Redirect to PCA Digest

PCA HISTORICAL CENTER
Archives and Manuscript Repository for the Continuing Presbyterian Church

Study Committee Reports
of the Presbyterian Church in America, 1973 - 2021

Volumes 1 and 2 of the PCA DIGEST were printed in 1993; Volume 3 was printed in 1998.
Paul R. Gilchrist, then Stated Clerk of the denomination, served as editor of all three volumes.

Last updates include:
28 May 2020 — Human Sexuality Report, as presented to the 48th PCA General Assembly (2021)
13 June 2017 — Women Serving in the Ministry of the Church, Ad-Interim Committee Report (2017)
25 July 2014 — Child Protection in the PCA and Insider Movement Reports.
Volume 1 [1973 - 1993]:
Volume 2 [1973 - 1993]:
Volume 3 [1994 - 1998]:
Part I - Assembly Actions
Part II - Interpretations of The Constitution
Part III - Judicial Cases
Part IV - Bylaws, Manuals and Guidelines
Part V - Study Committee Reports





 Part I - Assembly Actions
Part II - Interpretations of the Constitution
Part III - Judicial Cases
Part IV - Bylaws, Manuals and Guidelines
Part V - Study Committee Reports
Comprehensive Index
Please note:
"It needs to be pointed out that when quoting the PCA Digest, caution should be exercised as to whether the quoted section was merely received or if it was adopted as the action of General Assembly. Even when adopted, these papers and decisions reflect the pious advice of that particular General Assembly and have no constitutional force unless changes were adopted in the Book of Church Order or other standards of the Church."—Paul Gilchrist, Preface to Volume 1 of the PCA Digest (1994), p. 3.
or to put it more officially, the PCA's Book of Church Order, chapter 14, paragraph 7 states:
"Actions of the General Assembly pursuant to the provision of BCO 14-6 such as deliverances, resolutions, overtures, and judicial decisions are to be given due and serious consideration by the Church and its lower courts when deliberating matters related to such action. Judicial decisions shall be binding and conclusive on the parties who are directly involved in the matter being adjudicated, and may be appealed to in subsequent similar cases as to any principle which may have been decided. See BCO 3-5 and 3-6, and WCF 31.3.)"
The Table of Contents reproduced below 
focuses largely on Part V of Volumes 2 and 3 of The PCA Digest.

Re-Affirmation to Biblical fidelity and the "Message to All Churches" [1993]

Abortion [1978]
AIDS Task Force Report [M17GA (1989), 17-25, p.62]
Alcohol, Beverage Use of, [M8GA (1980), 8-69, III, p. 98]
Archives Position Paper
Baptism [Click this link to access all four baptism articles as one file]

• Baptism and Non-Communing Membership (1977)
Child Protection [Overture 6, as amended and adopted by the 42d General Assembly]
Church/State Subcommittee Report (1987) :
• To view Parts I–V of the Church/State Report as one file, click here4

• I. Biblical, Historical & Contemporary Concepts of Church/State Relations, by Douglas Kelly

• II. Should the PCA Remain Incorporated?, by Douglas Kelly

• III. Taxation and the Church, by Thomas O. Kotouc

• IV. Education & Parental Responsibility, by R. S. Barnes and T. O. Kotouc

• V. Propriety of Christians Non Violent Disobedience to the Civil Magistrate in the Abortion Controversy, by Mark Belz and Linwood Crowe

• Church/State Subcommittee Report, Summary Positions (1988)

• Guiding Principles for Ecumenical Relations
Creation :
• Interim Report [M27GA (1999), 27-26, pp. 96-97.]
• Report of the Study Committee [M28GA (2000), p. 119-212.]
Divorce
• Report of the Ad Interim Theological Committee on Divorce [M7GA (1979), 6-109, p. 57-59 and 7-42, pp. 106-110.]
Divorce and Remarriage [1992 Report of the Ad Interim Committee]:
• Click here to download the entire study as a single file [111 pp.]
• Appendix II - Divorce Reconsidered, by RE David C. Lachman
• Qualifications for Office of a Divorced Person [M7GA (1979), 6-109, pp. 58-59.]
Federal Vision
Freemasonry :
• Topical Summary of Document Sources
Fund Raising Policy [M4GA (1976), 4-74, item 5, page 80.]
Higher Education : includes Part I, The Church's Role in Higher Education; Part II, Christian Education and Federal Aid; Part III, Covenant College's Philosophy of Education.
Homosexuality :
Human Sexuality Report (2021)
Insider Movement
  • 2014 Ad Interim Committee Report (Part 2) - includes analysis of 2013 and 2014 Minority Reports, plus both the 2013 & the 2014 Minority Reports as Attachments. Please note that the 42nd PCA General Assembly only adopted the three Committee recommendations, found on page 2112.
Interchurch Relations :
• Resolution on Interchurch Relations (1973)
• Policy Statement (1974)
• Miscellaneous Addenda (1975, 1976, 1985, 1990)
• Conceptual Framework for Mission/Church Relations (1984)
[HTML]
• Report on Defining the Nature of Relations with Other Churches
Judicial Procedures, Ad Interim Committee Report:
• "Principles of Judicial Process from a New Testament Perspective," by Dr. Paul B. Fowler
[HTML]
• "Church Discipline in Light of the Evidence of the New Testament," by Dr. T. David Gordon
[HTML]
• "Shepherds as Judges: The Judicial Responsibilities of Elders in the PCA," by Dr. T. David Gordon
[HTML]
• "The Use of Commissions in the Presbyterian Churches in the United States of America," by Pastor Leroy H. Ferguson, III
[HTML]]
• "Select and Annotated Bibliography on Ecclesiastical Judicial Procedures: Doctrines and Practices of the American Presbyterian Church," by Pastor David F. Coffin, Jr.
[HTML]
Medical Insurance, Ad Interim Committee Report on Options for
Mission and Purpose of the PCA
[HTML]
Number of Offices in the Church :
• Report of the Number of Offices in the Church [M7GA, 7-23, pp. 77-85 ] ------------

• Appendix A: Two Offices (Elders/Bishops, and Deacons) and Two Orders of Elders (Preaching/Teaching Elders, and Ruling Elders): A New Testament Study, by Dr. George W. Knight, III ---------------------------------
• Appendix B: Ministers of the Word, by Donald A. Dunkerley (1977)
• Appendix C: Biblical Study on "Ordination," by Don Clements (1977)
• Appendix D: Empowered to Serve, by Robert H. Kirksey (1977)
PCA Structure
Pornography
• Personal Resolution [M13GA (1985), 13-65, III, 5, p. 133.]
Psalmody
• Report of the "Psalm Singing," Subcommittee [M21GA (1993), Appendix D, Attachment 1, pp. ]
Racial Relations
• Racial Reconciliation [M30GA (2002), 30-53, III, Items 14-16, pp. 262-270.]
• MNA Pastoral Letter on Racism [adopted by the 32d GA (2004)]
• A Pastoral Letter on Racism and the Gospel (2016)
• Racial and Ethnic Reconciliation Report (2018)
Spiritual Gifts :
Textbook Censorship, Resolution on [M15GA, (1987), 15-91, III, C, 4, p. 188.]

• Guidelines for Theological Education
Women in the Military, Report of the Ad Interim Study Committee (AISCOWIM):
• Majority & Minority Reports (2001)
• Final Recommendations; Communications 1, 2 & 6
Women Serving in the Ministry of the Church, Ad Interim Report (2017)