Yesterday’s post considered the “standards for ordained service” as described in the current Book of Order section G-2.0104b.  In this post we continue our study by giving consideration to the next section G-2.0105 which reads as follows:

It is necessary to the integrity and health of the church that the persons who serve it in ordered ministries shall adhere to the essentials of the Reformed faith and polity as expressed in this Constitution.  So far as may be possible without serious departure from these standards, without infringing on the rights and views of others, and without obstructing the constitutional governance of the church, freedom of conscience with respect to the interpretation of Scripture is to be maintained.  It is to be recognized, however, that in entering the ordered ministries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), one chooses to exercise freedom of conscience within certain bounds.  His or her conscience is captive to the Word of God as interpreted in the standards of the church so long as he or she contiues to seek, or serve in, ordered ministry.  The decision as to whether a person has departed from essentials of Reformed faith and polity is made initially by the individual concerned but ultimately becomes the responsibility of the council in which he or she is a member.

The following footnote is added to this section:

Very early in the history of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, even before the General Assembly was established, the plan of reunion of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia contained the following sentences: ‘That when any matter is determined by a majority vote, every member shall actively concur with or passively submit to such determination; or if his conscience permit him to do neither, he shall, after sufficient liberty modestly to reason and remonstrate, peaceable withdraw from our communion without attempting to make any schism.  Provided always that this shall be understood to extend only to such determination as the body shall judge indispensable in doctrine or Presbyterian government.

Tomorrow’s post will give consideration to the third vow that is taken at the time of ordination:  Do you sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the confessions of our church as authentic and reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do, and will you be instructed and led by those confessions as you lead the people of God?

Grace and peace