23 Dec GS 1986 art 178

Posted at 21:55h in CanRC, GS 1986 by

GS 1986 ARTICLE 178

Contact with Churches Abroad

Committee 3 presents:

PART Ill: FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND

A.   MATERIAL

  • –  Agenda, VIII, G, 3a Report of the CCCA.
  • 3b Appendices to the Report of the CCCA.

B.     ADMISSIBILITY

  • The Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad has never been directly mandated by a General Synod to search out churches with which possible sister­ church relationships might be established. However, since the 1983 General Synod of Cloverdale accepted the second purpose of the constitution of the ICRC which encourages “the fullest ecclesiastical fellowship among the member churches,” the committee is correct in making the request to take up contact with the Free Church of Scotland (FCS). In addition, in view of the fact that in the ICRC we meet with church­es with which we do not have any form of contact, a decision in this matter is desirable.

C.    OBSERVATIONS

  • 1.     The Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad recommends that this Synod decide to instruct it as follows:
    • a.    “to take up contact with the Free Reformed Church of Scotland with a view to officially recognize them as a true Church of our Lord Jesus Christ and enter into a sister-church relationship;
    • b.    to keep the current sister-churches informed of all progress made in this regard and to work in cooperation with them;
    • c.     to submit its recommendations to the next general synod.”
  • 2.    The committee supports this recommendation by:
    • a.    describing the development of an initial contact with this church since the Constituent Assembly of the ICRC in Groningen;
    • b.    commenting on the teaching and practices of this church in relation to the marks of a true church as described in Art. 28, B.C., concluding that “your delegates came away with a positive impression as regards the FCS;”
    • c.     outlining the history of the FCS from the times of the Reformation to the present, concluding that “if this brief historical overview reveals anything , it is that the FCS has remained faithful to her reformed heritage;”
    • d.    noting that the FCS maintains “the ‘original’ Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, as well as the Scottish Confession of Faith, 1560;”
    • e.    noting “that via our membership in the ICRC we do enter into a certain undefined and indirect relationship with the FCS.” The committee submits in particular “the Second Purpose of the ICRC” as a ground for investigating “whether a relationship with the FCS might be possible;”
    • f.     pointing out that our sister-churches in Australia and the Netherlands have taken up contact with the FCS with a view to entering into correspondence.”

D.    CONSIDERATIONS

  • 1.    The Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad served the churches well by providing extensive information about the Free Church of Scotland.
  • 2.    The matter of contact with churches abroad for the purpose of investigating possi­ble sister church relationships has received attention at various General Synods:
    • e.g. Hamilton (1962), Acts, Art. 139; Edmonton (1965), Acts, Art. 141; Coaldale (1977), Acts, Arts. 94 & 95; and Smithville (1980), Acts, Art. 154. A survey of the various Acts of General Synods shows that the Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad has never received a mandate to search out churches with which possible sister-church relationships might be established.
  • 3.    The committee does not address the issue decided upon by the General Synod of Toronto of 1974 (Submission of the Church at Edmonton re the National Presbyterian Church, Acts, Art. 64) and the General Synod of Coaldale of 1977 (Appeal of the Church at Edmonton, Acts, Art. 94), although this submission and appeal are almost identical to the recommendation of the committee.
    • a.    The General Synod of Toronto of 1974 did not accept the submission of the Church at Edmonton which states (in part) that “contacts with . . . churches abroad . . . clearly ‘pertain to the churches of the major assembly in com­ mon’ ” (Acts, Art. 64, Observation 2).
    • b.    The appeal of the Church at Edmonton to the General Synod of Coaldale of 1977 requests this Synod “to add to the mandate of the Committee on Correspondence with the Churches Abroad the phrase ‘to seek contact with other churches abroad of which it can be supposed that there is a possibili­ty for correspondence in order to investigate this possibility and to report about this to a following General Synod’ ” (Acts, Art. 94, Observation 2, a). The 1977 General Synod of Coaldale judged that the Church at Edmon­ton did not supply grounds for this proposal.
  • 4.    The Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad justifies its request to initiate contact with the FCS on the basis of our membership in the ICRC, which has led to “a certain undefined and indirect relationship with the FCS,” but this in itself cannot be accepted as sufficient ground to accede to the com­mittee’s request.
  • 5.     The Ebenezer Church at Burlington East has warned this Synod that it is afraid of an “outside” body initiating matters at our major assemblies (c.f. Acts, Art. 150, B, 2).
  • 6.    This Synod considered that “formal recognition of the Presbyterian Church Koryu­ Pa as true Churches of Jesus Christ should not be based on testimony of sister­ churches only, or on ICRC membership. Such recognition remains the church­es’ own responsibility” (Acts, Art. 150, C, 4).
  • 7.    Since the FCS has member churches in Canada, local investigation as urged by various General Synods (e.g. Toronto 1974, Acts, Art. 20) can take place. Such investigation can be greatly assisted by the information supplied by the Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad.

E.    RECOMMENDATIONS

Synod decides,

  • 1.    to thank the Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad for the material received;
  • 2.    not to accept the recommendation of the Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad;
  • 3.    to instruct the Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad to con­ tinue to inform the churches about the history, background, doctrinal standards and their maintenance, church government, and practices of churches which participate in the ICRC and with whom we have no sister-church relationship;
  • 4.    to report to the next General Synod. The recommendations are DEFEATED.

