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502 results for “Chapter 24: Election, Ordination and Installation of Ruling Elders and Deacons”
WCF
Westminster Confession of Faith
31
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 Synods and Councils
It belongs to synods and councils, ministerially to determine controversies of faith and cases of conscience; to set …
Of the Law of God
Although true believers be not under the law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified, or …
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 Christ the Mediator
This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake; which that He might discharge, He was made under …
Of the Lord’s Supper
In this sacrament, Christ is not offered up to His Father; nor any real sacrifice made at all …
Of the Lord’s Supper
The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed His ministers to declare His word of institution to the …
Of Effectual Calling
Others, not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word, and may have some …
Of the Perseverance of the Saints
This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the …
Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation
This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may …
Of the Civil Magistrate
The civil magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of the Word and sacraments, or the power …
Of Baptism
Although it be a great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance, yet grace and salvation are not …
Of Synods and Councils
All synods or councils, since the Apostles’ times, whether general or particular, may err; and many have erred. …
Of God’s Eternal Decree
As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath He, by the eternal and most free purpose …
Of Effectual Calling
Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ through the Spirit, who worketh when, and …
Of the Holy Scripture
Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books …
Of the Holy Scripture
The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, …
Of the Holy Scripture
The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself: and therefore, when there is a question …
Of God’s Eternal Decree
The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care, that …
Of Christ the Mediator
Although the work of redemption was not actually wrought by Christ till after His incarnation, yet the virtue, …
Of Justification
God did, from all eternity, decree to justify all the elect, and Christ did, in the fulness of …
Of Saving Faith
The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is …
Of the Law of God
This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness, and, as such, was delivered …
Of the Law of God
Beside this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a …
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 the Church
The catholic or universal Church which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have …
Of the Church
Unto this catholic visible Church Christ hath given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering …
Of the Church
This catholic Church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less visible. And particular Churches, which are members thereof, are …
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
Worthy receivers outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this sacrament, do then also, inwardly by faith, really …
Of the Last Judgment
The end of God’s appointing this day is for the manifestation of the glory of His mercy, in …
WLC
Westminster Larger Catechism
28
What rules are to be observed for the right understanding of the …
For the right understanding of the ten commandments, these rules are to be observed: 1. That the law …
What is that union which the elect have with Christ?
The union which the elect have with Christ is the work of God's grace, whereby they are spiritually …
Are the elect only effectually called?
All the elect, and they only, are effectually called; although others may be, and often are, outwardly called …
What did God at first reveal unto man as the rule of …
The rule of obedience revealed to Adam in the estate of innocence, and to all mankind in him, …
What rule hath God given for our direction in the duty of …
The whole word of God is of use to direct us in the duty of prayer; but the …
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 …
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 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 …
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 is required in the third commandment?
The third commandment requires, That the name of God, his titles, attributes, ordinances, the word, sacraments, prayer, oaths, …
What special use is there of the moral law to the regenerate?
Although they that are regenerate, and believe in Christ, be delivered from the moral law as a covenant …
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 is a sacrament?
A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ in his church, to signify, seal, and exhibit unto …
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 the word of God?
The holy scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the word of God, the only rule of …
What hath God especially decreed concerning angels and men?
God, by an eternal and immutable decree, out of his mere love, for the praise of his glorious …
What is sin?
Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, any law of God, given as a rule …
Doth God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin …
God doth not leave all men to perish in the estate of sin and misery, into which they …
With whom was the covenant of grace made?
The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the …
How is the grace of God manifested in the second covenant?
The grace of God is manifested in the second covenant, in that he freely provideth and offereth to …
How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
Christ executeth the office of a king, in calling out of the world a people to himself, and …
What is the invisible church?
The invisible church is the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered …
What is effectual calling?
Effectual calling is the work of God's almighty power and grace, whereby (out of his free and special …
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 …
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 …
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 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 …
WSC
Westminster Shorter Catechism
10
Who is the Redeemer of God's elect?
The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, …
What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify …
The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the …
What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of …
The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience, was the moral law.
What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?
The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of …
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 …
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.
Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin …
God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life did enter …
How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and …
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 a sacrament?
