The PCA Nashville General Assembly Overtures Committee, by a vote of 55-40, recommended answering Overture 11 from Blue Ridge in the affirmative and GA adopted that recommendation

The GA also adopted Overture 15 from Potomac, which addressed the whole of chapter 5, but that large revision wisely did not request this particular change to 5-3.

Below is the overture and reasons why Presbyteries should vote against this proposed change to BCO 5-3.

OVERTURE 11 Blue Ridge: “Amend BCO 5-3 to Allow Latitude in Oversight of Mission Churches”

1. Whereas, the Lord has called the church to “Go and make disciples” (Matt 28:18-20); and
2. Whereas, from its inception, the PCA has been committed to planting consciously Reformed and Presbyterian Christ-centered churches; and
3. Whereas, as a denomination we are committed to the plurality of elders in the shepherding of local congregations;
4. Whereas, as a denomination we have sought to encourage local presbyteries to actively engage in establishing new PCA congregations within their bounds; and
5. Whereas, the present language of BCO 5-3 may be understood to limit a Presbytery to using one of three ways to plant a church without any latitude; and
6. Whereas, the practice of using a hybrid of several of the three ways provides better oversight and ultimately can produce healthier church plants;

Therefore, Blue Ridge Presbytery hereby overtures the 38th General Assembly to: Amend BCO 5-3 by deleting the words “of several” and adding “or more of the following” as shown below:

5-3.The mission church, because of its transitional condition, requires a temporary system of government. Depending on the circumstances and at its own discretion, Presbytery may provide for such government in one of several or more of the following ways:

1. Appoint an evangelist as prescribed in BCO 8-6.
2. Cooperate with the Session of a particular church in arranging a mother-daughter relationship with a mission church. The Session may then serve as the temporary governing body of the mission church.
3.Appoint a commission to serve as a temporary Session of the mission church.

Adopted by Presbytery of the Blue Ridge at its stated meeting on April 10, 2010.

The Nashville Overtures Committee voted 55-40 to recommend answering in the affirmative, giving the following as Grounds (underlining added):

“While BCO 5-3 clearly delineates the three possible options for temporary oversight of a mission church, it is also important to recognize that these three options may overlap in significant ways, and thus are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to have an evangelist without the power to ordain elders, or to have elders appointed by an evangelist to be added to an existing borrowed or commissioned governing body; it is also possible to have a daughter church relationship with another church but not have that church’s Session act as the Session of the new church (which might place an undue burden on the mother church’s Session), in which case it may make sense to have “cooperation” as envisioned in #2 but the temporary Session be a Presbytery-appointed commission provided for in #3. Procedure #2 states that the Session of the mother church “may” act as the temporary governing body but does not require it, and therefore admits to acceptable overlap.”

Reasons for voting against the proposed amendment (and thus not changing BCO 5-3).

1. There is no need to change. Current language has sufficient flexibility to allow what Grounds seek to allow.

a) A Presbytery is already free to appoint a commission as the “temporary system of government” (TSG) and include on that commission a TE who is designated as an evangelist per BCO 8-6 (he being the “lesser” type of evangelist who does not have the power to receive and dismiss members, to ordain officers, and to organize churches). Granted, Presbyteries often refer to their domestic church planters as “evangelists” – but they almost always mean the “lesser-type” as described in the first paragraph of BCO 8-6 below:

8-6. When a teaching elder is appointed to the work of an evangelist, he is commissioned to preach the Word and administer the Sacraments in foreign countries or the destitute parts of the Church.

The Presbytery may, by separate acts from that by which it commissioned him, entrust to the evangelist for a period of twelve months the power to organize churches, and, until there is a Session in the church so organized, to instruct, examine, ordain, and install ruling elders and deacons therein, and to receive or dismiss members.

But the “lesser-type” evangelist of the first paragraph is not the kind of Evangelist envisioned in BCO 5-3.1, which describes an Evangelist also serving as a TSG. The Overture seems to confuse the word “evangelist” in 5-3.1 with “church planter.” Not all church planters are the second-paragraph-type Evangelists envisioned in BCO 5-3.1 (call them “capital ‘E’ Evangelists”). BCO 5-3.1 describes an Evangelist who himself would be the TSG, with even the power to organize churches (because it would be “in foreign countries or destitute parts of the Church.”) This second-paragraph-type Evangelist is essentially the Session himself. So, if there is any confusion in BCO 5-3, it would probably be wiser to amend 5-3.1 by adding four words to read:

“Appoint an evangelist as prescribed in the second paragraph of BCO 8-6.”

But that’s certainly what’s implied by the current language, and therefore the proposed change is not necessary.

Furthermore, it is reasonable to interpret “destitute parts of the Church” to mean those parts of the Church that probably don’t have elders who could serve on a commission as the TSG. If there are elders who could serve on a commission, or a willing local Session, there would be no need for an Evangelist (second paragraph type). Understandably, in US church plants, it’s rare for Presbyteries to appoint an Evangelist as a one-man-TSG. But a Presbytery could still have an evangelist (small “e”) as the church planter who serves on the TSG.

b) The Grounds seem to misunderstand the relationship of the two sentences in paragraph 5-3.2. While the first sentence of 5-3.2 is not mutually exclusive of 5-3.3, the second sentence is. Presbytery is always free to establish a mother-daughter “relationship” between an established church and a mission church, regardless of what TSG is appointed (even if the TSG is an Evangelist or a Presbytery Commission). In other words, the Session of the established church does not need to be the TSG of the mission church for there to be a mother-daughter relationship. Such relationship does not necessarily mean a governing relationship. A larger established church can contribute significant funds to a mission church, without its own Session serving as the TSG. At the same time, if there is such a relationship, the Session of the established church is always free to recommend Presbytery appoint it as the TSG. And if the established church is largely underwriting the planting pastor and the mission church budget, that would be a reasonable request. And in the event Presbytery appoints the local church Session as the TSG, nothing precludes the Presbytery from also appointing the lesser-type evangelist (church planter) to serve as a voting member on that TSG/Commission.

2. If adopted, the Overture will create confusion. For example, if the three clauses are not mutually exclusive (as the grounds from the Overture Committee mistakenly claim), then there could be two TSG’s at the same time. If not mutually exclusive, then there could be an Evangelist and a Presbytery Commission with the same power (or a Presbytery Commission and a local Session both serving as the TSG). The bottom line is there can only be one TSG at a time, and everybody should be clear who is on it. Paraphrasing the current wording of BCO 5-3, the temporary system of government is either:
a) a “greater-power” Evangelist (who, until there is a locally-elected Session, has the power to “instruct, examine, ordain, and install ruling elders and deacons therein, and to receive or dismiss members”)
b) OR, the Session of an established church delegated that power by Presbytery (and the lesser-type evangelist can serve on that TSG since it acts separately from when the Session governs its own church)
c) OR, a Commission of Presbytery given that power by Presbytery (which could include the evangelist)
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Howie Dohahoe a USAir pilot and a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church in America and lives in Seattle, Wash. He previously served as Stated Clerk of Central Carolina Presbytery.