BOCO Flashcards
Agencies of the PCA
- Covenant College
- Coventant Theological Seminary
- PCA Foundation
- PCA Retirment & Benefits
- Ridge Haven Confrence Center
Permanent Committees
- Administrative C.
- C. on Discipleship Ministires
- Mission to the World
- Misison to North America
- Refermed University Ministries
Special Committees
- Consitutional Business
- Coopeerative Ministires
- Interchurch Relations
- Nominating
- Review of Presbytery Record
- Theological Examining Com.
What are the parts of BCO?
- Form of Government
- Rules of Discipline
- Directory for the Worship of God
According to the Preliminary Principles, what is the relation of church and state?
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No religious constitution should be supported by the civil power further than may be necessary for protection and security equal and common to all others.
The power of the Church is exclusively spiritual; that of the State includes the exercise of force. The constitution of the Church derives from divine revelation; the constitution of the State must be determined by human reason and the course of providential events. The Church has no right to construct or modify a government for the State, and the State has no right to frame a creed or polity for the Church. They are as planets moving in concentric orbits: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).
According to the Preliminary Principles, what is the relation of truth and godliness?
Godliness is founded on truth. A test of truth is its power to promote holiness according to our Saviour’s rule, “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). No opinion can be more pernicious or more absurd than that which brings truth and falsehood upon the same level. On the contrary, there is an inseparable connection between faith and practice, truth and duty. Otherwise it would be of no consequence either to discover truth or to embrace it.
According to the Preliminary Principles, what is the nature of Church power?
All church power, whether exercised by the body in general, or by representation, is only ministerial and declarative since the Holy Scriptures are the only rule of faith and practice. No church judicatory may make laws to bind the conscience. All church courts may err through human frailty, yet it rests upon them to uphold the laws of Scripture though this obligation be lodged with fallible men
What is the Constitution of the PCA?
Westminster Confession of Faith, together with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and the Book of Church Order,
What is the scriptural form of Church government; is it essential to the Church’s existence? Explain.
- The scriptural form of church government, which is representative or Presbyterian
- This scriptural doctrine of Presbytery is necessary to the perfection of the order of the visible Church, but is not essential to its existence.
What is the purpose of the Church?
The Church which the Lord Jesus Christ has erected in this world for the gathering and perfecting of the saints is His visible kingdom of grace, and is one and the same in all ages
Who are the officers of the Church; where in Scripture are their qualifications found?
The officers of the Church, by whom all its powers are administered, are, according to the Scriptures, teaching and ruling elders and deacons. Qualifications in 1 Tim 3, Titus 1
Who are the members of the visible Church?
The members of this visible Church catholic are all those persons in every nation, together with their children, who make profession of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and promise submission to His laws.
What denominations are to be recognized a true branches of the Church of Jesus Christ?
all of these which maintain the Word and Sacraments in their fundamental integrity are to be recognized as true branches of the Church of Jesus Christ.
In what body does the power which Christ has committed to His Church rest?
The power which Christ has committed to His Church vests in the whole body, the rulers and those ruled, constituting it a spiritual commonwealth. This power, as exercised by the people, extends to the choice of those officers whom He has appointed in His Church.
What is a particular Church?
A particular church consists of a number of professing Christians, with their children, associated together for divine worship and godly living, agreeable to the Scriptures, and submitting to the lawful government of Christ’s kingdom.
What are the ordinances of the Church?
The ordinances established by Christ, the Head, in His Church are prayer; singing praises; reading, expounding and preaching the Word of God; administering the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper; public solemn fasting and thanksgiving; catechizing; making offerings for the relief of the poor and for other pious uses; and exercising discipline; the taking of solemn vows, and the ordination to sacred office.
What are communing members of the Church; what are non-communing?
Communing members are those who have made a profession of faith in Christ, have been baptized, and have been admitted by the Session to the Lord’s Table., The children of believers are, through the covenant and by right of birth, non-communing members of the church.
Do the “extraordinary officers” and “extraordinary gifts” continue in the Church today?
agents by whom God completed His revelation to His Church. Such officers and gifts related to new revelation have no successors since God completed His revelation at the conclusion of the Apostolic Age.
What are the duties of the deacons?
It is the duty of the deacons to minister to those who are in need, to the sick, to the friendless, and to any who may be in distress. It is their duty also to develop the grace of liberality in the members of the church, to devise effective methods of collecting the gifts of the people, and to distribute these gifts among the objects to which they are contributed.
What are the courts of the Church and what are their respective jurisdictions?
These courts are church Sessions, Presbyteries, and the General Assembly. The Session exercises jurisdiction over a single church, the Presbytery over what is common to the ministers, Sessions, and churches within a prescribed district, and the General Assembly over such matters as concern the whole Church.
What is the difference between a committee and an ecclesiastical commission?
A commission differs from an ordinary committee in that while a committee is appointed to examine, consider and report, a commission is authorized to deliberate upon and conclude the business referred to it, except in the case of judicial commissions of a Presbytery appointed under BCO 15-3. (Commission makes the final decision, not just a recommendation)
What is the doctrine of vocation?
