Since June, presbyteries have been voting on 13 BCO amendments handed down by the 52nd General Assembly. For BCO amendments to be ratified, at least two-thirds of the PCA’s 87 presbyteries must approve them. This requires 58 presbyteries to vote in favor of an amendment. Once an amendment fails in 30 presbyteries, it is mathematically impossible for it to reach the approval threshold. 

Now, three of those amendments have officially failed to meet the approval threshold. 

As previously reported, items 1 and 13 failed.

• Item 1 amended BCO 8-4, 20-1, 21-1, and 23-1 for the calling and dissolution of TE relationships for Needful Works. 
• Item 13 amended BCO 57-2 regarding the examination of young persons for admission to the sealing ordinances. 

Now, item 5 has also officially failed to meet the approval threshold. Item 5 amended BCO 24-1 to require ruling elders and deacons to state their confessional differences and for sessions to make a record of these differences in their minutes. 

Item 5 passed the overtures committee before being approved by the Assembly on the floor. It has been disapproved by 30 of the presbyteries that have voted on it.

The overture originated from Nashville Presbytery, which recommended that the Assembly adopt it to make the practices of examining and ordaining ruling elders and deacons align with those applied to teaching elders. As stated in the rationale, “The vow pertaining to the Confession and Catechisms that Ruling Elders and Deacons take is identical to the vow for Teaching Elders (BCO 21-5, Q.2; 24-6, Q.2), suggesting that their relationship to the Confession and Catechisms is the same as that of Teaching Elders.”

The other 10 BCO amendments have garnered the necessary approvals and will be considered by the 53rd General Assembly when it meets in Louisville. You can preview the overtures under consideration by this year’s Assembly here.