A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ; wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of …
BCO
Book of Church Order (PCA)
433
24-6
24-6. The day having arrived, and the Session being convened in the presence of the congregation, a sermon …
24-1
24-1. Every church shall elect persons to the offices of ruling elder and deacon in the following manner: …
24-7
24-7. Ordination to the offices of ruling elder or deacon is perpetual; nor can such offices be laid …
24-5
24-5. On the election of a ruling elder or deacon, if it appears that a large minority of …
24-8
24-8. When a ruling elder or deacon who has been released from his official relation is again elected …
24-4
24-4. The voters being convened, the moderator shall explain the purpose of the meeting and then put the …
24-10
24-10. When a deacon or ruling elder by reason of age or infirmity desires to be released from …
24-2
24-2. The pastor is, by virtue of his office, moderator of congregational meetings. If there is no pastor, …
24-9
24-9. When a ruling elder or deacon cannot or does not for a period of one year perform …
24-3
24-3. All communing members in good and regular standing, but no others, are entitled to vote in the …
5-9
5-9. A new church can be organized only by the authority of Presbytery. a. A Presbytery should establish …
12-5
12-5. The church Session is charged with maintaining the spiritual government of the church, for which purpose it …
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 …
15-2
15-2. Among the matters that may be properly executed by commissions are the taking of the testimony in …
15-4
15-4. The General Assembly shall elect a Standing Judicial Commission to which it shall commit all matters governed …
14-1
14-1. The General Assembly is the highest court of this Church, and represents in one body all the …
21-4
21-4. Ordination Requirements and Procedures a. An intern applying for ordination shall be required to present a diploma …
8-6
8-6. When a teaching elder is appointed to the work of an evangelist in foreign countries or where …
36-7
36-7. The censure of deposition shall be administered by the moderator in the words following: Whereas, ____________________, a …
7-2
7-2. The ordinary and perpetual classes of office in the Church are elders and deacons. Within the class …
20-7
20-7. If any church shall choose to designate its ruling elders and deacons, or a committee to sign …
37-6
37-6. When a ruling elder or deacon has been absolved from the censure of deposition, he cannot be …
13-1
13-1. The Presbytery consists of all the teaching elders and churches within its bounds that have been accepted …
14-2
14-2. The General Assembly, which is a permanent court, shall meet at least annually upon its own adjournment. …
38-2
38-2. A minister of the Gospel against whom there are no charges, if fully satisfied in his own …
13-8
13-8. The Presbytery, before receiving into its membership any church, shall designate a commission to meet with the …
14-3
14-3. When an emergency shall require a meeting of the General Assembly earlier than the time to which …
20-3
20-3. When a congregation is convened for the election of a pastor it is important that they should …
21-5
21-5. The day appointed for the ordination having come, and the Presbytery being convened, a sermon suitable for …
9-2
9-2. It is the duty of the deacons to minister to those who are in need, to the …
34-10
34-10. Whenever a minister of the Gospel shall habitually fail to be engaged in the regular discharge of …
36-5
36-5. Indefinite suspension from office or the Sacraments should be administered after the manner prescribed for definite suspension, …
37-1
37-1. A person who has been definitely suspended from office shall be restored by the court at the …
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 …
12-1
12-1. The church Session consists of the pastor, associate pastor(s), if there be any, and the ruling elders …
1-4
1-4. The officers of the Church, by whom all its powers are administered, are, according to the Scriptures, …
4-2
4-2. Its officers are its teaching and ruling elders and its deacons.
19-7
19-7. The Holy Scriptures require that some trial be previously made of those who are to be ordained …
19-15
19-15. Restrictions. The intern may be asked by the moderator of a Session temporarily to chair the meeting …
25-4
25-4. The pastor shall be the moderator of congregational meetings by virtue of his office. If it should …
13-12
13-12. The Presbytery shall meet at least twice a year on its own adjournment. The Moderator shall call …
22-6
22-6. Such temporary relationships can take place at the invitation of the church Session to the minister of …
12-6
12-6. The Session shall hold stated meetings at least quarterly. Moreover, the pastor has power to convene the …
21-9
21-9. In the installation of an ordained minister, the following questions are to be substituted for those addressed …
46-2
46-2. When a church member shall remove his residence beyond the bounds of the church of which he …
8-10
8-10. Elders being of one class of office, ruling elders possess the same authority and eligibility to office …
5-10
5-10. Upon organization, the newly elected session should meet as soon as is practicable to elect a stated …
8-5
8-5. When a man is called to labor as a teaching elder, it belongs to his order, in …
8-9
8-9. As there were in the Church under the law, elders of the people for the government thereof, …
9-4
9-4. The deacons of a particular church shall be organized as a Board, of which the pastor shall …
9-7
9-7. It is often expedient that the Session of a church should select and appoint godly men and …
21-11
21-11. In the ordination of interns as evangelists the same questions are to be propounded as in the …
25-7
25-7. If a particular church is incorporated, the provisions of its charter and bylaws must always be in …
14-5
14-5. Any one hundred (100) of these commissioners, of whom half shall be teaching elders and half ruling …
19-1
19-1. To preserve the purity of the preaching of the Gospel, no man is permitted to preach in …
13-4
