Ordained Servant: The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Comment: A session has jurisdiction over all those whose names are on the roll of that congregation. Most communicants in the OPC are ordinarily on the roll of a local church; some communicants, for several reasons discussed elsewhere, are on the roll of a regional church, of which the presbytery is the governing body. In those cases, the presbytery has jurisdiction over those members as well, of course, as it does the ministers who are members of that presbytery. Presbyteries sometimes assign the oversight of members on the rolls of the regional church to a committee (like the presbytery’s Home Missions Committee) or to a local church (with the consent of all). Otherwise, most communicants as members of a local church are under the jurisdiction of their own session, the one governing their church, unless they are before a higher judicatory on appeal or in the special circumstances of BD 3.6 and, in the bringing of charges, arguably place themselves under some other judicatory that may censure them if charges prove not amenable to judicial process.[1]

2. Members shall be received and their names placed on the roll of the church only by order of the session and according to the following provisions:

a. Members may be received by a letter of transfer from another Orthodox Presbyterian church. The session shall acquire jurisdiction over him by virtue of its vote of reception (see the Directory for the Public Worship of God, Chapter IV, Section C), and at that time he shall become invested with all the rights and privileges of membership therein, which rights and privileges shall not be impaired by the filing of a complaint, unless and until such complaint shall be sustained by the highest judicatory to which such complaint is made.

b. Members may be received by a letter of transfer from another church of like faith and practice approved by the session. The session may examine the candidate for membership to assure itself so far as possible that he possesses the knowledge requisite for active faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, relies for salvation on the work of Christ alone, is trusting Christ for salvation, and is determined by the grace of God to lead a Christian life. The session shall acquire jurisdiction over him by virtue of its vote of reception and his public profession of faith before the congregation according to the Directory for the Public Worship of God, Chapter IV, Section D, and at that time he shall be invested with all the rights and privileges of membership therein, which rights and privileges shall not be impaired by the filing of a complaint, unless and until such complaint shall be sustained by the highest judicatory to which complaint is made.

c. Members may be received by reaffirmation of faith. Reaffirmation of faith is made by an individual who has previously confessed his faith and united with a church other than a church of like faith and practice, and now desires to become a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The session shall examine the candidate for membership to assure itself so far as possible that he possesses the knowledge requisite for active faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, relies for salvation on the work of Christ alone, is trusting Christ for salvation, and is determined by the grace of God to lead a Christian life. The session shall acquire jurisdiction over him by virtue of its vote of reception and his public profession of faith before the congregation according to the Directory for the Public Worship of God, Chapter IV, Section E, and at that time he shall be invested with all the rights and privileges of membership therein, which rights and privileges shall not be impaired by the filing of a complaint, unless and until such complaint shall be sustained by the highest judicatory to which complaint is made.

d. Members may be received by confession of faith. Confession of faith is made by an individual who has not previously been a communicant member of the church, and now desires to become a communicant member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The session shall examine the candidate for membership to assure itself so far as possible that he possesses the knowledge requisite for active faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, relies for salvation on the work of Christ, is trusting Christ for salvation, and is determined by the grace of God to lead a Christian life. The session shall acquire jurisdiction over him by virtue of its vote of reception and his public profession of faith before the congregation according to the Directory for the Public Worship of God, Chapter IV, Section B or F (as the case may require), and at that time he shall be invested with all the rights and privileges of membership therein, which rights and privileges shall not be impaired by the filing of a complaint, unless and until such complaint shall be sustained by the highest judicatory to which complaint is made.

e. Noncommunicant unbaptized children whose parent(s) are members of the church shall be received by baptism.

f. Noncommunicant baptized members may be received with their parent(s).

