide necessary changes in pastorates, a temporary relation may be established between a church …
22-6
22-6. Such temporary relationships can take place at the invitation of the church Session to the minister of …
23-1
23-1. When any minister shall tender the resignation of his pastoral charge to his Presbytery, the Presbytery shall …
23-2
23-2. The Presbytery may designate a minister as honorably retired when the minister by reason of age wishes …
23-3
23-3. A minister, being medically disabled or honorably retired, may be elected pastor emeritus by a congregation which …
25-1
25-1. The congregation consists of all the communing members of a particular church, and they only are entitled …
25-2
25-2. Whenever it may seem for the best interests of the church that a congregational meeting should be …
25-3
25-3. The quorum of the congregational meeting shall consist of one-fourth (1/4) of the resident communing members, if …
25-4
25-4. The pastor shall be the moderator of congregational meetings by virtue of his office. If it should …
25-5
25-5. A clerk shall be elected by the congregation to serve at that meeting or for a definite …
25-6
25-6. A particular church which is not incorporated, desiring to elect trustees, may select from among its membership …
25-7
25-7. If a particular church is incorporated, the provisions of its charter and bylaws must always be in …
25-8
25-8. The corporation of a particular church, through its duly elected trustees or corporation officers, (or, if unincorporated, …
25-9
25-9. All particular churches shall be entitled to hold, own and enjoy their own local properties, without any …
25-10
25-10. The provisions of this BCO 25 are to be construed as a solemn covenant whereby the Church …
25-11
25-11. While a congregation consists of all the communing members of a particular church, and in matters ecclesiastical …
25-12
25-12. If a church is dissolved by the Presbytery at the request of the congregation and no disposition …
26-2
26-2. Amendments to the Book of Church Order may be made only in the following manner: 1. Approval …
26-3
26-3. Amendments to the Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms may be made only in …
26-4
26-4. In voting upon an amendment to the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America, the Presbyteries may …
26-5
26-5. Full organic union and consolidation of the Presbyterian Church in America with any other ecclesiastical body can …
26-6
26-6. If by reason of the failure of a number of Presbyteries to act, or to report action, …
27-1
27-1. Discipline is the exercise of authority given the Church by the Lord Jesus Christ to instruct and …
27-2
27-2. All baptized persons, being members of the Church are subject to its discipline and entitled to the …
27-3
27-3. The exercise of discipline is highly important and necessary. In its proper usage discipline maintains: a. the …
27-5
27-5. Scriptural law is the basis of all discipline because it is the revelation of God’s Holy will. …
28-1
28-1. The spiritual nurture, instruction and training of the children of the Church are committed by God primarily …
28-2
28-2. The home and the Church should also make special provision for instructing the children in the Bible …
28-3
28-3. The Church should maintain constant and sympathetic relations with the children. It also should encourage them, on …
28-4
28-4. Adult non-communing members, who receive with meekness and appreciation the oversight and instruction of the Church, are …
28-5
28-5. All non-communing members shall be deemed under the care of the church to which their parents belong, …
29-2
29-2. Offenses are either personal or general, private or public; but all of them being sins against God, …
29-3
29-3. Personal offenses are violations of the divine law, considered in the special relation of wrongs or injuries …
29-4
29-4. Private offenses are those which are known only to a few persons. Public offenses are those which …
30-1
30-1. The censures, which may be inflicted by church courts, are admonition, suspension from the Sacraments, excommunication, suspension …
30-2
30-2. Admonition is the formal reproof of an offender by a church court, warning him of his guilt …
30-4
30-4. Excommunication is the excision of an offender from the communion of the Church. This censure is to …
30-5
30-5. Deposition is the degradation of an officer from his office, and may or may not be accompanied …
31-1
31-1. Original jurisdiction (the right first or initially to hear and determine) in relation to ministers of the …
31-2
31-2. It is the duty of all church Sessions and Presbyteries to exercise care over those subject to …
31-3
31-3. The original and only parties in a case of process are the accuser and the accused. The …
31-4
31-4. Every indictment shall begin: “In the name of the Presbyterian Church in America,” and shall conclude, “against …
31-5
