Chapter 25 : Congregational Meetings

Paragraph 10 :

25-10. The provisions of this BCO 25 are to be construed as a solemn covenant whereby the Church as a whole promises never to attempt to secure possesion of the property of any congregation against its will, whether or not such congregation remains within or chooses to withdraw from this body. All officers and courts of the Church are hereby prohibited from making any such attempt.

[Historical Summary : The current text has been updated in the first sentence with reference to BCO 25, but has otherwise remained unchanged from the first approved PCA text in 1973. The greater interest, however, is the difference between PCA 1973 and the Proposed BCO, in which a final proposed sentence was deleted. See under "Commentary" at BCO 25-9 for the text of G.Aiken Taylor note regarding 25-9]

Background and Comparison :
PCA 1973, 26-10, Adopted text, as printed in the Minutes of General Assembly, p. 144
The provisions of this Chapter XXVI are to be construed as a solemn covenant whereby the Church as a whole promises never to attempt to secure possession of the property of any congregation against its will, whether or not such congregation remains within or chooses to withdraw from this body. All officers and courts of the Church are hereby prohibited from making any such attempt.

Continuing Presbyterian Church 1973, 26-10, Proposed text, p. 37
The provisions of this Chapter XXVI. are to be construed as a solemn covenant whereby the Church as a whole promises never to attempt to secure possession of the property of any congregation against its will, whether or not such congregation remains within or chooses to withdraw from this body. All officers and courts of the Church are hereby prohibited from making any such attempt. The provisions of this section are unamendable and irrevocable.

PCUS 1933,
The

PCUS 1879
[no comparable text]

PCUS 1869 draft
[no comparable text]

PCUS 1867 draft
[no comparable text]