A bit of a Ruse

I have been asked to lead a discussion at our next Presbytery meeting on the proposed New Form of Government. This is a significant revision of the current Form of Government. In the old Southern Church it was called the Book of Church Order. My interest in constitutions or forms of government began while in college. Two courses began a conversation between me and my world. That conversation concerns how we order ourselves within various organizations. One was a political science course in comparative constitutions; the other a course entitled the “sociology of organizations.” The first was mostly a descriptive study, the second was more critical.

I have since followed the development of democracies in Germany after it reunited and Russia after the fall of the Soviet Government. How do we judge the merit of a governmental form? What purpose does such a form endeavor to satisfy? Is it not freedom and prosperity? (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.)

As an organization, the Presbyterian Church (USA) is similar to any government in that there are only several ways to constitute itself as a body politic. We have a national organization called the General Assembly, a sectional division called Synods, small regional bodies called Presbyteries, and still smaller bodies called Sessions. The most inclusive body is the General Assembly; therefore this body gives unity to those lesser and lesser inclusive bodies.

It seems to me that the new form of government confuses the federal republic model and blends it with a confederate structure. There is a weaker “federal head,” a stronger “regional government” that acts independent of the federal head and maintains a greater autonomy from other regional governmental units. The authority of the presbytery over the session is clearly greater than any other time in the history of our polity. If passed, and it will pass, we shall move away from a constitutional federal republic to a constitutional confederacy. The strength of a federal republic lies in its stability and the role it plays in holding its constituent parts together in unity of a greater and faithful purpose. Unity and stability are lost, or perhaps greatly weakened, by the New Form of Government.The accomplishment or furtherance of a faithful purpose will differ with each presbytery. Each presbytery will define for itself what it means to be faithful to Jesus Christ.

Now, the sociological aspect of this change is that within the past fifty years we have tended to ignore our constitutions and opt for sheer pragmatism. We will change the rules with every new situation or enforce them depending on what best suits our most immediate perceived needs. So, the whole discussion of a constitution new or old is a bit of a ruse.