GS 2019 Article 105 – NAPARC (North American Presbyterian And Reformed Council)

1.   Material

  • 1.1    Report from the Committee for Contact with Churches in North America (CCCNA) —North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC) (8.2.3.1)

2.   Observations

  • 2.1    GS 2016 (Art. 89) gave the following mandate to the CCCNA concerning NAPARC:
    • [4.2] To approve the changes made to the revised constitution and bylaws of NAPARC
    • [4.3] To mandate the CCCNA:
      • [4.3.1]    To continue to represent the CanRC at NAPARC and to continue its active involvement in it;
      • [4.3.2]    To convey to NAPARC the approval of the changes made to the revised Constitution and Bylaws of NAPARC;
      • [4.3.3] To raise in discussion at NAPARC, the application of the “Golden Rule’ Comity Agreement” and the “Agreement on Transfer of Members and Congregations” as a reminder for the Member Churches;
      • [4.3.4]    To assist the local churches when asked about conflicts with the “Golden Rule’ Comity Agreement” and the “Agreement on Transfer of Members and Congregations”
      • [4.3.5]    To address NAPARC about the lack of definition for the terms “Member Church” and “Unit Vote” in the revised Constitution of NAPARC.
  • 2.2    [Re 4.3.1] The CCCNA participated in the annual meetings held each November in 2016, 2017, and will do so again, D.V. in November 2018. Four delegates were sent to each meeting. Currently no other federations are applying for membership in NAPARC. At the invitation of NAPARC, the Protestant Reformed Church and the Bible Presbyterian Church have sent observers the past number of years.
  • 2.3    [Re 4.3.2] The CCCNA secretary conveyed the decision of GS 2016 (approve the revised Constitution and Bylaws) to the NAPARC secretary in a letter dated July 6th, 2016.
  • 2.4    [Re 4.3.3] The CCCNA indicated its plan to raise in the plenary sessions of the November 2018 of NAPARC, concerns about the application of the “‘Golden Rule’ Comity Agreement” and the “Agreement on Transfer of Members and Congregations” as per the mandate above. No explanation is offered why this could not already be raised at NAPARC 2016 or 2017.
  • 2.5    [Re 4.3.4] The CCCNA received one letter seeking advice on the “Golden Rule” Comity Agreement, to which a response was sent. In addition, the CCCNA sent a letter to Guelph-Emmanuel seeking detailed information regarding their concern of the “Golden Rule” Comity Agreement and the Agreement on Transfer of Members and Congregations. No detailed response was received from Guelph-Emmanuel.
  • 2.6    [Re 4.3.5]      The CCCNA is of the opinion that understandable and reasonable terminology is used in the constitution and bylaws.
  • 2.7    The CCCNA continues to see the benefit of being involved in NAPARC, both to derive insights and to contribute to the Reformed witness of it. Besides participating in the meeting of NAPARC, the CCCNA has used the occasion to hold meetings with the Inter-church Relations Committees of the ERQ, OPC, RCUS, RPCNA annually and the KPCA triennially.
  • 2.8    The CCCNA also brings to the attention of Synod that for them to adequately fulfill their mandate, for example recommendations 4.2.3 and 4.2.5, it would be most helpful if GS 2016 had provided more information to the committee in order to address the concern(s) raised.

3.   Considerations

  • 3.1.   The CCCNA has completed its mandate concerning NAPARC.
  • 3.2    It would indeed be more helpful if more information would be provided to the CCCNA in order to deal with any concern(s) that exist.
  • 3.3    It is regrettable that the CCCNA did not bring up the requested concerns at the 2016 or 2017 meetings of NAPARC.

4.   Recommendations

That Synod decide:

  • 4.1    To discharge the Committee for Contact with Churches in North America (CCCNA) from the mandate given it by GS 2016;
  • 4.2    To mandate the CCCNA to continue to represent the CanRC at NAPARC and to continue its active involvement in it;
  • 4.3    To submit its report to the churches 5 months prior to the convening of the next general synod.

ADOPTED