Judicial Processes
Judicial Process
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has its own system of judicial process — created, as the Church Discipline preamble to the Book of Order states, “not as a substitute for the secular judicial system, but to do what the secular judicial system cannot do.”
That includes honoring God, preserving the church’s purity and unity, achieving justice and compassion, and correcting or restraining wrongdoing. Discipline in the PC(USA) “should be exercised as a dispensation of mercy, and not of wrath.”
Two types of conflict can be addressed through the PC(USA) judicial process: a remedial challenge involving allegations of irregularities in a decision of a church council, such as a church session or presbytery, or of a General Assembly entity; and a disciplinary challenge to correct the action of a particular person who is a member of a congregation or a minister member of a presbytery.
Church Discipline spells out the process for initiating cases, adjudicating cases, and appealing judicial decisions. Each presbytery and synod (the denomination’s regional governing bodies) has a permanent judicial commission to handle cases within its jurisdiction. The highest court in the PC(USA) system is the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission, which, through its decisions, issues authoritative interpretations of the PC(USA) Constitution.