Comment: These detailed sections (a–f) set forth six circumstances in which members may be received by the local church and have their names placed on the rolls by the sessions of those churches.[2] The first case (a) is transfer from one local OPC to another local OPC. The receiving session assumes jurisdiction, and the person transferred becomes a member of the new church when the session votes to receive the one seeking membership by a letter of transfer. A filed complaint does not stop the transfer, but if the complaint is sustained by the highest appellate judicatory, this action may impact the transfer in some way. Otherwise, all the right and privileges that would be properly part of membership in the new judicatory would not be impaired by the filing of such a complaint. What is particularly important here is that the receiving session assumes jurisdiction when the one transferring becomes a member of the new church upon the affirmative vote of the receiving session.[3]

The second case (b) involves a letter of transfer from a church that is of like faith and practice. This would certainly extend to the churches who are member churches in NAPARC, for example. In this case, the session acquires jurisdiction over the new member when it votes to receive the transfer and the new member makes a public profession of faith before the congregation. In order to assure itself that the transferee is ready to make such a profession, which is to give expression to his faith in Christ and to take the five (5) vows required for membership in the OPC (see DPW 4.D), the session may conduct an examination of him. This examination is of the same sort conducted when anyone is preparing to make public profession of faith (see DPW 4.B) and seeks to ascertain whether the prospective transferee possesses the knowledge, reliance, trust, and commitment—the four parts listed in DPW 4.A.3—necessary for a credible profession of faith alone in Christ alone. Other matters also pertain here as to the filing of a complaint that were discussed immediately above.

The third case (c) of a session acquiring jurisdiction over a party involves a reaffirmation of faith on the part of the candidate for membership. Such a reaffirmation is in view when the prospect has previously made, in the session’s judgment, a credible (evangelical) profession of faith in some other church and was a member thereof and either has no current church membership or is a member of a church that is not of like faith and practice (and thus no transfer of membership by letter would be in view). The session determines whatever preparation and examination is necessary for the reaffirmation of faith, the latter of which consists of the same elements that comprise a credible profession of faith, described above, along with the matters surrounding the filing of any potential complaint.

The fourth case (d) of acquired sessional jurisdiction involves a confession of faith on the part of one who has never done so and has thus not been a part of the church. This would be the path to take not only when one has never been a part of the church but also when one has not made a proper confession, perhaps having done so in a cult or a church deemed apostate by the judicatory. This confession of faith, after preparation and upon examination and affirmation of the five membership questions, consists of the same elements as comprise a profession of faith, detailed above. The session assumes jurisdiction upon the making of such a confession in the presence of the congregation, again taking into account any potential complaint as described above.

The fifth (e) and sixth (f) cases describe the enrollment of non-communicant members. Case e. notes that children who are unbaptized, either due to birth within the bounds of the church or parents recently joining on reaffirmation or confession, may be admitted to the non-communicant membership of the local church upon their baptism. Case f. makes it clear that when parents join a local church and have baptized children that those children are to be added to roll of the local church with them as baptized non-communicant members.

3. The names of members shall be removed from the roll of the church only by order of the session and according to the following provisions:

a. Members may be removed by a letter of transfer to another congregation approved by the session. When upon the request of a member the session dismisses him to another congregation, the clerk shall send a letter commending him to its care, and the clerk of the receiving church shall notify the dismissing church of the date of his reception. When notification is received the clerk shall remove his name from the roll and record the fact in its minutes. He shall be considered subject to the jurisdiction of the session which dismissed him until the time when he actually is received by the body to which he has been dismissed.

b. Members may be removed when they desire to be dismissed to a church of which the session cannot approve as a church of like faith and practice. If it appears to the session that the spiritual interests of the members will be advanced by their uniting with such a church, it shall grant them certificates of standing, and, upon being informed that they have joined such a church, shall remove their names from the roll and record the circumstances in its minutes.

c. Members shall be removed from the roll of the local church by ordination as a teaching elder, according to the Form of Government, Chapter VI, Section 4.

d. Members may be removed by erasure according to the following provisions:

(1) When a member desires dismissal to a church of which the session cannot approve as a church of like faith and practice, nor a church which will advance his spiritual interests, and he cannot be dissuaded, it shall grant him a certificate of standing, unless the session institutes disciplinary action against him; on being informed that he has joined such a church the clerk shall erase his name from the roll and record the circumstances in its minutes.

