In the PCA, an overture is a proposal from a lower church body to a higher body requesting the higher body to take some particular action. To date, eight new overtures have been sent to the 51^st General Assembly.

Two of these overtures revise proposals made to the 50^th GA but not approved by that body.

Overture 1 from Piedmont Triad Presbytery would amend Book of Church Order 35-1 and 35-8 regarding witness eligibility by allowing testimony by those who “do not believe in the existence of God or a future state of rewards and punishments,” The BCO currently prohibits such testimony. Overture 1 strikes this prohibition and proposes an oath to be taken by those who are unable “to take a lawful oath invoking God.”

This overture is similar in intent, but not identical in detail, to an overture Northern California Presbytery proposed to last year’s GA. Last year’s Overtures Committee recommended that Northern California’s proposal be denied. A minority report advocating approval of Northern California’s proposal was presented to the GA, but the Assembly voted in favor of the OC recommendation. This year’s Overture 1 reflects and expands on the rationale set forth by the 2023 minority report, reasoning that the current prohibition is a product of a cultural moment when theism was so widespread that denial of existence of God “signaled an unusually significant philosophical and moral deviation from societal norms,” which is no longer the case.

Piedmont Triad argues that many outside the church whose testimony in a case might be valuable “are increasingly likely to formally profess no belief in God” and notes that its proposal does not mandate the court receive every witnesses testimony as equally credible. The overture would permit those of no faith to testify and their testimony be judged “by the wisdom and discretion of the court.”

Overture 6 from Susquehanna Valley Presbytery is also an overture that revises a proposal made to the 50^th GA. Last year South Texas Presbytery proposed amendments to BCO 13-6, 21-4b, and 24-1 to require criminal background checks for all ministers and officers. GA approved the OC recommendation to refer that overture back to South Texas without prejudice. 

Susquehanna Valley’s proposal is more extensive than what came to the Assembly last year. It calls for background checks for ministers transferring into presbytery (BCO 13-6), candidates for ordination as ministers (BCO 21-4c) and candidates for elder and deacon (BCO 24-1); it also requires checks for those applying to come under care of presbytery as candidates (BCO 18-3) and those examined for licensure (BCO 19-2). It also goes beyond the South Texas proposal to specify the agencies from which the background checks are to be obtained (an “Identity History Summary” from the FBI and a state/local background check or a “Vulnerable Sector Check” from the Canadian Government), and to require the court to review the background check with the candidate/applicant. 

Susquehanna Valley’s overture is more restrictive than the South Texas proposal in not mandating distribution of the background check beyond the court in question. Both proposals were prompted by recommendations made in the Report of the Ad Interim Committee on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, and both opened their rationale with reference to the character requirements of church officers found in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1, though the rationales varied from that point on. 

Another overture also originated with a debate at the 50^th GA regarding whether an overture proposing a change to the Rules of Assembly Operation that would impact permanent committees and agencies should be referred by the Stated Clerk to the Overtures Committee or to the relevant permanent committees and agencies.

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