Westminster Presbytery voted overwhelmingly against approving the proposed amendments, and that without misinformation, fears or confusion, and then voted unanimously to urge all its member churches to support the AC budget voluntarily.

The 38th PCA General Assembly voted to send to the Presbyteries a number of BCO amendments. Presbyteries will vote on these amendments during this next year.

As Presbyteries consider these BCO 14 amendments, it is instructive to look at what Westminster Presbytery did. Although Westminster Presbytery voted overwhelmingly against the BCO 14 amendments, it also unanimously adopted a motion after their vote urging churches to support the Administrative Committee. The motion stated:

That a letter be sent by the Presbytery Stated Clerk to all the church Sessions of Presbytery, encouraging them to voluntarily give on an annual basis a minimum of one-third of 1% of their annual revenues and gifts to the Administrative Committee. Even though the vote was in the negative against the present proposal, Presbytery affirmed its belief that the Administrative Committee (including the work of the Stated Clerk) is important to the ongoing ministry of the PCA and that our churches need to support that work.

Instead of enshrining in the PCA constitution a requirement that churches and teaching elders must pay an annual registration fee as a way to fund the Administrative Committee, Westminster’s action highlights a better way that is consistent with the present spirit of the BCO. What Westminster did was to alert and inform churches regarding the supportive and infrastructural nature of the AC for the PCA. With this information churches can voluntarily give because they realize now more than ever the unique role the AC plays in the ministry of the PCA.

Let us recall what is before the PCA Presbyteries: The two amendments, to BCO 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 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 will be required to pay an “annual registration fee” in order to attend and vote at General Assembly meetings. 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 amounts are only proposed and have not yet been approved by the General Assembly; further, these amounts can be changed by any GA). 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.

We can all agree, as Westminster Presbytery’s action strongly indicates, that PCA churches should financially support the work of all General Assembly committees and agencies, but especially the essential work of the Administrative Committee. The AC serves the PCA in so many helpful ways that it deserves the full support of our churches. I would urge all of the churches in your Presbytery to include the AC in their annual budgets.

However, having said this, I would urge Presbyteries to vote against the BCO 14 amendments. Yes, we should fund the AC, but this proposed approach is not the way to accomplish a good end. There are other reasonable and viable alternatives to fund the Administrative Committee that are not as drastic as amending the BCO in the manner proposed.

We should also take note that an e-mail from the AC office regarding the Funding Plan was recently circulated to some PCA churches and elders with the following claim: “It appears to us that fears and misinformation are leading to confusion as men discuss and begin to vote on the AC Funding Plan BCO Amendments.”

We don’t agree with this opinion that there are fears or misinformation leading to confusion on the part of PCA elders regarding the proposed Funding Plan. PCA elders take their responsibilities seriously and are studying the proposed Funding Plan carefully. In fact, elders from a number of Presbyteries who have already voted on the Funding Plan have reported that they adequately understood what they were voting on. There was no confusion on their part resulting from misinformation or fears. They read the proposed amendments to BCO 14-1 and 14-2 and concluded that amending this part of the PCA’s constitution was not the way to provide funding for the GA Administrative Committee. (Blue Ridge Presbytery is an example of a court that went to the expense of hosting a debate between two teaching elders on each side of this issue. The three-hour debate, including questions and answers, was intended to inform the members of Presbytery on the issues before they voted. The debate was recorded and is available for purchase in DVD and CD formats here.)

The testimony coming from some elders whose Presbyteries have already voted on the proposed amendments is this: The votes on the amendments came after a clear and objective presentation of the Funding Plan by one or two elders, followed by a thorough discussion by the members of the court. These elders reported that there was no confusion about what they were voting on and they were not being driven by misinformation or fears.

Westminster Presbytery has led the way for other Presbyteries to follow (hence, the “Westminster Plan”): Westminster voted overwhelmingly against approving the proposed amendments, and that without misinformation, fears or confusion, and then voted unanimously to urge all its member churches to support the AC budget. Westminster’s action makes abundantly clear that instead of unnecessarily enshrining in the PCA constitution that churches and teaching elders pay a required annual registration fee to fund the Administrative Committee, its motion highlights a better way that is consistent with the historic spirit of the PCA as stipulated in the present provisions in the BCO.