In Presbyterian church government, higher courts are responsible for reviewing the actions and records of lower courts. Thus, the General Assembly is responsible for reviewing the minutes of the 87 presbyteries spread across the U.S. and Canada. The Review of Presbytery Records is the committee entrusted by the General Assembly with this task. 

The committee is populated with delegates appointed by each presbytery. The committee used to meet onsite at the same time and location as the Assembly, like most Assembly committees. However, with the growth of the denomination, it became difficult for committee members to complete their work in time for the Assembly’s consideration. They now convene off-site in May to complete their work. 

The Review Process

In the course of its work, the committee cites presbyteries for problems in their record-keeping. RPR highlights areas where the presbytery took actions it should not have taken or failed to take actions it should have taken. 

When RPR examines the minutes of a presbytery and finds irregularities, the committee must decide whether they appear to be exceptions of form or substance. An exception of form is a minor irregularity. An exception of substance is a serious irregularity. If cited with an exception of substance, the presbytery is required to respond to the next Assembly.

Of course, the presbytery in question may have actually conducted its business in a fully constitutional manner and simply failed to properly record it in its minutes. In such cases, the presbytery corrects its minutes and informs the Assembly that the minutes have been amended.

All of RPR’s work is by way of recommendation. As a committee of the General Assembly, RPR’s report and the citations within it are presented to the Assembly for approval. The Assembly may modify the report before approving it, but ultimately, any citations passed along to the presbyteries come from the Assembly. 

The Rules of Assembly Operations define an exception of substance as follows (RAO 16-6.c.1): 

Apparent violations of the Scripture or serious irregularities from the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America, actions out of accord with the deliverances of the General Assembly, and matters of impropriety and important delinquencies, and any non-compliance with RAO 16-3.e.5-7 should be reported under this category. 

The exceptions of substance often become a source of debate, both in the committee and on the floor of the Assembly. Here are a few examples of an exception of substance:

• In 2024, West Hudson Presbytery was cited for failing to include a report from ministerial candidates in their minutes (BCO 18-6). 
• In 2017, Heritage Presbytery was cited for an incomplete record of a transfer. The minutes didn’t reflect that the teaching elder was examined in his Christian experience or sacraments.
• In 2005, New River Presbytery was cited because it failed to note whether or not there was a congregational meeting to dissolve a pastoral relationship. 

We examined the reports produced by the Review of Presbytery Records from 2000 to 2025 and tracked the number of exceptions of substance the committee has cited each year. The full chart can be found below.

Trends and Observations

1. The reporting standards have changed at least once during this period. In the early 2000s, the Assembly added items that a presbytery is required to report. Most notably, presbyteries were required to record a candidate’s stated differences in their own words. This is reflected in 2005 and 2006 when there was an increase in the number of exceptions of substance. It took a few years for presbyteries to adjust to the new reporting standards. 

2. The number of presbyteries has grown over this period from 60 to 87.  Now that there are 45% more presbyteries to examine, you would naturally expect the number of exceptions of substance to increase. 

3. The exceptions are not evenly distributed across presbyteries in any given year. Some presbyteries have zero exceptions of substance, while others may have 30. 

4. From 2000 to 2019, the average number of exceptions of substance per year was 116. From 2021 to 2025, that number has risen to 398 per year. That is more than a threefold increase. In the year 2000, there were 47 exceptions of substance. In 2025, there were 411. 

5. The Assembly did not convene in 2020. Hence, in 2021, the committee reviewed and reported on two years’ worth of presbytery minutes.

RPR will report when the 53rd General Assembly meets in Louisville. Two overtures have been sent for consideration by the upcoming Assembly that recommend a change in the way RPR conducts its work: Overture 7 from Pacific Northwest Presbytery and Overture 33 from Westminster Presbytery.