Two recommendations stirred some debate on the floor of assembly during the Friday evening sederunt.
Option to Eliminate Synods
An overture from the Synod of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario asked for a special committee to look into the possibility of eliminating synods.
It suggested the committee could devise a way for synods’ duties to be shifted to other levels of the church, which could, in turn, allow synods to “choose to either remain as synods” or “choose to cease to exist, thereby creating regional flexibility across the denomination.”
On the floor, commissioners spoke for and against a recommendation to create the committee. Those who opposed the idea cited the importance of synods to the constitution of the church. Those in support suggested the court may no longer be necessary and allowing synods to dissolve could eliminate a redundant level of governance.
In its final vote on the issue, assembly endorsed the recommendation to create the special committee.
Integrating Immigrant Congregations
An overture from the Presbytery of Montreal asked for “tools to aid in the integration of ‘ethnic’ congregations, including a timeline to expect compliance to the Book of Forms.”
In response, the clerks of assembly offered a resource they had developed as a guide for congregations considering membership in the denomination. It provides an overview of the structures and governance of the church.
However, Warren Wong, a commissioner from the Presbytery of Montreal, said the overture did not ask for “literature” so much as “procedures” to help presbyteries handle difficult and sensitive issues that can come up when immigrant congregations struggle with the PCC’s polity. Congregations planted by immigrant communities may use procedures from their previous churches; however, congregations within the Presbyterian Church in Canada are expected to follow the policies and procedures in the Book of Forms. This can lead to strife for congregations and presbyteries.
The assembly agreed to refer the recommendation back to the clerks of assembly for more in-depth study and report.
Other Motions:
The clerks advised against creating legislation that would allow ministers on the appendix to the roll of a presbytery or lay missionaries serving in congregations to vote at presbytery meetings.
Under the church’s policies, only ordained ministers serving at least half-time with a pastoral charge or ministry can be placed on the constituent roll of presbytery. Only ministers on the constituent roll and representative elders are able to vote at meetings. Ideally, the court is to be made up of equal numbers of ministers and elders.
One overture asked for legislation which would allow presbyteries to appoint ministers on the appendix to serve as “equalizing ministers” when a pastoral charge is vacant. Another overture asked for legislation to allow elders serving as lay missionaries to serve as a second representative elder from their congregation.
“Inclusion on the constituent roll is a matter of considerable obligation and responsibility according to the polity of our church,” the clerks said in their report. “It is one of the fundamental standards of this denomination and should not be altered lightly.” They suggested ministers on the appendix to the roll and lay missionaries can participate meaningfully in the court even without the right or responsibility of voting.
Commissioner’s Overture
Before the assembly adjourned for the night, it approved an overture from Rev. Tom Billard, a commissioner from the Presbytery of Hamilton.
In his preamble, he described a May meeting of the World Jewish Congress in Budapest, Hungary. “As the Congress was meeting, several thousand people connected to anti-Semitic political parties and movements marched in the streets of Budapest,” his preamble said.
His recommendation asked the moderator to write to Ronald S. Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, to express “the alarm of the Presbyterian Church in Canada about rising of anti-Semitism in Europe.”
“I think it’s important for us to raise our voices on these issues,” Billard told the court.
