Elders News

Decision to Ban Women from the Eldership has failed to win the endorsement of Presbyteries and State Assemblies
  
   The General Assembly of Australia meeting in Scots Church, Sydney, in September 2007 voted to assume responsibility for controlling the qualifications for the ruling eldership. At the heart of the new rules is one that would restrict the eldership to men.

This was a momentous decision which shocked many people and has caused great consternation within the church.

However the decision had to go down to presbyteries and state assemblies for approval. The decision needed a majority approval from them.

In 2009 the Procurator (the Church's barrister) advised that the original overture was not proper in that it failed to separate the issues of (a) whether the General Assembly of Australia had the right to assme control of eldership issues and (b) whether women should or should not be allowed to be elders.

Far more significant however was his warning that the decision if endorsed would constitute a change in doctrine and would thereby allow dissenting congregations to leave the church with their property.

In the end the required majority of state assemblies and presbyteries was not obtained and the overture is now dead. The 2010 GAA will administer the last rites.

What were the proposed new rules?

The General Assembly of Australia sent the following new rules down to presbyteries and state assemblies for approval.

1. Amend  article 2  of  the  Articles  of  Agreement  by  the  addition of a new paragraph (h) (with  subsequent  paragraphs  being  renumbered  accordingly);
(h) the admission  of  persons  to  the  eldership;’

2. Add a new article to be known as Article 18 stating the following:
18. Regarding eldership in the Presbyterian Church of Australia:
(a) each congregation shall have elders elected by the communicants of the congregation through an election conducted by the session.
(b) each state shall encourage suitable training for and teaching about the eldership prior to the election of elders into the eldership. Such training should include, among other things, appropriate training in the doctrine of the Church.
(c) the eldership shall be only open to suitably qualified men (1 Tim 2:13-15; 3:1-7) having attained the age of 21 years and having already played an active part in the life of the Church as communicants.’
(d) this  article does  not  affect  the  status  of  any  woman  elder ordained  to  the  eldership  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Australia  at  the  date  of  enactment  of  this  Article