The Historical Development of the Book of Church Order

Chapter 45 : Dissents, Protests and Objections

Paragraph 3 : Protests Defined

45-3. A protest is a more solemn and formal declaration by members of a minority, bearing their testimony against what they deem an improper or erroneous action on any issue before the court, and is generally accompanied with the reasons on which it is founded.

DIGEST: The current wording of this paragraph dates to 1987 [M15GA, 15-25, Item 1, p. 94]. The language has been improved but the sense of the provision remains the same.

BACKGROUND & COMPARISON:
1. PCA 1973, RoD, 19-2, Adopted text, as printed in the Minutes of General Assembly, p. 154
2. Continuing Presbyterian Church 1973, RoD, 19-2, Proposed text, p. 60
3. PCUS 1933, RoD, XIX-294
4. PCUS 1925, RoD, XIX-294
5. PCUS 1879, Rules of Discipline, XIV-2
6. PCUS 1869 draft, Canons of Discipline, XIV-2
7. PCUS 1867 draft, Canons of Discipline, XIV-2
A protest is a more solemn and formal declaration by members of a minority, bearing their testimony against what they deem a mischievous or erroneous judgment, and is generally accompanied with a detail of the reasons on which it is founded.

PCUSA 1858 draft, Revised Book of Discipline, IX-2

A protest is a more solemn and formal declaration, made by members of a minority as before mentioned, bearing their testimony against what they deem a mischievous or erroneous judgment; and is generally accompanied with a detail of the reasons on which it is founded.

COMMENTARY:
F.P. Ramsay, Exposition of the Book of Church Order (1898, p. 256), on XIV-2:
§273.--II. A protest is a more solemn and formal declaration by members of a minority, bearing their testimony against what they deem a mischievous or erroneous judgment, and is generally accompanied with a detail of the reasons on which it is founded.
A protest is a dissent in the form of a solemn testimony, with or without reasons.
[Ed. - Note that Ramsay appears to allow for greater latitude on whether reasons are attached, whereas the paragraph itself states that reasons will usually be attached.]