31-5. An injured party shall not become a prosecutor of personal offenses without having tried the means of …
31-6
31-6. When the offense is general, the case may be conducted either by any person appearing as prosecutor …
31-7
31-7. When the prosecution is instituted by the court, the previous steps required by our Lord in the …
31-8
31-8. Great caution ought to be exercised in receiving accusations from any person who is known to indulge …
31-9
31-9. Every voluntary prosecutor shall be previously warned, that if he fail to show probable cause of the …
31-10
31-10. When a member of a church court is under process, all his official functions may be suspended …
31-11
31-11. In the discussion of all questions arising in his own case, the accused shall exercise the rights …
32-1
32-1. It is incumbent on every member of a court of Jesus Christ engaged in a trial of …
32-2
32-2. Process against an offender shall not be commenced unless some person or persons undertake to make out …
32-3
32-3. It is appropriate that with each citation the moderator or clerk call the attention of the parties …
32-4
32-4. The citation shall be issued and signed by the moderator or clerk by order and in the …
32-5
32-5. In drawing the indictment, the times, places and circumstances should, if possible, be particularly stated, that the …
32-6
32-6. a. When an accused person shall refuse to obey a citation, he shall be cited a second …
32-7
32-7. The time which must elapse between the serving of the first citation on the accused person, and …
32-8
32-8. When the offense with which an accused person stands charged took place at a distance, and it …
32-9
32-9. When an offense, alleged to have been committed at a distance, is not likely otherwise to become …
32-10
32-10. Before proceeding to trial, courts ought to ascertain that their citations have been duly served.
32-11
32-11. In every process, if deemed expedient there may be a committee appointed, which shall be called the …
32-12
32-12. When the trial is about to begin, it shall be the duty of the moderator solemnly to …
32-13
32-13. In order that the trial may be fair and impartial, the witnesses shall be examined in the …
32-14
32-14. On all questions arising in the progress of a trial, the discussion shall first be between the …
32-15
32-15. When a court of first resort proceeds to the trial of a case, the following order shall …
32-16
32-16. Either party may, for cause, challenge the right of any member to sit in the trial of …
32-17
32-17. Pending the trial of a case, any member of the court who shall express his opinion of …
32-18
32-18. Minutes of the trial shall be kept by the clerk, which shall exhibit the charges, the answer, …
32-19
32-19. No professional counsel shall be permitted as such to appear and plead in cases of process in …
32-20
32-20. The accused or a member of the court may object to the consideration of a charge, for …
32-19
32-19. In any instances involving a personal offense (BCO 29-3), the court shall attempt to inform the …
33-2
33-2. When an accused person is found contumacious (cf. 32-6), he shall be immediately suspended from the sacraments …
33-3
33-3. If after further endeavor by the court to bring the accused to a sense of his guilt, …
33-4
33-4. When it is impracticable immediately to commence process against an accused church member, the Session may, if …
34-2
34-2. As no minister ought, on account of his office, to be screened in his sin, or slightly …
34-3
34-3. If any one knows a minister to be guilty of a private offense, he should warn him …
34-4
34-4. a. When a minister accused of an offense is found contumacious (cf. 32-6), he shall be immediately …
34-5
34-5. Heresy and schism may be of such a nature as to warrant deposition; but errors ought to …
34-6
34-6. If the Presbytery find on trial that the matter complained of amounts to no more than such …
34-7
34-7. When a minister, pending a trial, shall make confession, if the matter be base and flagitious, such …
34-8
34-8. A minister under indefinite suspension from his office or deposed for scandalous conduct shall not be restored, …
34-9
34-9. When a minister is deposed, his pastoral relation shall be dissolved; but when he is suspended from …
34-10
34-10. Whenever a minister of the Gospel shall habitually fail to be engaged in the regular discharge of …
35-1
35-1. All persons of proper age and intelligence are competent witnesses, except such as do not believe in …
35-2
35-2. The accused party is allowed, but shall not be compelled, to testify; but the accuser shall be …
35-3
35-3. A court may, at the request of either party, or at its own initiative, make reasonable accommodation …
35-4
35-4. The testimony of more than one witness shall be necessary in order to establish any charge; yet …
35-5
35-5. It belongs to the court to judge the degree of credibility to be attached to all evidence.