A replacement motion, duly seconded, reads as follows:

PART Ill: FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND

A.    MATERIAL

  • –  Agenda, VIII, G, 3a Report of the CCCA
  • 3b Appendices to the Report of the CCCA

B.    ADMISSIBILITY

The Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad has never been directly mandated by a General Synod to search out churches with which possible sister­ church relationships might be established. However, since the 1983 General Synod of Cloverdale accepted the second purpose of the constitution of the ICRC which encourages “the fullest ecclesiastical fellowship among the member churches,” the committee is correct in making the request to take up contact with the Free Church of Scotland (FCS). In addition, in view of the fact that in the ICRC we meet with churches with which we do not have any form of contact, a decision in this matter is desirable.

C.    OBSERVATIONS

  • 1.     The Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad recommends that this Synod decide to instruct it as follows:
    • a.    ”to take up contact with the Free Reformed Church of Scotland with a view to officially recognize them as a true Church of our Lord Jesus Christ and enter into a sister-church relationship;
    • b.     to keep the current sister-churches informed of all progress made in this regard and to work in cooperation with them;
    • c.     to submit its recommendations to the next general synod.”
  • 2.     The committee supports this recommendation by:
    • a.     describing the development of an initial contact with this church since the Constituent Assembly of the ICRC in Groningen;
    • b.     commenting on the teaching and practices of this church in relation to the marks of a true church as described in Art. 28, B.C., concluding that “your delegates came away with a positive impression as regards the FCS;”
    • c.     outlining the history of the FCS from the times of the Reformation to the present, concluding that  “if  this brief  historical overview  reveals anything , it is that the FCS has remained faithful to her reformed heritage;”
    • d.     noting that the FCS maintains “the ‘original’ Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, as well as the Scottish Confession of Faith, 1560;”
    • e.     noting “that via our membership in the ICRC we do enter into a certain undefined and indirect relationship with the FCS.” The committee submits in particular “the Second Purpose of the ICRC” as a ground for investigating “whether a relationship with the FCS might be possible;”
    • f.     pointing out that our sister-churches in Australia and the Netherlands have taken up contact with the FCS with a view to entering into correspondence.”

D.    CONSIDERATIONS

  • 1.     The Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad served the churches well by providing extensive information about the Free Church of Scotland.
  • 2.     The matter of contact with churches abroad for the purpose of investigating possi­ble sister church relationships has received attention at various General Synods:
    • e.g. Hamilton (1962), Acts, Art. 139; Edmonton (1965), Acts, Art. 141; Coaldale (1977), Acts, Arts. 94 & 95; and Smithville (1980),  Acts, Art. 154.  A  survey  of the various Acts of General Synods shows that the Committee on Correspondence with Churches  Abroad has never received a mandate to search out churches with which possible sister-church relationships might be established.
  • 3.     The committee does not address the issue decided upon by the General Synod of Toronto of 1974 (Submission of the Church at Edmonton re the National Presbyterian Church, Acts, Art. 64) and the General Synod of Coaldale of 1977 (Appeal of the Church at Edmonton, Acts, Art. 94), although this submission and appeal are almost identical to the recommendation of the committee.
    • a.     The General Synod of Toronto of 1974 did not accept the submission of the Church at Edmonton which states (in part) that “contacts with …churches abroad…  clearly ‘pertain to the churches of the major assembly in com­ mon’ ” (Acts, Art. 64, Observation 2).
    • b.     The appeal of the Church at Edmonton to the General Synod of Coaldale of 1977 requests this Synod “to add to the mandate of the Committee on Correspondence with the Churches Abroad the phrase ‘to seek contact with other churches abroad of  which it can be supposed that there is a possibili­ty for correspondence in order to investigate this possibility and to report about this to a following General Synod’  ” (Acts, Art. 94, Observation 2, a). The 1977 General Synod of Coaldale judged that the Church at Edmon­ton did not supply grounds for this proposal.
  • 4.     Since the decisions of the General Synod of Toronto of 1974 and Coaldale of 1977 dealt with a request for entering into contact with a church with which there was no contact in any way, this cannot be used as ground for not granting the request of the committee. The ground for granting the request is already adopted with the adoption of Art. 111, Purpose, sub. 2 of the Constitution of the ICRC.

E.    RECOMMENDATIONS

Synod decides,

  • 1.    to thank the Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad for the material received;
  • 2.    a. to charge the Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad to open contacts with the FCS to investigate and evaluate their history, background, doctrinal standards and their maintenance, church government. and their practices in order to ascertain whether we should recognize them as a true Church of our Lord Jesus Christ and should enter into a sister-church rela­tion with them;
    • b. to instruct the Committee on Correspondence with Churches Abroad to con­tinue to inform the churches about the history, background, doctrinal stan­dards and their maintenance, church government, and practices of the other churches which participate in the ICRC and with whom we have no sister­ church relationship;
  • 3.    to keep the current sister churches informed of all progress made in this regard and to work in cooperation with them;
  • 4.     to submit its findings and recommendations to the next general synod;
  • 5.    to keep the churches informed of progress made.

The recommendations are ADOPTED.

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