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DID YOU KNOW? What Presbyterians Believe
from the Book of Confessions
"the Book of Confessions and Ordination"
3. Guidelines In light of the foregoing discussion of the freedom and variety and authority and unity of the church, the following guidelines may be seen as conclusions drawn from these discussions and as guidance for individuals and groups concerned with the ordination of pastors, elders, and deacons.
a. General Assemblies, synods, presbyteries, and sessions, as well as individual church officers, should be led, instructed, and continually guided by the whole Book of Confessions.
b. The confessions of the Book of Confessions are standards, in response to the historical context of the time, which are subordinate to Scripture; they are subject to criticism in light of the word of God in Jesus Christ as witnessed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and may be revised by the Church following duly prescribed procedures.
c. The confessions are serious statements and are “not to be taken lightly.” While neither the General Assembly nor any presbytery or session should demand adherence to any specific list of beliefs or doctrinal formulations as if the content of the faith could be reduced to a few selected and precisely worded statements of doctrine, General Assemblies, synods, presbyteries, and sessions have the responsibility of determining on a case by case basis whether candidates for ordination adhere to the standards of doctrine as set out in the confessions.
d. When individuals or groups in the church call into question some aspect of the confessions or of the church’s interpretation of them, those who hear that objection should consider the possibility that the dispute may point to a deficiency in present confessional standards, remembering that, indeed, synods or councils may err and that the church is always to be reformed (sempter reformanda). However, after due consideration, the court of jurisdiction must decide whether such objection is to be allowed to stand or is to be ruled as being out of conformity with the confessional standards of the church.
e. Thus, when individuals or groups in the church persist in disagreeing with the confessions or the church’s interpretation of them, the appropriate church body has the responsibility of determining whether the disagreement is sufficient to prevent the approval of a candidate for ordination to the office of pastor, elder, or deacon.
f. So long as presbyteries do not contradict specific interpretations of the confessions made by the General Assembly, and so long as sessions do not contradict those made by the Assembly or by their presbytery, presbyteries and sessions have the right and responsibility to interpret for themselves whether candidates for ordination and ordained persons, for whom they are responsible, hold to the “essentials” of the faith as articulated by the confessions of the church (the constitutional right of appeal being understood).
https://pcusa.org/sites/default/files/boc2016.pdf
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