35-6
35-6. No witness afterwards to be examined, unless a member of the court, shall be present during the …
35-7
35-7. Witnesses shall be examined first by the party introducing them; then cross-examined by the opposite party; after …
35-8
35-8. The oath or affirmation to a witness shall be administered by the Moderator in the following or …
35-9
35-9. All testimony shall be recorded (transcription, audiotape, videotape, or some other electronic means) and witnesses informed of …
35-10
35-10. The records of a court or any part of them, whether original or transcribed, if regularly authenticated …
35-11
35-11. In like manner, testimony taken by one court and regularly certified shall be received by every other …
35-12
35-12. When it is not convenient for a court to have the whole or perhaps any part of …
35-13
35-13. A member of the court shall not be disqualified from sitting as a judge by having given …
35-14
35-14. An officer or private member of the church refusing to testify may be censured for contumacy.
35-15
35-15. If after trial before any court new testimony be discovered, which the accused believes important, it shall …
35-16
35-16. If, in the prosecution of an appeal, new evidence be offered which, in the judgment of the …
36-1
36-1. When any member or officer of the Church shall be found guilty of an offense the court …
36-2
36-2. Church censures and the modes of administering them should be suited to the nature of the offenses. …
36-3
36-3. The Censure of Admonition should be administered in private by one or more members of the court …
36-4
36-4. Definite suspension from office should be administered in the presence of the court alone or in open …
36-5
36-5. Indefinite suspension from office or the Sacraments should be administered after the manner prescribed for definite suspension, …
36-6
36-6. Excommunication is to be administered according to one or other of the two modes laid down for …
36-7
36-7. The censure of deposition shall be administered by the moderator in the words following: Whereas, ____________________, a …
37-1
37-1. A person who has been definitely suspended from office shall be restored by the court at the …
37-2
37-2. After any person has been indefinitely suspended from the Sacraments, it is proper that the rulers of …
37-3
37-3. When the court shall be satisfied as to the reality of the repentance of an indefinitely suspended …
37-5
37-5. The restoration of a deposed officer, after public confession has been made in a manner similar to …
37-6
37-6. When a ruling elder or deacon has been absolved from the censure of deposition, he cannot be …
37-7
37-7. When a person under censure shall reside at such a distance from the court by which he …
37-8
37-8. In the restoration of a minister who is under indefinite suspension from the Sacraments, and/or his office, …
37-9
37-9. In the case of the removal of censures from, or the restoration of, a minister, jurisdiction shall …
38-1
38-1. When any person shall come forward and make his offense known to the court, a full statement …
38-2
38-2. A minister of the Gospel against whom there are no charges, if fully satisfied in his own …
38-3
38-3. a. When a member or officer in the Presbyterian Church in America shall attempt to withdraw from …
39-1
39-1. The acts and decisions of a lower court are brought under the supervision of a higher court …
39-2
39-2. When the proceedings of a lower court are before a higher court, the members of the lower …
39-3
39-3. While affirming that the Scripture is “the supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to …
40-1
40-1. It is the right and duty of every court above the Session to review, at least once …
40-2
40-2. In reviewing records of a lower court the higher court is to examine: 1. Whether the proceedings …
40-3
40-3. It is ordinarily sufficient for the higher court merely to record in its own minutes and in …
40-4
40-4. Courts may sometimes entirely neglect to perform their duty, by which neglect heretical opinions or corrupt practices …
40-5
40-5. When any court having appellate jurisdiction shall receive a credible report with respect to the court next …
40-6
40-6. In process against a lower court, the trial shall be conducted according to the rules provided for …
41-1
41-1. A reference is a written representation and application made by a lower court to a higher for …
41-2
41-2. Among proper subjects for reference are matters that are new, delicate or difficult; or on which the …
41-3
41-3. In making a reference the lower court may ask for advice only, or for final disposition of …
41-4
41-4. A reference may be presented to the higher court by one or more representatives appointed by the …
41-5
41-5. Although references are sometimes proper, in general it is better that every court should discharge the duty …
41-6
41-6. When a court makes a reference, it ought to have all the testimony and other documents duly …
42-1
42-1. An appeal is the transfer to a higher court of a judicial case on which judgment has …
42-2
42-2. The only parties entitled to an appeal are those who have submitted to a regular trial, those …
42-3
42-3. The grounds of appeal are such as the following: any irregularity in the proceedings of the lower …
42-4
42-4. Notice of appeal may be given the court before its adjournment. Written notice of appeal, with supporting …
42-5
42-5. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the lower court to file with the clerk …
42-6
42-6. Notice of appeal shall have the effect of suspending the judgment of the lower court until the …
42-7
42-7. If a lower court shall neglect to send up “the Record of the Case” or any part …
42-8
42-8. After a higher court has decided that an appeal is in order and should be entertained by …
42-9
42-9. The decision of the higher court may be to affirm in whole or in part; to reverse …
42-10
42-10. An appellant may represent himself or be represented as provided in BCO 32-19.
