Instructor: Scott Alan Nesbitt
Email: calvinistbasset@tds.net
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides an overview of Presbyterian Church (USA) polity, both in principle and in practice. There will be an emphasis on the use of the constitution in the local congregation as well as the governing bodies. Class structure will include lectures, discussion, case studies, quizzes and outside assignments.
OBJECTIVES
This course is designed:
- to equip students to become competent moderators of Session
- to help students become knowledgeable interpreters of the polity of the church in the local congregation
- to instill in students an appreciation for our connectional nature
REQUIRED TEXTS
- The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Parts I and II (most recent versions)
- Gray, Joan S. and Tucker, Joyce, Presbyterian Polity for Church Officers (Third Edition)
- Wolfe, Marianne L., Parliamentary Procedures in the Presbyterian Church (USA) [this book is available as a PDF document at http://www.pcusa.org/oga/publications/parliamentary_procedure.pdf]
Books Not Required but Recommended for Further Study
- Beattie, Frank A., Companion to the Constitution: Polity for the Local Church
- Chapman, William E., Finding Christ in the Book of Order
- Chapman, William E., History and Theology in the Book of Order: Blood on Every Page
- Olsen, Charles, Transforming Church Boards Into Spiritual Communities
- Robert, Henry M., Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, 1990 Edition
- Rogers, Jack, Presbyterian Creeds, A Guide to the Book of Confessions
- Rice, Howard L. and Calvin Chinn, The Ordination Questions: A Study for Church Officers