At the October 7, 2010 meeting of the General Assembly’s Administrative Committee (AC), three motions were passed unanimously regarding the AC Funding Plan. This Funding Plan is presently before the Presbyteries in the form of amendments to BCO 14.

These amendments to Presbyterian Church in Americe’s Book of Church Order 14-1 and 14-2, will have the effect of changing the way the Administrative Committee, which includes the Stated Clerk’s office, would be funded and supported. It would also change the definition of “voting membership” for General Assembly meetings.

Specifically, if these BCO amendments are adopted, each local church, each teaching elder, and each Presbytery would be required to pay an “annual registration fee” in order to attend and vote at General Assembly meetings. Also, if these amendments are adopted, it is proposed that churches would be required to pay 1/3 of 1 % of their annual tithes and offerings to support the Administrative Committee. Teaching elders would be required to pay $100.00 a year, and Presbyteries would have to pay $500.00 a year (these amount can be changed by action of any General Assembly, with concurrence of 50% of Presbyteries reporting their votes on the proposed change). If these amendments are approved, these annual fees must be paid (“required”) each year; if not paid annually, these fees will accrue and all unpaid fees will have to be paid in full before elders could be seated as voting members of General Assembly.

In response to questions that were asked on the floor of the General Assembly meeting and since then, the AC adopted these motions:

1. That there be a cap on any “arrears” which might develop in Annual Registration Fees that would be a maximum of three years of fees for both pastors and churches.

2. That the third party arbitrator be a panel of nine presbytery clerks elected by the clerks at the annual December Presbytery Clerks Conference.

3. That the Administrative Committee direct the AC Staff to continue to develop specific guidelines and policies to direct implementation of the new AC Funding Plan, and to present these for approval at the AC meeting in April [2011].

With regard to action #1: While we should appreciate the fact that the AC is proposing to cap the required annual registration fee to three years for churches and teaching elders, the question still remains why even seek to fund the AC through a required annual fee. It is generally agreed that all PCA churches should financially support the work of all General Assembly committees and agencies, but especially the work of the Administrative Committee. The AC serves the PCA in so many helpful ways that it deserves the full support of our churches. We should urge all of our churches to include the AC in their annual budgets.

However, having said this, amending the BCO is not the way to accomplish this worthy end. There are other good, reasonable and viable ways to fund the Administrative Committee that are not as drastic as amending the BCO. We continue to urge Presbyteries to vote AGAINST the BCO 14 amendments.

We should also take note that any proposed action is valid until changed. If these BCO 14 amendments are approved, the AC would have the authority to change the rules for obligating churches and teaching elders who have failed to make their required payments to GA. In this proposal the AC will hold churches and teaching elders responsible to pay their annual fees for at least the last three (3) years of non-payment; however, this time framework can be increased, lessened or even eliminated completely by action of the AC.

With regard to action #2: Electing nine (9) stated clerks to serve on a board of arbitration sounds like a propitious way to proceed. However, think of the bureaucratic nightmare that will be created and another labyrinth or maze to negotiate. We appreciate the work that our Presbytery clerks perform; they are all busy men. Can we imagine these men having to review and act on hundreds of applications for hardship, non-payments and the like? Remember, there are about 1700 churches and 3200 teaching elders; if even a fraction of these churches and teaching elders are in arrears the paperwork will be daunting. If the BCO 14 amendments are not approved, then the PCA can consider other reasonable and viable alternatives, which do not require this new and superfluous layer of bureaucracy.

With regard to action #3: Obviously, if the BCO 14 amendments are approved, there will be the need of many guidelines to implement the Funding Plan. Again, think of all the rules and regulations that do not presently exist that will have to be enforced in and on the PCA with these new set of guidelines. We all already suffer much under the arduous rules and regulations in our secular contexts, now there is a proposal to bring them into the life of the church.

More regulations, more entanglements, more restrictions, less freedom, and fewer choices. This is not the way to run any organization, much less the Church. The BCO 14 amendments cannot be fixed; they are beyond repair. They need to be defeated and then we can consider alternatives that will work for us in the PCA.