(2) When a member of a particular church, whether or not he be charged with an offense, informs the session that he does not desire to remain in the fellowship of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and the efforts of the session to dissuade him from his course have failed, it shall erase his name from the roll and record the circumstances in its minutes, unless the session institutes or continues other disciplinary action against him.

(3) When a member unites with a church of another denomination without a certificate of dismission, the session may erase his name from the roll and record the circumstances in its minutes.

(4) When a member cannot be found, the session may, after two years, erase his name from the roll and record the circumstances in its minutes.

(5) When a member, without adequate reason, persists in attending a church of another denomination in preference to his own, or persistently and over an extended period of time absents himself from the stated services of the church, his name may be erased from the roll according to the following procedures: he shall be earnestly and personally dealt with by the session. If this effort fails, he shall be notified that at a meeting of the session not less than two months later his standing shall be reviewed. The session shall inform him of the time, date, and place of this meeting and invite him to show why his name should not be erased from the roll. If satisfactory reasons are not presented, the session shall erase his name from the roll, record the circumstances in its minutes, and send notification to him.

(6) When a noncommunicant member neglects the ongoing exhortation of the session to profess faith in Christ and rejects the covenantal responsibility of submission to home or church, the session may upon prior notification erase his name from the roll.

e. Noncommunicant members may be removed with their parent(s).

f. Members shall be removed at their death. The session shall remove the name of the deceased from the roll and record the fact in its minutes.

g. Members may be removed by excommunication according to this Book of Discipline, Chapter VI, Sections B.5, C.1, and C.2.

Comment: This large section is the opposite of the previous: it details how names are removed from jurisdiction of a local session. Note should be taken here that these same circumstances for removal are also treated in terms of erasure, which is an act of discipline without full process (see BD 5.2). The first section (a) describes what happens when a member requests a letter of transfer either to another OPC or to a church of like faith and practice, which is presumably a church that will receive such a transfer, as would the OP congregation. The session sends such a letter to another church upon the request of the member. The member seeking transfer must initiate this action. The member seeking transfer secures such when the session of the receiving church votes to receive him (in the case of another OPC) or when he professes his faith in the presence of the congregation of which he seeks to be a part. The receiving session notifies the sending session of the date of his reception so that the sending session can properly record such in its minutes. Until he is received by the new church he remains under the jurisdiction of the session of the church from which he sought transfer.

The second section (b) sets forth the procedure when a member requests a transfer to a church that the session deems not to be of like faith and practice, but a church nonetheless in which the session believes “that the spiritual interests of the members will be advanced by their uniting with such a church.” This would be some church regarded as gospel-preaching but not a Reformed or Presbyterian church. In such a case the session grants a certificate of standing that the member may produce to the other church, which may or may not desire it. In any case, when the session receives word that membership has been secured in the new church, it shall then remove the name of the member from its roll and record the circumstances in its minutes, thereby relinquishing jurisdiction over the departing member. The third section (c) also notes that when a member on the roll of a local church is ordained as a minister, his name is, upon ordination and installation, to be removed from the roll of that local church (as it will now be placed on the roll of his presbytery).

The fourth section (d) is a large one, detailing a number of different ways that a church may erase a member from its roll (as opposed to giving a transfer or certificate of standing). In the first case, the BD addresses the situation in which someone proposes to realign with a church that the session regards neither as one of like faith and practice nor one calculated to benefit spiritually the one seeking to join. The session can grant a certificate of standing if it deems that, in spite of the cited liabilities, to be an appropriate action. It can also, if it believes the circumstances warrant it, bring a charge against its member (perhaps because they clearly seek to flee the jurisdiction of that church or to become a part of a cult/false church). If the session chooses to grant the certificate of standing, it shall remove the member from its roll and its jurisdiction upon notice that the member has become a part of that other body/church. The session shall record the circumstances in its minutes.

