18-7. The Presbytery may, upon application of the candidate, give a certificate of dismission to another Presbytery. The candidate may be allowed to retain membership in his home church upon the request of his Session and the approval of both Presbyteries involved. A candidate shall, at his request or at the request of his Session, be allowed to withdraw from the care of the Presbytery. But in such a case sufficient reasons (and any actions taken) must be reported to the Presbytery. The Presbytery may also, for sufficient reasons, remove the name of the candidate from its roll of candidates; but in such a case it shall report its actions and the reasons therefore to the candidate and to the Session of his church. In all cases of a removal or withdrawal of a candidate, the sufficient reason for the action shall be recorded in the minutes of Presbytery.

DIGEST: The current PCA text dates to Overture 49 from Pittsburgh Presbytery [M42GA, Appendix W, p. 853], adopted at the 43d Assembly (2015). Grounds offered in support of the amendment stated that "As we are charged to shepherd our candidates and interns, this amendment helps ensure that we do so and helps close some gaps in dealing with candidates who do not pursue vocational ministry." [M14GA, p. 67].
Previously in 1983, Grace Presbytery had brought constitutional inquiry #5 before the 11th Assembly, asking "Does BCO 18-7 allow a 'dual' candidacy? If not, why is approval of both Presbyteries required?" The Assembly adopted an answer which stated that "This paragraph does not allow for 'dual candidacy,' although BCO 19-1 and 19-5 allow for multiple licensure. . . The provisions of BCO 18-2 indicate 'Every applicant for the ministry must put himself under the care of Presbytery, which should ordinarily be the Presbytery that has jurisdiction of the church of which he is a member.' [11-9, C, p. 52; 11-36, III, 32, p. 98.]