19 Sep GS 2007 art 129
GS 2007 Article 129 – Request from Hamilton re Igreja Presbyteriana do Brasil (IPB)
The advisory committee presented its proposal:
1. Material
- 1.1 Letter from Hamilton
2. Observations
- 2.1 Hamilton requests Synod Smithers to mandate the CCCA to reconsider the Consideration 3.2 of Art. 28, Acts of Synod Chatham 2004. This consideration reads: “Synod agrees with the committee’s opinion that, as an independent church federation, the IRB is entitled to solve issues that are primarily Brazilian, such as contact with the IPB.”
- 2.2 Hamilton requests Synod Smithers “to charge the CCCA to study the Igreja Presbyteriana do Brasil with a view to possibly entering into an ecclesiastical fellowship with them and to submit a report to General Synod 2010.”
3. Considerations
- 3.1 Hamilton offers no grounds why Consideration 3.2 should be reconsidered.
- 3.2 Synod 1977 (Art. 95) received a request from the church at Calgary that “the Committee for Contact with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church receive… the mandate to seek contact with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, with a view to determining whether church correspondence can be established with this church federation.” This request was turned down on the grounds that “minor assemblies when making a proposal for taking up contact with other churches should supply Synods with sufficient information as it appears from decisions made by General Synod Hamilton 1962, Acts, Article 82 and General Synod Edmonton 1965, Acts, Article 141, sub II (see General Synod Toronto, Acts, Art. 64).”
- 3.3 Synod 1983 (Art. 150) received detailed information from the church at Ottawa regarding the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, together with the request that synod “express its willingness to initiate contact with the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America” and appoint a committee to this effect. Synod decided not to grant the overture of the church at Ottawa and added, “The Church at Ottawa introduces a new matter which has not been dealt with at the minor assemblies and therefore has not adequately involved and prepared the churches re its overture.”
- 3.4 Hamilton provides no reasons why the IPB should be investigated, and no background information about the IPB. Further, the request to investigate the IPB has not come via the channel of the minor assemblies.
4. Recommendation
Synod decide:
- 4.1 Not to reconsider Consideration 3.2 of Article 28 of Synod Chatham 2004.
- 4.2 Not to charge the CCCA to study the Igreja Presbyteriana do Brasil.