In the second case (under 3.d), when a member of the local church, whether charged with an offense or not, tells the session that he no longer wishes to be a member in the OPC (the meaning of “does not desire to remain in the fellowship of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church”), the session shall seek to dissuade him from this position. This might involve things like the pastor, parts of the session, or the whole session imploring him not to leave and setting forth the reasons for such, including the reminder, that might apply here and elsewhere, that when someone wants his name removed from the roll of the church but does not seek to have it placed elsewhere, that outside the visible church there is no ordinary possibility of salvation (WCF 25.2).

If all the efforts of the session to dissuade said member from leaving the OPC without a clear view to going to any other church fail, then the session shall erase his name from the church’s roll and record the circumstances, including all that the session did to dissuade him, in the minutes. The session may, if it believes wisdom dictates, institute or continue other disciplinary actions against the member seeking to withdraw. Note that the citation of “other” disciplinary action would indicate that the erasure of this section constitutes disciplinary action itself (without full process, as BD 5.2 defines and addresses such more fully).

Section (3) addresses what is to happen when the session learns that a member has united with a church of another denomination without a certificate of dismission from said session: nothing further is ordinarily to be done with the member in such a case since he has already united with another church. The language, it should be noted, is that of “may erase,” which leaves the matter in the discretion of the session: there may be cases that it appears wise and necessary for the session to institute judicial process; otherwise, the session should erase the member and record the circumstances in its minutes. Section (4) describes what is to be done in the case of a member who has disappeared, as it were (a variety of circumstances are imaginable here), and whose presence cannot be ascertained after two years of his last sighting and/or church attendance. He may, after that amount of time, be erased from the roll and the circumstances recorded in the minutes.

Section (5) addresses the erasure of a member persistently (more than a time or two) attending a church of another denomination in preference to his own or persistently (again, multiple times) and over an “extended period of time” (one would think months) absenting himself from the stated services of the church, presumably from the Sunday worship service(s). Note that such absence must be “without adequate reason,” meaning that anyone thus absent may claim to have a sufficient reason, which the session will have to assess as to its adequacy and should be, as a session is always bound to be, charitable in doing so (perhaps the reason is alleged illness, necessary distance, etc.). If the session determines that the member is, nonetheless, culpably absent, then it may erase the name of the member consonant with the way this section sets forth, namely, the session is to give the absent party opportunity to provide satisfactory reasons for his absence, and if such are not given the session may erase his name.

First, the member shall be earnestly and personally dealt with by the session. This means that the session should not approach these cases perfunctorily or as if it is merely a fait accompli, a “done deal.” Rather, the session should seek, through the pastor(s), individual elders or groups of elders, and/or the whole session itself, to engage the party in view and to seek to win him back, to dissuade him from leaving that local church (or the church more broadly). Failing such effort(s), the session shall notify the party in question that his case will be assessed (“his standing shall be reviewed”) at a meeting of the session that is at least two months away. It may be more, of course, but it cannot be less than two months in the future. This gives additional time for personal appeals and the party perhaps to rethink his position.

The session should make it clear, giving the precise time, date, and place of the meeting, that at the duly appointed session meeting he is invited to appear and to give reason(s) as to why his name should not be erased from the roll. If the appointed time arrives and the party in question neither appears nor gives adequate reasons, the session may then proceed to erase his name from the roll. The session shall record the circumstances of all these matters in it minutes, which is to say, the session should document its record of dealings with the party. It shall notify him of such proceedings, and, again, note, as appropriate, that there is ordinarily no salvation outside of the visible church, urging him to return and/or otherwise to associate himself with the church of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Section (6) describes the circumstance in which a noncommunicant member simply remains in that status and fails or refuses to profess his faith in Christ. This is something requiring care and discernment, but pastors and sessions should exhort and encourage the baptized covenant youth to profess his faith in Christ, especially as he enters his teen years. Many do it in the high school years, commonly before graduation from high school or at least by the age of eighteen or nineteen. There is a good deal of debate among us over age appropriateness for this, and I will leave the discussion of such to others and another time.

