The Historical Development of the Book of Church Order

Chapter 45 : Dissents, Protests and Objections

Paragraph 4 : Objection Defined

45-4. An objection is a declaration by one or more members of a court who did not have the right to vote on an appeal or complaint, expressing a different opinion from the decision of the court and may be accompanied with the reasons on which it is founded.

DIGEST: This paragraph was added to the Book of Church Order in 1987 [M15GA, 15-25, Item 1, p. 94] and subsequent changes were made in 1990 [M18GA, 18-8, Item 2, p. 44].
PCA 1973 and prior editions back to the early PCUS drafts had another paragraph, 19-4, which stated "None can join in a protest against a decision of any court except those who had a right to vote in the case." That paragraph has been removed from the PCA's Book of Church Order, and we now have paragraph 45-4, which makes provision allowing some voice in a matter for those members of a court not entitled to vote in a case. Note that they must at least be members of the court, and that this paragraph is not allowing simply anyone to lodge an objection.

BACKGROUND & COMPARISON:
No comparable text is found in the following editions:
PCA 1973, Adopted text, Chapter 19
Continuing Presbyterian Church 1973, Chapter 19, Proposed text
PCUS 1933
PCUS 1925
PCUS 1879
PCUS 1869 draft
PCUS 1867 draft

COMMENTARY:
F.P. Ramsay, Exposition of the Book of Church Order (1898) :
[No comparable text for discussion]