Classes have approved an amendment to the Book of Church Order that combines regional synod and classis into one assembly.
The amendment came at the recommendation of the restructuring team at General Synod 2024. The recommendation, CO 24-4, was brought by the Commission on Church Order at the request of the restructuring team and involved a plethora of changes to the Book of Church Order. The recommendation received initial approval at General Synod 2024. As a constitutional change, the recommendation requires approval by a first General Synod, approval by two-thirds of classes, and ratification by a subsequent General Synod.
As of March 21, a sufficient number of classis votes on CO 24-4 have been reported to know that it has been approved by the required two-thirds of classes and will be brought before General Synod 2025 to be declared effective. Classis votes on a related recommendation, RF 24-1, which renames the approved condensed body to “middle assembly,” are not yet indicative of a result. The remaining classis vote results on proposed amendments will be published in the General Synod workbook, which is usually published in early May.
The announcement of these classes’ votes on this proposed amendment comes in response to a request by the executive committee of the Regional Synod of the Great Lakes. General Synod officers agreed to announce the results of the middle assembly vote as soon as enough votes were reported to approve or deny the change. The early announcement is meant to help regional synods and classes prepare for the transition to middle assemblies.
Significant shifts are anticipated under the new structure as current classes and regional synods re-form into middle assemblies. Each regional synod was asked to work together with its classes to develop a plan by June 2025 to re-form into one or more middle assemblies.
A number of other changes suggested by the restructuring team were referred to various commissions and boards for follow up, and will come before General Synod 2025 or 2026 for a vote. Questions about restructuring can be sent to hello@rca.org.
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