Note that this section addresses not only the neglect of professing faith on the part of the noncommunicant member but also “rejecting the covenantal responsibility of submission to home or church.” This could apply in the case of someone under 18 or 21 (common ages for sessions to regard as a “time by which” profession of faith should be made by noncommunicants) who is in open rebellion/rejection against due authority in the home and/or church. Whatever the cause for a noncommunicant failing to profess his faith in due time, the session may, in the exercise of its judgment, having previously notified the recalcitrant or rebellious noncommunicant, erase his name from the roll of the church.

Returning to broader considerations, section e. notes that noncommunicant members may be removed from the roll of the church with their parents. A variety of circumstances have been discussed under which the names of communicants may be erased from the roll of the church. In those cases, the names of their children who are noncommunicants need not be dealt with separately (they would if communicants) but may be removed at the time of the removal of their parents. Two more instances conclude the circumstances under which the name of someone may be removed from the roll of the church: advancement to the church triumphant by death (section f) or removal from the visible church by the judicial censure of excommunication (section g), the latter being in keeping with the process described in BD 6.B.5, C.1 and C.2.

C. The Presbytery's Jurisdiction

1. Presbytery shall have original jurisdiction over all the members of the regional church not enrolled as members of a local church. The provisions of this chapter, Sections B.2 and B.3, shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Comment: Now we turn to examine the question of original jurisdiction as it pertains to presbytery, the governing body of the regional church. Presbytery has appellate jurisdiction over all appeals that come to it from the sessions of its member congregations. It has original jurisdiction over all those who are members of the regional church, such as the ministers of that region, as well as those who may be members of the regional church because they are part of a mission work, from a dissolved church, from a church that left the OPC, etc. Everything in and commented upon in B.2–3, above, with respect to the jurisdiction of the session applies to the jurisdiction of the presbytery, with all the appropriate changes being made (mutatis mutandis: “with things changed that should be changed”).

2. The presbytery shall have original jurisdiction over all the teaching elders who are on the roll of the presbytery. The names of teaching elders shall be placed on or removed from the roll of presbytery only by order of the presbytery, and according to the provisions of the Form of Government and this Book of Discipline. If a teaching elder has been dismissed to another presbytery, he shall be considered subject to the jurisdiction of the presbytery which dismissed him until the time when his name is placed on the roll of the presbytery (cf. Form of Government, Chapter XXIII, Section 20) to which he has been dismissed. The receiving body shall acquire jurisdiction over him when his name is placed on the roll of the presbytery (cf. Form of Government, Chapter XXIII, Section 20) and at that time he shall be invested with all the rights and privileges of membership therein, which rights and privileges shall not be impaired by the filing of a complaint, unless and until such complaint shall be sustained by the highest judicatory to which complaint is made.

Comment: In particular, all ministers (or teaching elders) in a regional church are on the roll of the presbytery, which shall have and exercise original jurisdiction over all its ministerial members: the names of teaching elders can be placed on or removed from the roll of the presbytery only by order of the presbytery in accordance with the FG and BD. If a teaching elder is dismissed to another presbytery, he remains under the jurisdiction of the dismissing presbytery until the time that his name is entered on the roll of the receiving presbytery (cf. FG 23.20). Accordingly, the receiving presbytery acquires jurisdiction over the entering minister when his name is placed on its roll, at which time he receives all the rights and privileges of membership therein, which a complaint shall not impair, though it may in the case of its being sustained by the highest judicatory to which it is brought (as with the comments under B.2, above, in this chapter).

D. Special Circumstances

1. If a session shall cease to exist or become so small as to prevent it from working effectively, the presbytery shall provide for an election and ordination of elders from within the congregation; or the presbytery, with the consent of the congregation, may appoint ruling elders or ministers, or both, normally from within the same presbytery to be an acting session or to augment the existing session temporarily.

