Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Arlington, Va. particularized on Palm Sunday, 2009, which means Scott Seaton is no longer a church planter. But he promised himself that he would not forget the revisions to Chapter Five of the Book of Church Order that he felt were so important when he was in the midst of planting a church. And he hasn’t. Seaton coordinated the efforts of more than 20 other pastors to draft an overture (Overture 15 passed unanimously by Potomac Presbytery) to this year’s General Assembly that would overhaul the guidance church planters receive from the PCA’s Book of Church Order (BCO).

“Every church planter who has been through this scratches his head about what Chapter Five really says,” explains Seaton. “It can be kind of daunting to revamp a whole chapter, but it seems that everyone recognizes that there’s a problem.” Part of the problem lies in the history of the chapter. Early in the denomination’s history, churches were added to the PCA largely by joining and receiving, so existing churches needed a way to come into the denomination. However, today’s vastly different environment means that the denomination is growing almost exclusively through church plants. Yet, the BCO hasn’t been revised to reflect this new reality.

Overture 15 suggests an overhaul of Chapter Five of the BCO so that the practice of church plants mirrors the practices of particular churches as nearly as possible. The Overture explains, “Not only would doing so thereby adopt the reasoning behind such practices, it also helps establish in the minds of the mission church the correct procedure they will be using after organization.”

For example, revisions suggested in Overture 15 emphasize the importance of church membership. The current wording of BCO does not require people to join the mission church. However, the lack of membership makes it difficult to know who will be committed to the new church and what shepherding relationships already exist. In addition, the lack of membership means nominations and elections to office would be conducted by people who are not members. “Receiving members would be a major step forward in mirroring the requirement of particular churches that only members cast such critical votes,” states the Overture.

Another change Overture 15 models after the practices of particular churches is the calling of the mission church planter to serve as the pastor of the organized church without further action from the congregation. Rather than form a search committee, as the current rule calls for, the changes outlined in Overture 15 would enable mission churches to affirm the decision of new members as an implicit vote of support for the church planter to continue as pastor of the particularized church. As in the particularized church, new members never actually vote on the existing pastor’s call, and a pulpit committee is formed only in the circumstance where the pastor will not continue in that role. The Overture notes, “This understanding helps the minister to see himself--and be seen as--not only the church planter but also the pastor of a flock.”

Fred Marsh, assistant coordinator of MNA, worked with Seaton to develop Overture 15. He says, “Mission to North America is very supportive of this revision. The Book of Church Order is far too vague on the guidance it offers for church planters.” Marsh indicates that the changes requested in Overture 15 are designed to align the Book of Church Order with real practice. “These revisions are not designed to change how we plant churches, but to reflect the common practices of church planters and outline the best way to go.”