The calling to the ministry as a career. Ordinary vocation to office in the Church is the calling of God by the Spirit, through the inward testimony of a good conscience, the manifest approbation of God’s people, and the concurring judgment of a lawful court of the Church.
What is ordination?
Ordination is the authoritative admission of one duly called to an office in the Church of God, accompanied with prayer and the laying on of hands, to which it is proper to add the giving of the right hand of fellowship.
What is licensure, what is its purpose, and who may be licensed?
To preserve the purity of the preaching of the Gospel, no man is permitted to preach in the pulpits of the Presbyterian Church in America on a regular basis without proper licensure from the Presbytery having jurisdiction where he will preach
A ruling elder, a candidate for the ministry, a minister from some other denomination, or some other man may be licensed for the purpose of regularly providing the preaching of the Word upon his giving satisfaction to the Presbytery of his gifts and passing the licensure examination
What are the purposes of discipline?
a. the glory of God,
b. the purity of His Church,
c. the keeping and reclaiming of disobedient sinners. Discipline is for the purpose of godliness (1 Timothy 4:7); therefore, it demands a self-examination under Scripture
What are the proper steps of discipline?
a. Instruction in the Word;
b. Individual’s responsibility to admonish one another (Matthew 18:15, Galatians 6:1);
c. If the admonition is rejected, then the calling of one or more witnesses (Matthew 18:16);
d. If rejection persists, then the Church must act through her court unto admonition, suspension, excommunication and deposition
What are the censures that may be inflicted by Church courts?
admonition, suspension from the Sacraments, excommunication, suspension from office, and deposition from office.
Which are the modes in which the proceedings of lower courts come under the supervision of higher courts? Briefly describe each.
- Review and Control; It is the right and duty of every court above the Session to review, at least once a year, the records of the court next below
- Reference; a written representation and application made by a lower court to a higher for advice or other action
- Appeal; An appeal is the transfer to a higher court of a judicial case on which judgment has been rendered in a lower court, and is allowable only to the party against whom the decision has been rendered.
- Complaint. a written representation made against some act or decision of a court of the Church
What methods are there for declaring dissatisfaction with actions taken by a court?
Dissents,-A dissent is a declaration on the part of one or more members of a minority, expressing a different opinion from the majority in its action on any issue before the court, and may be accompanied with the reasons on which it is founded.
Protests, - A protest is a more solemn and formal declaration by members of a minority, bearing their testimony against what they deem an improper or erroneous action on any issue before the court, and is generally accompanied with the reasons on which it is founded.
and Objections - An objection is a declaration by one or more members of a court who did not have the right to vote on an appeal or complaint, expressing a different opinion from the decision of the court and may be accompanied with the reasons on which it is founded.
What chapters of the Directory for Worship have constitutional authority?
BCO 56, 57 and 58
What is the end (telos) of public worship?
The end of public worship is the glory of God
Who are the members of the Session?
The church Session consists of the pastor, associate pastor(s), if there be any, and the ruling elders of a church.
If someone is “erased” without censure from the roles of a local Church, into whose jurisdiction does he or she go, and who is responsible for his or her soul before God?
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The local church is no longer responsible but God is to judge those outside the church.
What does the vow of “submission to the brethren” mean?
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Your willingness to be subject to the majority rule of the body, even when you cast a dissenting vote.
What is proper sessional action in the case of a person who as a child received the sacrament of Infant Baptism yet refuses as a young adult to profess faith in the Lord?
NO ANSWER
How often is the Session to meet jointly with the Deacons?
Once a quarter recommended
When does the license to preach the Gospel expire?
The license to preach the Gospel shall expire at the end of four years.
What is the procedure whereby a man is called to be the pastor of a local church?
- The Session shall call a congregational meeting to elect a pulpit committee
- The pulpit committee shall recommend to the congregation a pastoral candidate.
- The Session shall order a congregational meeting
- Vote
- Issue a call to Presbytery for approval
- Give call to pastor
- Install
Who may moderate a Session meeting?
12-2. The pastor is, by virtue of his office, the moderator of the Session. If emergency the Session may elect one of its members to preside. The pastor may invite a minister of the same Presbytery to perform this service. When a church is without a pastor, the moderator of the Session may be either a minister appointed by the Presbytery or one invited by the Session to preside, or one of its own members elected. In judicial cases, the moderator shall be a minister of the Presbytery to which the church belongs. Associate or assistant pastors may substitute for the pastor.
What are the duties of the Session?
The church Session is charged with maintaining the spiritual government of the church, for which purpose it has power: word and sacrament, congregational meeting, special exercise for the church property, oversee deacons, examine and install RE and deacons., care for members of church
What is the quorum for a congregational meeting?
The quorum of the congregational meeting shall consist of one fourth (1/4) of the resident communing members, if the church has not more than one hundred (100) such members, and of one-sixth (1/6) of the resident communing members if a church has more than one hundred (100) such members.
