The cost of being a G.A. Junkie just went up…
With thanks to @andyjames for bringing it to our attention, we are now aware that the electronic version of the new edition of the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is ready for download as a PDF. The catch… for the first time that I am aware of a Presbyterian Branch is charging for the downloadable PDF. It will set you back $10US. You can still get the previous edition, but with the major rewrite the Form of Government section will be out of date. And the unchanged Book of Confessions is still available for free as well. We will have to see what is done with the on-line version of the Annotated Book of Order.
Of course, if you are interested in the constitutional documents of another branch I can point you to the following free downloads:
- Church of Scotland – You can down load Acts, Regulations and other materials from the Church Law page
- Free Church of Scotland – Acts of Assembly and Free Church Practice
- Free Presbyterian Church of North America – Book of Church Order
- The Code of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland
- Presbyterian Church in America – Book of Church Order
- Orthodox Presbyterian Church – Book of Church Order
- Reformed Church in America – Book of Church Order
- Presbyterian Church in Canada – Book of Forms
- Reformed Presbyterian Church – Book of Church Order
- Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales – Book of Church Order
- Reformed Presbyterian Church in Taiwan – Book of Church Order
- Evangelical Presbyterian Church – Book of Order
- Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand – Book of Order
- Cumberland Presbyterian Church – Constitution, Rules of Order and other parts from the GA web page
- Bible Presbyterian Church – Constitution
- Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church – The Standard
- Free Church of Scotland – General Assembly Acts on the Church Documents page
Well, I think you get the idea. But if you know of another branch that charges for the download please let me know because I don’t know of another one.
Having said all that, it is reasonable to consider that there are preparation costs involved in the new edition and I can imagine that fewer paper copies are being sold so if the cost is going to be recovered on the distribution end the charges are necessary to fund the project. None-the-less, there will be comments about those costs being something per capita is supposed to fund. But it does seem to be a sign of the times with the need to find other sources of revenue to fund the publication if hard copy sales and member giving are declining.
What we will have to see now is whether the PC(USA) will stand alone with this cost recovery or if now that one branch has crossed the line and charged for it will more follow? From a personal point of view, if I had to purchase everyone of the documents in the above list it would make my hobby a more expensive one. OK, time to get out the charge card I guess…
Update: A little more poking around this morning has not shed much more light on this. The BOO will be available in several formats and with $10 the going rate for PDF download, single copies of the hard copy (quantity discounts available but also have to pay shipping), and a couple of eReader versions (technically $9.99). You want a CD with BOO and Book of Confessions? That will be $15. And the on-line annotated will still be available (and there was much rejoicing).
The big question I have been looking at is what are the licensing terms of the electronic version. Can I put it on both my home and work computer or put it in the cloud? Can a church buy one PDF and distribute it to all the Session members or all the ordained staff? I looked at the store and did not see this addressed pre-purchase. Presumably the PDF will contain this information and you can look at it after you buy it.
So………who’s to stop me from buying it and putting it out on Pomomusings.com as a free download???
I am trying to find the licensing terms to know if that is permitted under the electronic distribution. Maybe more importantly, can a Session or a PJC order only one copy and distribute copies to the members? Or can we do like we do at the office and pay a per-seat cost for a Session?
Steve,
the Presbyterian Coalition has put it up on their website for free download.
What I find interesting is this NOTE at the bottom of the PCUSA Constitution page:
“No part of the Book of Order or The Book of Confessions may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically, mechanically, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (brief quotations used in magazine or newspaper reviews excepted), without the prior permission of the publisher.”
This all encompassing note is saying I can’t copy, save on an external hard drive, or give a copy to another ruling elder without getting an OK from the PC(USA)’s OGA.
This is really ridiculous.
Well, maybe this is the General Assembly’s way of securing the funding from those who feel they don’t have to pay per capita but want the resource nevertheless…:)
You both may know this already, but there are at least two sites who have already put it up for free. The Presbyterian Coalition has it here:
http://bit.ly/nfbz4y
and someone else has it here:
http://bookoforder.info/bookof​order2011-2013.pdf
Don’t know if they are violating any copyrights but it’s out there.
Yes, I had heard that they were posted and it was probably a copyright or intellectual property violation. However, since the PC(USA) made it free again yesterday it is now a bit more murky about redistributing. Technically, still a violation as I understand the copyright notice.
The thought crossed my mind. The issue here is that of “want” versus “need.” The unique thing about the Book of Order is that we should all be working from the same set of instructions. This is where the nFOG will be interesting since now the framework is the same but the details can vary based on the new manuals.
Have to say that is what it sounds like but that is very much “boiler plate” language. However, at the presbytery and synod level it is standard operating procedure to distribute copies of the Book of Order in electronic form. I presume there is an understanding that they can do this for official work of the governing body.
I received a notice from our Stated Clerk that Gradye Parsons relented and has made a PDF of the new Book of Order available online for free. Seems the annotated version is only available in CD form for $15, however, with lower prices for bulk orders.
FYI. The new BoO is now available for a free download at the PCUSA website