The Book of Government
Citations in the Session Minutes Checklist
Presbytery of the West
Session Review Committee
§16-3: Review and Control: For orderly process of review and control, each organizational unit shall submit its minutes to the unit above. The Board of Deacons shall submit its minutes at least semi-annually to the Church Session; the Church Session shall submit its minutes to the Presbytery annually; the Presbytery shall submit its minutes to the General Assembly annually. Each court shall review the minutes submitted to it to insure that the lower body has faithfully and diligently fulfilled all duties and responsibilities assigned to each court. It may refer matters back for reconsideration, call attention to omissions, require amendment of actions out of conformity with the Constitution, or otherwise exercise proper review and control of the lower body.
§16-980 Officers of the Church Session: The Pastor shall be the Moderator. An Associate Pastor, at the request of the Pastor and with the consent of the Church Session, may serve as Moderator for the Pastor. If there is no Pastor, the Church Session may elect one of its members to serve in that capacity. Also, Presbytery, at its discretion, may appoint a Minister of the Presbytery to serve as Moderator when a church has no Pastor. The Presbytery may authorize its Ministerial Committee to appoint, at its discretion with concurrence of the Church Session, a Minister of Presbytery to serve as Interim Moderator of the Church Session until such time as the Presbytery can act in the matter. The Pastor(s) elected by the particular church is a full member of the Church Session and has the privilege of voting. If the Pastor wishes to make motions or otherwise participate in debate, some other member of the Church Session should serve as Temporary Moderator. In addition to the Moderator, each Church Session shall elect a Clerk.
§16-13: Minutes: A careful record of the proceedings of the court shall be kept by the Clerk. When the Church Session has approved the minutes, they shall be signed by the Clerk and the Moderator. The Clerk shall submit the minutes to the Presbytery annually. The Clerk shall be careful to record deaths, births, adoptions, baptisms, marriages, reception of members, transfers to the inactive roll, dismissals, and other records required regarding members.
§16-11: Meetings: The Church Session shall meet at least quarterly. It shall meet at the call of the Moderator or when ordered to convene by the Presbytery. When one-fourth of the members make a request in writing for a meeting, the Moderator shall immediately call a meeting. The purpose of the meeting shall be clearly stated. No business other than that stated in the call may be transacted. In the absence of the Pastor, the Church Session may not meet except in the case of an emergency. In that event, two Ruling Elders must convene the Church Session and no business may be transacted other than that which precipitated the emergency.
§16-10 Duties: In maintaining the spiritual supervision of the particular church, the Church Session has the following duties and powers:
§16-10 I: To oversee the work of the Board of Deacons and to review its minutes at least semi- annually unless otherwise provided for by the Church Session. It is also desirable for the Church Session to call a joint meeting at least semi-annually to discuss matters of common interest, although each body must act separately on matters under its charge.
§16-10 G: To determine the budget of the church and the benevolence objectives of the congregation.
§16-10 O: To overture Presbytery on matters it believes vital or helpful to the whole Church, and to observe and carry out the injunctions and instructions of the higher courts. The Church Session shall elect representatives to Presbytery and shall hear a subsequent report on that court.
§16-10 J: To fulfill the obligations to those elected to the office of Ruling Elder or Deacon as set forth in Sections 12-3, 13-8, 9 and 10.
§16-10 D: To receive members in accordance with Sections 9-2.A, 9-2.B and 9-2.C.
§16-10 F81: To dismiss, restore, grant affiliation, or remove members in accordance with Sections 9-4, 9-5, 9-6 and 9-7.
§16-13: Minutes: A careful record of the proceedings of the court shall be kept by the Clerk. When the Church Session has approved the minutes, they shall be signed by the Clerk and the Moderator. The Clerk shall submit the minutes to the Presbytery annually. The Clerk shall be careful to record deaths, births, adoptions, baptisms, marriages, reception of members, transfers to the inactive roll, dismissals, and other records required regarding members.
§9-828: Each year the Church Session shall review its four rolls, ordinarily at a meeting in February. It shall review its ministry to those on each roll, giving special care to examine its ministry to those on the baptized members roll, and its continuing efforts to restore to active participation those on the inactive roll.
§8-1: Meetings of the congregation of a particular church shall follow the procedures set forth below:
§8-1 F Clerk for the meeting: The Clerk of the Session shall ordinarily serve as Clerk for the congregational meetings. In the absence of the Clerk, the Moderator shall appoint a temporary Clerk. It shall be the duty of the Clerk to keep a record of the proceedings and business transacted. Such records shall be kept in a permanent form. After approval by the moderator of the meeting, the record shall be transmitted to the Church Session for insertion in the minutes of that body.