An overture is ordinarily a request by a presbytery that the General Assembly (GA) of the PCA take action on a specific matter. At present, seven overtures have been submitted to the 43rd General Assembly.
Three of these overtures concern the adjustment of presbytery boundaries and have been referred to the Committee of Commissioners on Mission to North America. Overture 4 asks the Assembly to divide Palmetto Presbytery in South Carolina into three new presbyteries: a “Columbia Area” presbytery, incorporating Fairfield, Lexington, Richland, Aiken, and Kershaw counties; a “Costal Carolina” presbytery, consisting of Chesterfield, Marlboro, Lee, Sumter, Darlington, Florence, Dillon, Marion, Clarendon, Williamsburg, Georgetown, and Horry counties; and a “Low Country” presbytery, including Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Colleton, Calhoun, and Orangeburg counties. Each presbytery would chose its own name if this change is adopted, and teaching Elders with calls to RUF or calls from MTW or those carried on the rolls as Honorably Retired, Laboring Out-Of-Bounds, or Without Call could choose the presbytery in which they desire membership.
Overture 5 and Overture 6, from Southwest Florida Presbytery and Suncoast Florida Presbytery, respectively, concern the same boundary change. Southwest Florida, with 26 churches and three mission works, had begun discussion of the possibility of spinning off a new presbytery. Suncoast Florida, with 8 churches and two mission works, became aware of these discussions and suggested that Southwest Florida consider adjusting their boundaries to add the southern portion of their presbytery to Suncoast: Manatee, Sarasota, DeSoto, and Glades Counties and the portion of Charlotte County north of the Peace River. The two presbyteries are proposing this change, and are also proposing that the Teaching Elders and churches within these boundaries be received by Suncoast Presbytery without additional examination.
The other four overtures have been referred to the Overtures Committee. Three of them propose changes to the Book of Church Order (BCO), and therefore must also be reviewed by the Committee on Constitutional Business, which advises the Overtures Committee concerning the consistency of these proposals with other parts of the Constitution.
Overture 1, from Pacific Northwest Presbytery, proposes a change to presbytery judicial procedure similar to that proposed by last year’s Overture 40. It calls for the amendment of BCO 15-3 to expand the options a Presbytery has for hearing a judicial case. In addition to its two current options (trial by the court as a whole or referral of the case to a judicial commission whose judgment would require presbytery’s ratification), this overture would add the option of referring the case to a judicial commission whose decision would be final, analogous the process used by the General Assembly through its Standing Judicial Commission (SJC). Should a presbytery chose this option, the proposal would allow the presbytery to adopt a procedure for considering a commission minority report similar to that outlined for the SJC in BCO 15-5.c.
In Overture 3, Gulf Coast Presbytery asks for a change in the wording of question three of the parental promises made at the baptism of a covenant child, found in BCO 56-5. Gulf Coast argues that, in a church culture where many Baptistic churches practice “infant dedication”, the phrase, “Do you now unreservedly dedicate your child to God . . .” can, in their words, undermine “the distinction we make between what we do with our children and what God has in his providence already done by placing them in a Covenant home.” Therefore they are recommending that phrase be stricken and replaced with the phrase, “Do you now acknowledge that God in his providence has placed this child within the covenant family, and entrusted (him/her) to your care. . . ”
Under the provisions of Rules of Assembly Operation (RAO) 11-10, individual sessions, teaching elders, or communicant members may submit overtures rejected by a presbytery, provided the overture indicates that the presbytery has rejected it. Overture 7 has been sent to the GA under those provisions by the Session of New Hope Presbyterian Church of Fairfax, VA. Overture 7 would amend BCO 35-1 by requiring church officers under accusation of an offense to testify in a case of process against them. Currently, this section of the BCO allows an accused person to testify but, in keeping with the long standing practice in Anglo-American law, does not require it. The New Hope Session argues that this undermines the responsibility of the court to exercise proper oversight of its members, and for that reason should be changed. The Session reports that this overture was rejected by Potomac Presbytery by a vote of 24-18.
Overture 2 from North Texas Presbytery does not call for a change in the PCA Constitution per se, but asks the Assembly to erect an Ad-Interim Study Committee to consider changes to the Westminster Standards relating to its prohibition of “worldly recreations” on the Sabbath. North Texas argues that the growing number of teaching elder candidates who have taken exception to the portions of the Standards that contain this prohibition leaves the appearance of a conflict between what we confess and what we really believe and practice. This overture is similar to an overture sent by North Texas to the 41st General Assembly except that, in response to the grounds the Overtures Committee cited in recommending it be answered in the negative, North Texas has appended to the overture specific possible amendments to the Standards.
Overtures that propose changes to the BCO or the RAO must be submitted by April 10, 60 days before the opening of the Assembly. All other overtures are due by May 11. Watch for articles on the byFaith website discussing individual overtures.