42-11
42-11. An appellant shall be considered to have abandoned his appeal if he fails to appear before the …
42-12
42-12. If an appellant manifests a litigious or otherwise un-Christian spirit in the prosecution of his appeal, he …
43-1
43-1. A complaint is a written representation made against some act or decision of a court of the …
43-2
43-2. A complaint shall first be made to the court whose act or decision is alleged to be …
43-3
43-3. If, after considering a complaint, the court alleged to be delinquent or in error is of the …
43-4
43-4. Notice of complaint shall not have the effect of suspending the action against which the complaint is …
43-5
43-5. The court against which complaint is made shall appoint one or more representatives to defend its action …
43-6
43-6. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the lower court to file with the clerk …
43-7
43-7. The complainant shall be considered to have abandoned his complaint if he fails to appear before the …
43-8
43-8. Subject to the provisions below, after the higher court has decided that the notice filed with its …
43-9
43-9. At the hearing, after all the papers bearing on the complaint have been read, the complainant and …
45-1
45-1. Any member of a court who had a right to vote on a question, and is not …
45-2
45-2. A dissent is a declaration on the part of one or more members of a minority, expressing …
45-3
45-3. A protest is a more solemn and formal declaration by members of a minority, bearing their testimony …
45-4
45-4. An objection is a declaration by one or more members of a court who did not have …
45-5
45-5. If a dissent, protest, or objection be couched in temperate language, and be respectful to the court, …
46-1
46-1. When a church member shall remove his residence beyond the bounds of the congregation of which he …
46-2
46-2. When a church member shall remove his residence beyond the bounds of the church of which he …
46-3
46-3. Members of one church dismissed to join another shall be held to be under the jurisdiction of …
46-4
46-4. Associate members are those believers temporarily residing in a location other than their permanent homes. Such believers …
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 …
46-7
46-7. No certificate of dismission from either a Session or a Presbytery shall be valid testimony of good …
46-8
46-8. When a Presbytery shall divest a minister of his office without censure, or depose him without excommunication, …
47-2
47-2. A service of public worship is not merely a gathering of God’s children with each other, but …
47-3
47-3. The end of public worship is the glory of God. His people should engage in all its …
47-4
47-4. Public worship is Christian when the worshippers recognize that Christ is the Mediator by whom alone they …
47-5
47-5. Public worship must be performed in spirit and in truth. Externalism and hypocrisy stand condemned. The forms …
47-6
47-6. The Lord Jesus Christ has prescribed no fixed forms for public worship but, in the interest of …
47-7
47-7. Public worship differs from private worship in that in public worship God is served by His saints …
47-8
47-8. It behooves God’s people not only to come into His presence with a deep sense of awe …
47-9
47-9. The Bible teaches that the following are proper elements of worship service: reading of Holy Scripture, singing …
48-1
48-1. “The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in …
48-2
48-2. God commanded His Old Testament people to keep holy the last day of the week, but He …
48-3
48-3. It is the duty of every person to remember the Lord’s Day; and to prepare for it …
48-4
48-4. The whole day is to be kept holy to the Lord; and to be employed in the …
48-5
48-5. Let the provisions for the support of the family on that day be so ordered that others …
48-7
48-7. Let the time not used for public worship be spent in prayer, in devotional reading, and especially …
49-2
49-2. Let the people assemble at the appointed time, that all being present at the beginning they may …
49-3
49-3. Let the people upon entering the church take their seats in a decent and reverent manner, and …
49-4
49-4. All who attend public worship are expected to be present in a spirit of reverence and godly …
50-1
50-1. The public reading of the Holy Scriptures is performed by the minister as God’s servant. Through it …
50-2
50-2. The reading of the Holy Scriptures in the congregation is a part of the public worship of …
50-3
50-3. The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments shall be read from a good translation, not …
51-1
51-1. Praising God through the medium of music is a duty and a privilege. Therefore, the singing of …
51-2
51-2. In singing the praises of God, we are to sing in the spirit of worship, with understanding …
51-3
51-3. It is recommended that Psalms be sung along with the hymns of the Church, but that caution …
51-4
51-4. The leadership in song is left to the judgment of the Session, who should give careful thought …
51-5
51-5. The proportion of the time of public worship given to praise is left to the judgment of …
52-1
52-1. It is proper to begin the public worship in the sanctuary with the Doxology followed by a …
52-2
52-2. Then, after singing a psalm, or hymn, it is proper that, before the sermon, there should be …
52-3
52-3. Ordinarily there should be prayer after the sermon having relation to the subject that has been treated …
52-4
52-4. Ministers are not to be confined to fixed forms of prayer for public worship, yet it is …
52-5
52-5. All prayer is to be offered in the language of the people.
