Chapter 8. The Synod

The session of each congregation shall send certified delegates to each meeting of Synod; these would normally include a teaching elder and a ruling elder, but where a congregation has called other teaching elders to serve on its staff they should also be certified as delegates. Congregations with more than 100 members (communicant and baptized) shall be entitled to an additional delegate. Teaching elders who are retired or who are serving the church under oversight of boards of Synod or are certified by a presbytery are also delegates to Synod. (Suggested Form 3) The clerk shall make up a roll of all of the above-mentioned elders. No member shall withdraw from the Synod before final adjournment without the consent of the court. Synod shall reimburse from its travel fund certified delegates from each congregation. All teaching elders and others required to be there for Synod’s business are also eligible to participate in the travel fund.

The Synod shall meet at least every other year and before the adjournment of any meeting shall fix the time and place of the next meeting. If the Synod does not fix a meeting for the following year, the Synod shall appoint a five-man ad interim commission to deal with any emergencies that might require action. The commission shall be comprised of the two most recent moderators and three others nominated by the Nominating Committee, with the most recent moderator serving as chairman. Synod may itself appoint special meetings to attend to particular business. In cases of emergency, the moderator may at his own discretion, or in response to the request of a presbytery, or of twelve elders representing at least two presbyteries, call a special meeting. If for any reason the moderator is unable to act, the clerk may issue the call. At least thirty days’ notice shall be given, and the purpose of the meeting specifically stated. The call of the moderator must first be sustained before Synod can proceed to the business specified, and no other business can be transacted at any special meeting except by a two-thirds vote of the court.

In order to have a quorum for the transaction of business, two conditions must be met: (1) there must be elders present from at least half of the congregations on the roll of Synod; and (2) at least 1/4 of the elders present must be ruling elders. A smaller number may adjourn from time to time until a quorum is obtained.

The regular meeting of Synod shall begin with a service of worship. The retiring moderator, or an alternate appointed at the previous meeting, shall preach the sermon. The moderator shall then constitute the court with prayer. In case of the absence or disqualification of the moderator, the court shall be constituted by the last preceding moderator. After the call of the roll by the clerk, Synod shall proceed to the election of a moderator. Any member of the court may nominate a candidate. Any member of the court may be elected moderator. The election may be by ballot, voice, show of hands, or rising, as the court may choose. The moderator-elect shall immediately assume office.

After election of a clerk and assistant clerk, the former clerk shall submit his report, concerning the duties assigned him by the previous Synod, and listing the errors of the published minutes. The adoption of the clerk’s report shall constitute Synod’s approval of the published minutes as corrected. The clerk shall make the necessary corrections in one official copy of the published minutes, certify them as correct, and place them on file in the office of the stated clerk, who is the official statistician and keeper of records for the denomination. Synod’s clerk shall have previously prepared and published a docket for the approval of Synod together with the reports of boards and committees. He shall include in the docket a list of items of unfinished business.

Each day’s session of the meeting of Synod shall be constituted and adjourned in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King and Head of the Church, either by the moderator or by a member of the court named by him.

It shall be the duty of the moderator to preside over all meetings of Synod during his term of office, which shall be until the next regular meeting of Synod. He shall see that the business of Synod is conducted in an orderly manner, according to the general rules governing ecclesiastical assemblies, and any special rules which Synod may have adopted. He shall appoint the regular and standing committees of Synod not otherwise provided for. Committees shall ordinarily consist of three to five elders. The person first named shall be considered chairman of the committee.

The clerk shall make up the roll of Synod, which shall be taken at each session of Synod. He shall keep a record of the attendance, and include it in the published minutes. The minutes of each session shall be read for correction and approval.

The work of the Synod shall be carried on through boards, permanent committees and commissions (see chap. 6, par. 15), which shall make a full report of their work at each meeting of Synod. Membership of these agencies shall primarily consist of ordained officers, and shall work according to the instructions of Synod. Permanent boards and committees shall be so organized that the terms of only a minor portion of their membership expire each year. In most cases, the term shall be for three years, one-third of the members being elected for each year. Except as approved by Synod as essential to continue, members of boards and committees are limited to two consecutive terms. Vacancies may be filled by the Moderator, Clerk, and Assistant Clerk.

