This is to clarify the difference between:
- a court of the church and an organization or society in the church
- a committee of a court and a society within the bounds of the court.
1. Courts and Organizations
There are four Courts in the Presbyterian Church in
Canada
: Session, Presbytery, Synod, General Assembly. The Courts of the Church are the governing bodies which have oversight of all activities done in the name of the Presbyterian Church within their bounds. This means that groups such as PYPS and WMS are responsible to keep the Courts informed of their activities.
The Courts cannot call on these groups to do the work of the Courts. For example, a Synod cannot instruct a WMS Synodical to do a certain task for the Synod. However, the Synod can and probably ought to ask WMS Synodical to report on its activities in order the keep the Court informed of what is happening in the name of the Presbyterian Church within its bounds.
2. Committees and Organization (using Synod as example)
The relationship of a Committee of Synod to the Synod is different than the relationship of a Synodical Organization to the Synod.
Example: The difference between a Committee of Synod and an Organization such as the WMS Synodical or the Synod PYPS is that the Committee is appointed by Synod; is expected to carry out Synod’s instructions; and is responsible to the Synod for what it does in the name of Synod.
On the other hand, an Organization that is a part of the Presbyterian Church in
Canada
, functioning within the bounds of the Synod sets its own agenda and carries out its particular work.
Such an Organization keeps the Synod informed of what it is doing so that the Synod is aware of what is happening within its bounds in the name of the Presbyterian Church.
When our organization (WMS) is asked to report to a Court, it is an obligation to do so and it is also an opportunity to make the wider church aware of the part we play in the total ministry of the church.
