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The Presbyterian Church's
Foundational
Principles for Governance
Chapter 8 - Reform by Amendment
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seeks to be faithful to the Lordship of
Christ and to its historic tradition of the Church reformed, always being
reformed, by the Spirit of God. In this faith, amendment procedures follow
specific procedures to assure that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) remains
faithful to its call, and that the voices of its various constituencies can be
heard and considered. These procedures are understood as a means to faithfulness
as God breaks forth yet more light from God’s Word.
Rationale
The 211th General Assembly (1999) received a report of the Advisory Committee on
the Constitution submitted to fulfill the referral of the 205th General Assembly
(1993) to attempt a re-drafting of the Form of Government that would isolate
Foundational Principles from policies and manual of operations material. The
Advisory Committee on the Constitution was relieved of further responsibility
for that effort with the exception of a request to present material determined
to be foundational to our understanding of governance in a form that could be
used for study by the church.
The report, "The Nature of the Church and the Practice of Governance," from
which this process began, spelled out the reason why a description of
foundational material was needed by the church. They said:
. . . we [have come] to . . . a consensus around certain things: . . .
- People of genuine faith in the PC(USA) (sic) have very different
perceptions about the present, the past, and the future. . . .
- Distinct characteristics about how Presbyterians have understood faith and
order can be found in the current Book of Order, but the Book of Order cannot
be the primary unifying document for our denomination in either its practice
or its theory.
- Lack of understanding of Presbyterianism — historically and currently —
promotes dependence on . . . delegation of authority . . . and accentuates the
Book of Order as a way to develop uniformity when no other uniformity exists.
(Minutes, 1993, Part I, p. 358, paragraph 26.028)
It is the conviction of this committee that the church will live in the
future by certain basic principles: . . .
- The Book of Order should delineate the broad principles of Presbyterian
polity, rather than requirements that turn it into a manual of operations. . .
.
- Effective leadership in the PC(USA) (sic) must be educated and
knowledgeable in Scripture, Reformed theology, church history, and
Presbyterian polity. To this end, effective training programs must be prepared
and offered for ministers and elders (Minutes, 1993, Part I, p. 370, paragraph
26.201)
To achieve this needed objective, the Advisory Committee on the Constitution
submits to the 212th General Assembly (2000) the following statement of "The
Church’s Foundational Principles of Governance." It is our hope that this
statement may prove useful to officers and members of congregations and
governing bodies who desire increased understanding of our Constitution. This
statement is intended for study only and is not to be construed as an
authoritative interpretation of the Constitution or the precise meaning of any
particular provision of that Constitution.
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