Constitutional Musings: Appointing IC & Determining Offense

Many presbyteries meet infrequently during the summer months, hence the need for a mechanism to respond to allegations that arise between meetings becomes more acute.
Appointing an IC between meetings of presbytery
1. If your presbytery has not availed itself of the option provided in D-10.0201b.1, perhaps it is time to do so. This permits a smaller group (typically the Stated Clerk, Moderator, Executive Presbyter and/or Committee on Ministry Chair) to appoint an investigating committee between meetings of the Presbytery. The Presbytery Moderator must be one of this small group since it is the moderator who actually appoints the persons on behalf of the Presbytery. The Stated Clerk should also be a member of this group because she/he is often the only one of the group who knows the identity of the accused. We have seen policies that have the Executive Presbyter as the third member of the appointing group. This seems to us quite consistent with the role and functions of an Executive. Some presbyteries have utilized the chairperson of the Committee on Ministry as the third person, in that very often the Committee on Ministry will have knowledge of the allegations as well. We can imagine a rule that authorizes the moderator, clerk, and either the executive or the COM chair. D-10.0201b provides no particular "rule", and the makeup of such an appointing team will vary with the structure, practice, and ethos of individual presbyteries.