A member has the right to petition any court of the church to whose jurisdiction he is subject in relation to any matter of reasonable importance. All communication from subordinate courts, or from individuals not members of the court, to be brought to the attention of Synod, such as papers, petitions, proposed overtures, appeals and complaints, must bear endorsement showing that they have been regularly transferred by the lower courts. A petition addressed to a presbytery or Synod shall first be submitted to a session, and by it transferred to the presbytery or through the presbytery to the Synod. The action of the lower court shall be recorded on the document and signed by the moderator and clerk. Such transference shall be made upon request, and does not carry approval of the petition. If the session or presbytery refuses to transmit the petition, the petitioner may protest and appeal to the next higher court. The higher court may in exceptional cases admit a petition directly from a person who is not a member of the court.

A lower court may petition a higher. A session petitioning Synod should have its petition transferred through the presbytery. Synod, however, may assume original jurisdiction over all matters affecting the purity and welfare of the church, and may, without complaint or appeal, investigate and adjudicate any matter requiring its attention or may direct the lower courts to deal with the matter. A complaint or appeal against the decision of a judicial commission of Synod may be made to the Synod itself.

Upon request of one‑third of the sessions, or one‑third of the presbyteries, Synod shall give consideration to an overture. Any proposal of change in the fundamental law of the church, if adopted by Synod by a two‑thirds vote, shall be submitted to the sessions of the congregations. Proposed major changes in the fundamental law (Westminster Confession of Faith, Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, Reformed Presbyterian Testimony, Covenant of Church Membership, Queries for Ordination and Licensure, Covenant of Baptism) require that formal notice be given to the Synod one regular meeting in advance. No change shall be made in the fundamental law of the church until the proposed change has been sent down in overture and has been approved by two‑thirds of all the sessions of the church (not including provisional sessions) that cast votes and a majority of the elders voting. The law and order documents (The Directory of Church Government, The Book of Discipline, and The Directory of Public Worship) may be amended by any given Synod by a two-thirds majority vote. If, however, Synod considers that the item before it should have the consideration and discussion of the sessions, it can by a simple majority vote decide to use the procedure of sending proposed amendments down in overture; however, any such amendments must be adopted by a two-thirds vote of the Synod before they can be sent down in overture to the sessions.

All such communications shall be directed to the Committee on the Business of Synod no less than thirty days before the meeting of the Synod. No paper shall be brought directly to Synod except those which are presented as a challenge to the recommendation of the Committee on the Business of Synod. Exception may be granted by a two-thirds vote of the Synod.

When an overture has been approved by Synod, Synod’s clerk shall send down the overture to the voting sessions within fifteen days of the beginning of the following calendar year. Synod’s clerk may utilize secure communication means and presbytery clerks for the distribution aiming to reach all session clerks and so all congregational elders. There shall be an interval of at least ten days between the local reception of the overture and the session/elder votes. In taking the vote, the Session shall record whether it favors or opposes the overture. Sessions not casting a “yes” or “no” vote shall be considered to have cast a blank ballot, which shall not be counted in the number of sessions voting. In addition, the Clerk of Session shall record the number of elders favoring and opposing the overture.

The voting sessions (regular and provisional) shall be those as of December 31 following the Synod at which the overture was adopted and ordered sent down to the sessions by the Synod. For the purposes of consideration in voting on an overture: (a) A provisional session exists only where there are fewer than two resident elected elders. Such sessions do not vote on overtures.However, the one individual resident elected elder may cast a vote which will be counted in the overall elder count. (b) For purposes of overtures, a session with two resident, elected elders is not a provisional session even though it has provisional elders. (c) Provisional elders (ruling or teaching) who serve on a session with two resident, elected elders and who are not active and voting on any other session, shall be allowed to cast a vote on a session they serve on, both in determining the session vote and the individual elder vote.

The Synod shall appoint a committee to canvass the vote and report the results. The clerks of the sessions shall report to the clerk of Synod the complete record of the vote by the time the Committee to Canvass the Vote on the Overture is appointed by the Synod at its regular meeting. The Moderator shall declare the decision. If it is found that two‑thirds of the sessions (not including provisional sessions) that cast votes and a majority of the elders voting have voted in favor of adoption, the statement submitted shall be declared a part of the law of the church.

It is the privilege of a member of Synod to dissent from an action to which he is opposed and to have his dissent and the reasons therefor recorded in the minutes, if they are respectful and of reasonable length. He must, however, give notice of his dissent at the time the action is taken but may be allowed until the next day’s session to formulate his reasons.

Synod shall determine the funds necessary to carry on the work of the church for the ensuing year(s), until the next regular meeting of Synod, and designate the amount to be allocated to the several boards and committees for their respective ministries. It shall also devise and recommend ways and means of raising the required amounts.