There are two current items of interest regarding revision and rewriting of the PC(USA) Book of Order.
The first is the status of Book of Order amendments from the last General Assembly. The vote tallies were last updated on April 16 and most of the amendments have been approved. While all of these affect the Book of Order, of particular interest are amendments 06-A and 06-B.1. Amendment 06-A is a major revision of Chapter G-XIV, the longest chapter in the Form of Government section. The amendment also includes some related “housekeeping” changes to other sections to match the new sections and words in Chapter XIV. Amendment 06-B.1 moves the ordination questions and service from Form of Government to Directory for Worship. The former is currently being approved by a narrow margin and the latter has received enough affirmative votes to assure passage. The only other amendment whose outcome has not been decided yet is 06-B.2 “Adding Licensure of Candidates–On Amending G-14.0309” which is currently failing by the narrow margin of 60 to 63. All other amendments have been approved by enough presbyteries.
In the other news, at it’s April 12-14 meeting the Form of Government Task Force, charged with rewriting the whole Form of Government section of the Book of Order, decided not to decide but to leave a structural question up to the 218th General Assembly. The Form of Government web page has not been updated with the report of this meeting yet, but the PC(USA) news service issued a press release on April 16 reporting on the meeting. Specifically, the task force had been working on a new version of the “G” section which moved the first four chapters into a new preceding section which would contain the “foundational principles” found in those chapters. At the meeting last week the task force voted 6-3 to provide two versions to the next GA: One with the new fourth section and one that left the foundational principles in the Form of Government section.
The news article also talks about the underlying theology of the rewrite and how it is built upon “missional polity.” This is the concept that the church does not have a mission, but rather that mission is its only reason for existence. The news story quotes a supporting document: “Mission lies at the heart of the Church’s identity. The Church is called into being and is an expression of the mission dei, God’s ongoing engagement with the world to reconcile, transform, and finally fulfill the divine creative intent in it.” (I thought I saw this document on-line at one time but can not find it again.)
The task force next meets August 16-18.
Brief Comment: In the PC(USA) news service article four members of the task force and two PC(USA) staff members to the task force were quoted. All but one staff member (Doska Ross) are identified as clergy! Are elders involved in this process? You would not know it from the news story. The membership list shows that the task force is composed of six clergy and three elders.