ACT OF MODIFICATION
WHEREAS (by way of background):
- • The existing Constitution of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand in Section A, declares:
1. Standards
The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand is founded on the following basis: - That the Word of God, contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the supreme rule of faith and duty, and is the supreme standard of this Church.
- That the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms are the subordinate standards of this Church.
- The Declaratory Act of the General Assembly of the said Church sets forth, in regard to certain doctrines, what is required from those entering upon office.
- That the Directory for Worship (1995) and The Westminster Form of Church Government set forth generally the order of worship, discipline and government in this Church.
- That the Church has the right, in dependence on the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit, to formulate, interpret or modify its subordinate standards; always in agreement with the Word of God and the fundamental doctrines of the Reformed Faith contained in the said Confession and other subordinate standards, of which agreement the Church itself shall be the sole judge.
The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand recognises that:
- As a part of the Reformed Church tradition, it is its duty thereby to continually examine and, when necessary, modify its life and confession in response to the work of the Holy Spirit in its midst, always faithful, nevertheless, to the one Word of God made flesh in Jesus Christ and set forth in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
- The Church has made provision in its own standards that it should from time to time undertake a significant review of its confession of faith in order that it should speak clearly to each generation;
- Creeds and confessions are, at heart, servants of the Gospel. They do not replace the Gospel but assist the Church to confess it.
- Confessing the faith is an ongoing responsibility of the Church if it is faithfully to proclaim, in changing times, the unchanging Gospel once delivered to the saints. It is appropriate that, as we approach the bi-centenary of the coming of the Gospel to this land of Aotearoa, this Church confesses anew the faith for this time and place, as a complement to its historic foundational confessional standards.
- In light of that ongoing responsibility of the Church to proclaim in the changing times the unchanging Gospel, the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand has, in dependence on the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit, undertaken a review of its subordinate standards, including its Confession of Faith.
- The outcome of such review is the proposal that the Kupu Whakapono, the Confession of Faith attached to this Act as Appendix 1 together with the Commentary attached to this Act as Appendix 2, become new Subordinate Standards of this Church. This will be in addition to the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, which will remain as historic foundational statements of this Church’s reformed faith, as key components in our doctrinal whakapapa (lineage).
- The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand considers such proposed new Subordinate Standards of this Church to be in agreement with the Word of God and with the fundamental doctrines of the Reformed Faith contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms (as is evidenced by this Church’s agreement to them signified by the passing of this resolution and the eventual formal adoption of the proposed new Subordinate Standards).
NOW THIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLVES:
- To approve the proposal that the Kupu Whakapono (Confession of Faith) attached to this Act as Appendix 1 together with the Commentary attached to this Act as Appendix 2 become Subordinate Standards of this Church, and
- That Regulation 1.2 in the Book of Order be replaced with the following: “The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand recognises as its Subordinate Standards the Kupu Whakapono (Confession and Commentary, 2010), together with its historic reformed standards the Westminster Confession of Faith (as interpreted by the Declaratory Act) and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.”
- That this proposed modification of the Church’s Subordinate Standards be remitted to Presbyteries including Te Aka Puaho under the regulations for proposals for legislative change, for consideration and report back to the next Assembly.
- That, as an appendix to the Book of Order, made available to the Church for the purposes of study in both electronic and paper form, this Church establish a library of creeds and confessions, comprising the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, the Scots Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Second Helvetic Confession, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms and the Kupu Whakapono and Commentary.