A Reformed Catholic in the PCUSA blog
In case you are wondering if this blog post is going to be about college football, the ACC in this instance refers to the General Assembly’s Advisory Committee on the Constitution.
The Remedial Complaint, refers to the complaint that was just filed against the ACC by Cherokee Presbytery, three churches in Michigan, and one from Wisconsin. The complaint is about this:
That the ACC acted to instruct Assembly Committee 10 and then the plenary of the 221st General Assembly (2014) that the General Assembly had the authority to make an authoritative interpretation that effectively changes the plain and ordinary meaning the Directory of Worship and took other irregular actions after having previously instructed the General Assembly in writing that changes of that type cannot be done. The outcome of the advice given by the ACC was that Assembly Committee 10 and General Assembly approved an authoritative interpretation that was and is in conflict with the provision of the Constitution being interpreted.
What that paragraph says is that the ACC reversed itself from the time it gave written guidance about the AI overture, to the time it was asked about the constitutionality of such a move at the Committee and at Plenary.
OK, so you’re asking yourself why not just go after the AI if its felt to be unconstitutional. Well, you see there’s a slight problem. There is no way to bring a remedial case against the General Assembly except by bringing one up to the NEXT General Assembly.