13-4. Any three ministers belonging to the Presbytery, together with at least three ruling elders, being met at …
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 …
25-6
25-6. A particular church which is not incorporated, desiring to elect trustees, may select from among its membership …
4-3
4-3. Its jurisdiction, being a joint power, is lodged in the church Session, which consists of its pastor, …
5-4
5-4. Pastoral ministry for the mission church may be provided: a. by a minister of the Presbytery called …
8-2
8-2. He that fills this office should possess a competency of human learning and be blameless in life, …
10-3
10-3. The pastor is, for prudential reasons, moderator of the Session. The moderator of the Presbytery may be …
10-6
10-6. The expenses of ministers and ruling elders in their attendance on the courts shall be defrayed by …
11-2
11-2. The jurisdiction of Church courts is only ministerial and declarative, and relates to the doctrines and precepts …
13-3
13-3. Every ruling elder not known to the Presbytery shall produce a certificate of his regular appointment from …
20-6
20-6. Form of call: The terms of the call shall be approved by the congregation in the following …
20-13
20-13. A missionary who is an ordained teaching elder in another denomination found fit and called (in accordance …
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 …
21-10
21-10. The candidate having answered these question in the affirmative, the presiding minister shall propose to the church …
22-5
22-5. In order to provide necessary changes in pastorates, a temporary relation may be established between a church …
47-1
47-1. Since the Holy Scriptures are the only infallible rule of faith and practice, the principles of public …
20-4
20-4. Method of voting: The voters being convened, and prayer for divine guidance having been offered, the moderator …
22-2
22-2. The pastor and associate pastor are elected by the congregation using the form of call in BCO …
Preliminary Principles
II. PRELIMINARY PRINCIPLES The Presbyterian Church in America, in setting forth the form of government founded upon and …
8-4
8-4. As the Lord has given different gifts to men and has committed to some special gifts and …
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 …
9-5
9-5. Deacons may properly be appointed by the higher courts to serve on committees, especially as treasurers. It …
20-2
20-2. Every church should be under the pastoral oversight of a minister, and when a church has no …
1-6
1-6. The ordination of officers is ordinarily by a court, except in the case of ordination by a …
4-4
4-4. The ordinances established by Christ, the Head, in His Church are prayer; singing praises; reading, expounding and …
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 …
9-1
9-1. The office of deacon is set forth in the Scriptures as ordinary and perpetual in the Church. …
9-3
9-3. To the office of deacon, which is spiritual in nature, shall be chosen men of spiritual character, …
9-6
9-6. The deacons may, with much advantage, hold conference from time to time for the discussion of the …
15-6
15-6. The General Assembly shall have power to commit to a commission, consisting of not less than three …
16-2
16-2. The government of the Church is by officers gifted to represent Christ, and the right of God’s …
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, …
18-2
18-2. Every applicant for the ministry must put himself under the care of Presbytery, which should ordinarily be …
20-5
20-5. On the election of a pastor, if it appears that a large minority of the voters are …
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 …
3-1
3-1. The power which Christ has committed to His Church vests in the whole body, the rulers and …
3-5
3-5. The Church, with its ordinances, officers and courts, is the agency which Christ has ordained for the …
4-5
4-5. Churches without teaching elders ought not to forsake the assembling of themselves together, but should be convened …
5-2
5-2. Ordinarily, mission churches are established by Presbyteries within their boundaries. a. Initiatives to which the Presbytery may …
7-3
7-3. No one who holds office in the Church ought to usurp authority therein, or receive any official …
10-4
10-4. A clerk or clerks shall be elected by the Session, Presbytery, and General Assembly to serve for …
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 …
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 …
13-9
13-9. The Presbytery has power to receive and issue* appeals, complaints, and references brought before it in an …
13-11
13-11. The Presbytery shall keep a full and accurate record of its proceedings, and shall send it up …
14-6
14-6. The General Assembly shall have power: a. To receive and issue* all appeals, references, and complaints regularly …
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 …
15-5
15-5. a. In the cases committed to it, the Standing Judicial Commission shall have the judicial powers and …
17-3
17-3. As every ecclesiastical office, according to the Scriptures, is a special charge, no man shall be ordained …
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 …
19-12
19-12. Presbyteries should require interns to devote themselves diligently to the trial of their gifts; and no one …
19-14
19-14. An intern, who, during his internship, is to serve a congregation in the capacity of the minister …
20-1
20-1. Before a candidate, or licentiate, can be ordained to the office of the ministry, he must receive …
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, …
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 …
25-5
25-5. A clerk shall be elected by the congregation to serve at that meeting or for a definite …
25-8
25-8. The corporation of a particular church, through its duly elected trustees or corporation officers, (or, if unincorporated, …
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 …
30-3
30-3. Suspension from Sacraments is the temporary exclusion from those ordinances, and is indefinite as to its duration. …
32-3
32-3. It is appropriate that with each citation the moderator or clerk call the attention of the parties …
33-1
