PCA Study Committee Reports

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

Study Committee Reports of the Presbyterian Church in America, 1973 - 2017
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: 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.	File Type
	.html
Message to All Churches of Jesus Christ Throughout the World [1973]
Re-Affirmation to Biblical fidelity and the "Message to All Churches" [1993]
Abortion [1978]
Agencies, Their Relationship to General Assembly [22d GA, 1994]
AIDS Task Force Report [M17GA (1989), 17-25, p.62]
Alcohol, Beverage Use of, [M8GA (1980), 8-69, III, p. 98]
Apostasy and Ecclesiastical Separation
Archives Position Paper
Baptism [Click this link to access all four baptism articles as one file]
• Baptism and Non-Communing Membership (1977)
• Appendix P: Report on the Validity of Certain Baptisms (1987)
• Appendices to the Report on the Validity of Certain Baptisms (1845)
• Minority Report, Ad Hoc Committee on the Validity of Certain Baptisms (1987)-
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
• Summary Positions
• 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)
• Protest by O. Palmer Robertson, in Response to the "Summary Positions" Paper
Church Union, Biblical Basis of
• Guiding Principles for Ecumenical Relations
Conflict of Interest
Creation :
• Interim Report, 27th General Assembly, 1999	[HTML]
• Report of the Study Committee (28th GA, June 2000, p. 119-212)
Diaconal Ministries
Divorce
• 1979 - Report of the Ad Interim Theological Committee on Divorce [image scans only, from pages 57-59 & 105-110 of GA Minutes]
Divorce and Remarriage [1992 Report of the Ad Interim Committee]:
• Click here to download the entire study as a single file [111 pp.]
• Introduction and Outline
• Chapter 1 - Historical Perspective on Divorce and Remarriage
• Chapter 2 - Scriptural Perspective on Divorce and Remarriage
• Chapter 3 - Pastoral Perspective on Divorce and Remarriage
• Appendix I - The Westminster Divines on Divorce for Physical Abuse
• Appendix II - Divorce Reconsidered, by RE David C. Lachman
• Conclusion: Summary & Recommendations
• Qualifications for Office of a Divorced Person (1979)	[HTML]
Evangelicals and Catholics Together, Response to
Federal Vision
• Study Committee Report on Federal Vision, New Perspective, & Auburn Avenue Theologies (2007)
Fencing the Lord's Table
Freemasonry :
• 1987 & 1988 Reports of the Ad-Interim Committee to Study Freemasonry
• Topical Summary of Document Sources
Fund Raising Policy [M4GA (1976), page 80, 4-74, 5]	[HTML]
Heroic Measures
Higher Education :
• Part I. - The Church's Role in Higher Education (1978)	[HTML]
• Part II - Christian Education and Federal Aid (1978)	[HTML]
• Part III - Covenant College's Philosophy of Education (1978)	[HTML]
Homosexuality :
• Overture No. 11, 5th General Assembly (1977)
• RPCES Report of the Study Committee on Homosexuality (1980)
• A Declaration of Conscience on Homosexuals and the Military
• Assembly Actions on the Matter of Homosexuality (1996)
• Resolution regarding Homosexual Agenda (1999)
Humanism
Insider Movement
2012 Ad Interim Committee Report (Part 1)
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)	[HTML]
• Policy Statement (1974)	[HTML]
• Miscellaneous Addenda (1975, 1976, 1985, 1990)	[HTML]
• Conceptual Framework for Mission/Church Relations (1984)	[HTML]
• Report on Defining the Nature of Relations with Other Churches	[HTML]
Joint Statement on Joining & Receiving
Judicial Procedures, Ad Interim Committee Report:
• "Principles of Judicial Process Derived from the Old Testament Scriptures," by Dr. Paul R. Gilchrist
• "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]
• Procedural Checklist for PCA BCO Rules of Discipline [2015 revision]
Medical Insurance, Ad Interim Committee Report on Options for
Mercy Ministry, Biblical Guidelines
Mission and Purpose of the PCA	[HTML]
NAPARC's Agreement on Transfer of Members
Nuclear Age
Number of Offices in the Church :
• Report of the Ad-Interim Committee on Number of Offices in the Church [M7GA, 7-23, pp. 77-85 ] -------------------------------------------	[HTML]
• 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 ---------------------------------	[HTML]
• Appendix B: Ministers of the Word, by Donald A. Dunkerley (1977)	[HTML]
• Appendix C: Biblical Study on "Ordination," by Don Clements (1977)	[HTML]
• Appendix D: Empowered to Serve, by Robert H. Kirksey (1977)	[HTML]
Paedo Communion
PCA Structure
Pornography
• Dr. C. Everett Koop's Address before the 14th General Assembly (1986)
"Psalm Singing," Report of the Subcommittee (1993)	[HTML]
Racial Reconciliation	[HTML]
• MNA Pastoral Letter on Racism [adopted by the 32d GA (2004)]
• A Pastoral Letter on Racism and the Gospel (2016)		[PDF]
Spiritual Gifts :
• Pastoral Letter On Experience of the Holy Spirit in the Church Today [English]	[HTML]
• Korean translation of the Pastoral Letter on the Experience of the Holy Spirit
Taxation
Tax Group Exemption
Textbook Censorship, Resolution on	[HTML]
Theology of Stewardship
Theonomy
Uniform Curriculum for Theological Education
• Guidelines for Theological Education	[HTML]
Women in the Church (WIC)
Women in the Military, Report of the Ad Interim Study Committee (AISCOWIM):
• Majority & Minority Reports (2001)
• Final Recommendations; Communications 1, 2 & 6
Women in the Presbytery Organization
Women Serving in the Ministry of the Church, Ad Interim Report (2017)
Worldwide Religious Persecution - Statement of Conscience of the N.A.E