At the Standing Judicial Commission’s (SJC) stated meeting February 6, 2020 the Commission received requests from Central Georgia Presbytery and Savannah River Presbytery to assume original jurisdiction over Teaching Elder Greg Johnson and the session of Memorial Church (where Johnson is pastor) under Book of Church Order (BCO) 34-1. The SJC ruled that assuming original jurisdiction of a session was not in accordance with BCO 34-1. The commission appointed a seven-man committee to recommend to the commission whether the provisions of BCO 34-1 apply in this matter of TE Johnson. SJC Chairman, TE Fred Greco, reminded the SJC that the Operating Manual of the Standing Judicial Commission section 2 forbids SJC members from discussing a pending matter with persons who are not members of the Commission.
Context for the SJC’s Ruling
When a PCA minister is charged with a matter of doctrine or practice contrary to the Word of God, his presbytery has the right to first hear and rule in the matter. This is the right of “original jurisdiction.” If after investigating the matter, they believe there’s a strong presumption of guilt, they may institute a formal proceeding against him. If he’s found guilty, they’ll impose a censure: admonition, a warning to exercise greater care in the future, degrading him from his office (deposition) and, in extreme cases, removing him from the communion of the church (excommunication).
If the minister believes a verdict against him is improper, he may appeal to the SJC — the 24-member body elected by the General Assembly to handle matters covered by the Book of Discipline of the Book of Church Order. If a member of the presbytery believes the Court has failed to bring a minister to trial or failed to convict him when it should have, he may file a complaint, which, if denied by the presbytery, may also be brought to the SJC.
Such appeals or complaints are the normal procedure for bringing cases to the SJC. BCO 34-1, however, allows the SJC to assume original jurisdiction when two presbyteries object to the original ruling, and if the SJC judges [that] “the Presbytery refuses to act in doctrinal cases or cases of public scandal.”