The vote of Presbyteries on the BCO 14 amendments as of January 15 is now stands at 22 voting against, 20 voting in favor of adopting the amendments.

On January 14 the following Presbyteries voted:

Pacific Northwest Presbytery voted in favor.
On 14-1: Yes 38; No 9; Abstain 0;
On 14-2: Yes 40; No 5; Abstain 1.

Suncoast Presbytery voted against.
On 14-1: Yes 6; No 11; Abstain 0;
On 14-2: Yes 5; No 11; Abstain 1.

On January 15 the following Presbyteries voted:

Southern New England Presbytery voted against:
On 14-1: Yes 21; No 24; Abstain 2;
On 14-2: Yes 16; No 28; Abstain 2.

Savannah River Presbytery voted against:
On 14-1: Yes 7; No 22; Abstain 0.
On 14-2: Yes 7; No 22; Abstain 0.

James River Presbytery vote in favor:
On 14-1: Yes 42; No 23; Abstain 2;
On 14-2: Yes 43; No 19; Abstain 2.

Louisiana Presbytery voted against:
On 14-1: Yes 4; No 8; Abstain 1;
On 14-2: Yes 4; No 8; Abstain 1.

The vote of Presbyteries has passed the halfway point since 42 of the 79 Presbyteries have voted. Many of the remaining 37 will be voting on the amendments during their winter stated meetings.

For the amendments to be approved 2/3 of the 79 Presbyteries (53) have to vote in favor, each by majority vote. If 1/3 of the Presbyteries (27) vote against approving the amendments, they will not be adopted.

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 funded. It would also change the definition of “voting membership” for General Assembly meetings.

If these BCO amendments are adopted by two-thirds of PCA Presbyteries, 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. 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. If approved, these amendments would require the payment of annual fees; if not paid annually, these fees will accrue and all unpaid fees will have to be paid in full before elders from the respective churches could be seated as voting members of General Assembly.

The Presbyteries voting in favor of adopting the BCO 14 amendments include:

1. Central Florida
2. Central Georgia
3. Eastern Canada
4. Evangel
5. Georgia Foothills
6. Heritage
7. Houston Metro
8. James River
9. Korean Capital
10. Korean Southeastern
11. Korean Southern
12. Metro New York
13. New Jersey
14. Northern California
15. Pacific Northwest
16. Potomac
17. Providence
18. Southwest Florida
19. Susquehanna Valley
20. Western Canada

The Presbyteries voting against adopting the BCO 14 amendments include:

1. Blue Ridge
2. Eastern Pennsylvania
3. Grace
4. Great Lakes
5. Gulfstream
6. Illiana
7. Korean Eastern
8. Korean Northwest
9. Louisiana
10. Mississippi Valley
11. New River
12. Northwest Georgia
13. Ohio
14. Philadelphia
15. Philadelphia Metro West
16. Savannah River
17. South Florida
18. Southern New England
19. Suncoast
20. Tennessee Valley
21. Westminster
22. Wisconsin

To view the votes by Presbytery on a map, go here. [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]