The 72nd General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church was held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from July 31 to August 5.  This is the highest governing body of the BPC which is the smallest of the Presbyterian Branches that I try to follow.  It has only five presbyteries and lists 25 churches on it’s church directory web page.  The theme of the General Synod was “Beholding God, Pursuing Godliness, Proclaiming Christ.”

I have seen no official news about the General Synod yet, but in response to a specific question posted on PuritanBoard the new Stated Clerk of the Synod, the Rev. John T. Dyck, posted a brief summary and an answer to the question.

Rev. Dyck summarizes the meeting saying “Overall, we had a very good synod. There is a renewed resolve amongst
our men to focus on evangelism and church planting as we seek to
rebuild our federation.”

What seems to be the major item of the meeting, and what prompted the question, was the vote by the South Atlantic Presbytery (SAP) to disassociate from the BPC.  (No future association was specified.)  Now, under BPC polity it is clear that congregations and ministers may freely leave the denomination “no questions asked,” or at least without any resistance.  The action by SAP brings up the polity question of whether the same holds for presbyteries, to which the General Synod made it clear that it does not.  First, “the presbytery is a creation of the synod and subject to its oversight; it does not exist independently.”  Second, “we do not believe that [the members of presbytery] had authority to speak for their individual churches without congregational meetings.”  Finally, some members of presbytery voted against the action and by doing so chose to remain associated with the BPC.

Rev. Dyck also notes that a protest was filed with the denomination’s Judicial Appeals Commission and as an administrative action (as clarified in a second post) the Commission has declared them the continuing presbytery and minister members and sessions of the previous SAP are being asked to clarify their status with the denomination.

I noted in my comments on the Orthodox Presbyterian Church General Assembly that the fraternal representative from the BPC to the OPC GA explicitly mentioned the differences of opinion in the BPC over the continuing correspondence with the OPC.  Rev. Dyck hints at that when he says “The BPC continues to have Corresponding Relations with the OPC. Rev Tom Tyson was their representative to our synod.”  (It is helpful to understand that the BPC broke with the OPC shortly after the OPC broke with the mainline Presbyterians back in the late 1930’s.)

I’ll post a follow-up if there is new and interesting information in either an official report on the General Synod, or actions appear on the BPC’s Resolutions Passed page.