53-3
53-3. Preaching requires much study, meditation, and prayer, and ministers should prepare their sermons with care, and not …
53-5
53-5. By way of application of the sermon the minister may urge his hearers by commandment or invitation …
53-6
53-6. No person should be invited to preach in any of the churches under our care without the …
54-1
54-1. The Holy Scriptures teach that God is the owner of all persons and all things and that …
54-2
54-2. It is both a privilege and a duty, plainly enjoined in the Bible, to make regular, weekly, …
54-3
54-3. It is appropriate that the offerings be dedicated by prayer.
55-1
55-1. It is proper for the congregation of God’s people publicly to confess their faith, using creeds or …
56-1
56-1. Baptism is not to be unnecessarily delayed; not to be administered, in any case, by any private …
56-2
56-2. It is not to be privately administered, but in the presence of the congregation under the supervision …
56-3
56-3. After previous notice is given to the minister, the child to be baptized is to be presented, …
58-1
58-1. The Communion, or Supper of the Lord, is to be observed frequently; the stated times to be …
58-2
58-2. The ignorant and scandalous are not to be admitted to the Lord's Supper.
58-5
58-5. The table, on which the elements are placed, being decently covered, and furnished with bread and wine, …
58-6
58-6. Since believers are to act personally in all their covenanting with the Lord, it is proper that …
58-8
58-8. As past custom has been found in many parts of the Presbyterian Church, our congregations are urged …
59-1
59-1. Marriage is a divine institution though not a sacrament, nor peculiar to the Church of Christ. It …
59-2
59-2. Christians should marry in the Lord; therefore it is fit that their marriage be solemnized by a …
59-3
59-3. Marriage is only to be between one man and one woman (Gen. 2:24, 25; Matt. 19:4-6, 1 …
59-4
59-4. The parties should be of such years of discretion as to be capable of making their own …
59-5
59-5. Parents should neither compel their children to marry contrary to their inclinations, nor deny their consent without …
59-6
59-6. Marriage is of a public nature. The welfare of civil society, the happiness of families, and the …
59-7
59-7. The minister should keep a proper register of the names of all persons whom he marries, and …
60-1
60-1. The power of the prayer of faith is great, and Christians therefore should make entreaty for the …
61-1
61-1. The services proper for such an occasion are: a. The singing of appropriate psalms or hymns; b. …
61-2
61-2. The funeral services are to be left largely to the discretion of the minister performing them, but …
62-1
62-1. The observance of days of fasting and of thanksgiving, as the dispensations of Divine Providence may direct, …
62-2
62-2. Fasting and thanksgiving may be observed by individual Christians; by families; by particular congregations; by a number …
62-3
62-3. It should be left to the judgment and discretion of every Christian and family to determine when …
62-4
62-4. Public notice should be given a sufficient time before the appointed day of fasting or thanksgiving, that …
62-5
62-5. There should be public worship upon all such days; and the prayers, psalms or hymns, the selection …
62-6
62-6. On days of fasting, the minister should point out the authority and providences calling for the observance; …
62-7
62-7. On days of thanksgiving, he should give information respecting the authority and providences which call for the …
63-1
63-1. In addition to public worship, it is the duty of each person in secret, and of every …
63-2
63-2. Secret worship is most plainly enjoined by our Lord. In this duty everyone, apart, should spend some …
63-3
63-3. Family worship, which should be observed by every family, consists in prayer, reading the Scriptures, and singing …
63-4
63-4. Parents should instruct their children in the Word of God, and in the principles of our holy …
63-5
63-5. Parents should set an example of piety and consistent living before the family. Unnecessary private visits on …
63-6
63-6. In the supreme task of religious education, parents should co-operate with the Church by setting their children …