Comment: A session requires at least two members (a minister and ruling elder or two ruling elders) to be functional. If a session goes below two members, or perhaps below some greater number in a larger church, and the presbytery concludes that the session cannot work effectively (discretion is in view here), the presbytery shall provide for an election and ordination of elders within the congregation, if such is practicable and possible. It may well be the case that the local congregation has no such candidates available. In that case, the presbytery may, with the consent of the congregation, appoint ruling elders or ministers, or both, to be either an acting session or to augment the existing session temporarily. Office-bearers appointed as augmentees shall normally be from within the same presbytery, though occasionally, at the boundaries of such, they may come from a neighboring presbytery.

2. If a church ceases to exist, the presbytery of jurisdiction shall secure the records, exercise care over its members, and issue certificates of dismission to other churches.

Comment: A particular church may cease to exist for a variety of reasons. When such occurs, the presbytery of which the congregation has been a part (“the presbytery of jurisdiction”) shall perform several actions: it shall secure the records (sessional minutes, legal documents, correspondence, etc.), exercise care over its members—perhaps assigning it to an agreeable nearby OPC session or a committee of the presbytery—and issue certificates of dismission to other churches.

3. If a presbytery ceases to exist, the general assembly shall assign each church and minister to some other presbytery.

Comment: The same is true for a presbytery. If a presbytery, generally due to having become unworkably small, ceases to exist, the judicatory over it, the general assembly, shall assign each church and minister in the newly dissolved presbytery to some other presbytery.

4. The higher judicatory in each instance shall either conclude any uncompleted case of discipline begun in the lower judicatory, or refer the case to the judicatory to whose care the accused has been committed.

Comment: When a local church, for instance, is dissolved, the presbytery shall either conclude any uncompleted cases of discipline begun in the lower judicatory or refer the case to the judicatory to whose care the accused has been committed. In the latter case, the presbytery might retain jurisdiction over, say, those who have come onto the roll of the regional church (from a dissolved church, for example) and might find it necessary to conclude any such disciplinary cases that come from the dissolved church. It might be wise for a presbytery to assign the conclusion of any such cases to a judicial commission acting on behalf of the presbytery. In the case of a dissolved presbytery, disciplinary cases would presumably be ordinarily assigned to the presbytery that assumes the work and membership of the recently dissolved presbytery and not the higher judicatory, the general assembly, which would not conclude such cases sitting as a body. The general assembly, as our BD conceives of it, sits strictly as an appellate judicatory and does not exercise original jurisdiction in any judicial cases.

Endnotes

[1] Stuart Jones, in his BD commentary, argues that a private party bringing a charge can be censured only by his own judicatory and not the judicatory to which he brings the charge, if that judicatory differs from his own judicatory (p. 55). More on this when commenting on BD 3.6.

[2] All these six circumstances should be coordinated with the details proper to each in a service of public worship as set forth in the OPC’s Directory for the Public Worship of God (DPW), spelled out in DPW 4, “Public Reception of Church Members.”

[3] Jones, in his BD Commentary, helpfully notes about this provision, which may appear cryptic to many current users of the BD: “The rule that a complaint cannot impair a transfer until the complaint is ultimately and finally sustained is a rule derived from the Machen experience (cf. Introduction, above, regarding the immediate ancestor of the OPC BD). A vote to receive a member enjoys the presumption of correctness as a fait accompli, and even where irregularity is demonstrable, such does not necessarily imply invalidity of an act. This same principle regarding complaints is repeated elsewhere in this chapter, including the section on Presbyterial jurisdiction” (15).

Alan D. Strange is a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and serves as professor of church history and theological librarian at Mid-America Reformed Seminary in Dyer, Indiana, and is associate pastor of First Orthodox Presbyterian Church of South Holland, Illinois. Ordained Servant Online, November 2022. A list of available installments in this series appears here.