33-1. Process against all church members, other than ministers of the Gospel, shall be entered before the Session …
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 …
34-1
34-1. Process against a minister shall be entered before the Presbytery of which he is a member. However, …
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 …
35-13
35-13. A member of the court shall not be disqualified from sitting as a judge by having given …
40-6
40-6. In process against a lower court, the trial shall be conducted according to the rules provided for …
43-10
43-10. The higher court has power, in its discretion, to annul the whole or any part of the …
47-4
47-4. Public worship is Christian when the worshippers recognize that Christ is the Mediator by whom alone they …
47-6
47-6. The Lord Jesus Christ has prescribed no fixed forms for public worship but, in the interest of …
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 …
53-4
53-4. As a primary design of public ordinances is to unite the people in acts of common worship …
56-4
56-4. Before baptism, the minister is to use some words of instruction, touching the institution, nature, use, and …
56-5
56-5. The minister shall then read the covenant promises: For to you is the promise, and to your …
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 …
58-5
58-5. The table, on which the elements are placed, being decently covered, and furnished with bread and wine, …
58-7
58-7. The minister may, in a few words, put the communicants in mind: Of the grace of God, …
59-3
59-3. Marriage is only to be between one man and one woman (Gen. 2:24, 25; Matt. 19:4-6, 1 …
38-4
38-4. When a member of a particular church has willfully neglected the church for a period of one …
The Constitution Defined
III. THE CONSTITUTION DEFINED The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America, which is subject to and subordinate …
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 …
1-5
1-5. Ecclesiastical jurisdiction is not a several, but a joint power, to be exercised by presbyters in courts. …
1-7
1-7. This scriptural doctrine of Presbytery is necessary to the perfection of the order of the visible Church, …
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.
3-2
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 …
5-1
5-1. A mission church may be properly described in the same manner as the particular church is described …
5-3
5-3. The mission church, because of its transitional condition, requires a temporary system of government. Depending on the …
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 …
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 …
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.
10-5
10-5. Every meeting of the Session, Presbytery and General Assembly shall be opened and closed with prayer, and …
11-1
11-1. These assemblies are altogether distinct from the civil magistracy, and have no jurisdiction in political or civil …
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 …
12-4
12-4. Associate or assistant pastors may substitute for the pastor as moderator of the Session at the discretion …
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.
13-2
13-2. A minister shall be required to hold his membership in the Presbytery within whose geographical bounds he …
13-5
13-5. Ordinarily, only a minister who receives a call to a definite ecclesiastical work within the bounds of …
13-10
13-10. When a Presbytery determines to dissolve a church, it shall give no less than sixty (60) days …
13-13
13-13. Ministers in good standing in other Presbyteries, or in any evangelical church, being present at any meeting …
14-4
14-4. Each commissioner, before his name shall be enrolled as a member of the Assembly, shall produce appropriate …
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 …
16-1
16-1. Ordinary vocation to office in the Church is the calling of God by the Spirit, through the …
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 …
18-1
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 …
19-2
19-2. Examination for Licensure. The examination for licensure shall be as follows: a. Give a statement of his …
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 …
19-13
19-13. At the end of the period of time set by the Presbytery for his internship, an intern …
19-16
19-16. Where circumstances warrant, a Presbytery may approve previous experience which is equivalent to internship. This equivalency shall …
22-1
22-1. The various pastoral relations are pastor, associate pastor, and assistant pastor.
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 …
23-1
23-1. When any minister shall tender the resignation of his pastoral charge to his Presbytery, the Presbytery shall …
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 …
25-9
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, …
29-1
29-1. An offense, the proper object of judicial process, is anything in the doctrines or practice of a …
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 …
32-4
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 …
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 …
35-14
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 …
36-6
36-6. Excommunication is to be administered according to one or other of the two modes laid down for …
37-2
37-2. After any person has been indefinitely suspended from the Sacraments, it is proper that the rulers of …
37-4
37-4. When an excommunicated person shall be so affected with his state as to be brought to repentance, …
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 …
38-3
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 …
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 …
46-3
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 …
47-5
47-5. Public worship must be performed in spirit and in truth. Externalism and hypocrisy stand condemned. The forms …
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.
53-2
53-2. The subject of a sermon should be some verse or verses of Scripture, and its object, to …
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.
58-6
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 …
59-4
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 …