Ruling Elders at General Assembly.

One action of the 53rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America may have a significant effect on ruling elder participation moving forward. At the Administrative Committee’s recommendation, the Assembly voted to raise commissioner fees for ruling elders to make them equal to those of teaching elders. This action reversed that of the 48th General Assembly (2021), which had lowered RE fees to $250 and raised TE fees to $500. In 2021, Tennessee Valley Presbytery had cited the parity of classes (BCO 8-9) and the decline in RE participation at GA in recent years as reasons for asking GA to differentiate fees (Min48GA, pp. 1005-1006).

This item was substantively debated on the floor—and debate demonstrated why ruling elder participation is vital to the work of GA. Ten (count ’em: 10!) ruling elders took to microphones to make speeches for and against the AC’s recommendation, debate the merits of reconsideration, and present closing remarks. All of this was expertly guided by our moderator, RE Mel Duncan. Ultimately, the Assembly upheld the AC’s recommendation by a vote of 981–504–16.

Several speakers argued that lowering RE fees has failed to increase RE participation. Reflecting on GA, I believe these claims persuaded commissioners to vote with the AC. According to RE John Bise, “I submit to you that the differential in fees has no material impact on your participation if you’re a ruling elder.” Similarly, RE EJ Nusbaum argued, “Even though we’ve been carrying a discount for a number of years, although ruling elder participation has gone up, it has not gone up significantly.”

But do the data support these claims?

To consider their merits, I gathered data reported by the PCA Historical Center, including the number of TE commissioners, RE commissioners, and churches represented at each GA, as well as the total number of PCA churches at the time of each Assembly. (For my analysis, I excluded mission churches, which are unlikely to send RE commissioners to GA. There were some minor discrepancies between the figures reported on the PCA Historical Center landing page and the minutes of each Assembly, but these discrepancies were always in the single digits and therefore made no meaningful difference to any inference from my analysis.) For transparency and replicability, I’ve made the data available here.

From my analysis, I’ve reached three conclusions. First, for most of PCA history, RE participation at GA has not grown, even as the PCA has grown. Second, in the past four years, lower RE fees have resulted in the highest numbers of RE participation at GA in PCA history. Third, greater RE participation means more churches are represented at GA.

Finding #1: For most of PCA history, RE participation at GA has not grown, even as the PCA has grown.

During the PCA’s first 45 years, the number of TE commissioners and churches represented grew, while the number of RE commissioners did not change much at all. Figure 1 is a line graph of TE commissioners, RE commissioners, and churches represented at GA for the entire 52-year history of the PCA. The percentage change in number of TE commissioners since the 1st GA is plotted on a solid blue line, RE commissioners on a dashed red line, and churches represented on a short-dashed green line.

Interestingly, the first GA had roughly the same number of TE commissioners (179), RE commissioners (208), and churches represented (215). The lines have diverged since then. During the course of the first 45 GAs, the total number of churches in the PCA would rise from 260 to 1,566, and TE participation at GA would rise commensurately from 179 to 1,152. In contrast, RE participation was stagnant from 1973-2017, rising from 208 to 309.

In short, while the total number of PCA churches grew 502 percent and the number of TE commissioners grew 544 percent, the number of RE commissioners grew by only 49 percent.

Finding #2: Lower RE fees led to the highest numbers of RE participation at GA in PCA history.

Two numerical measures helpfully provide a sense of RE participation at GA. I use these two measures in Figure 2, plotting RE commissioners as a proportion of all commissioners (“RE Commissioner Share”) on the horizontal axis against the total count of RE commissioners on the vertical axis. Points further to the right represent GAs with higher levels of RE commissioner share. Points higher up represent GAs with greater numbers of RE commissioners. 

The 11th-45th GAs (post-J&R) are plotted in blue circles. The 46th (in which the Revoice conference was first addressed; Min46GA, p. 50), 47th (which affirmed the Nashville Statement), and 48th GAs (which received the Ad Interim Committee on Human Sexuality Report) are plotted in red triangles. Finally, the 49th-52nd GAs, during which the lower RE fees were in effect, are plotted in green diamonds.

I focus on the 42 most recent GAs because the years prior to joining and receiving (10th GA) were characterized by unusually high and rapidly declining RE commissioner share levels. The 1st GA is the only Assembly in which REs made up a majority of the court (53.7 percent). In fact, no GA has reached an RE share of even 40 percent since the 5th GA. In contrast, the three GAs with the lowest RE share came recently and in consecutive years: the 44th, 45th, and 46th GAs averaged 21.5 percent RE share.

It is undeniable that much of the recent growth in RE participation can be attributed to the issue of sexuality. In Table 1, I list the eight GAs with the highest year-over-year changes in the number of RE commissioners, a list which includes two “Revoice” GAs. The 47th GA in 2019, when the Nashville Statement was debated and ultimately affirmed as biblically faithful, saw an increase of 94 RE commissioners over the previous year, while the 48th GA in 2021, when the AIC Report on Human Sexuality was received, saw another increase of 189 RE commissioners.

Table 1. Assemblies with the highest year-over-year changes in RE commissioners

Remarkably, the list also includes two years in which lower RE fees were in effect. The 49th (+136) and 52nd GAs (+101) saw two of the highest increases in RE participation in PCA history, even after two consecutive years when total RE participation increased by 283 commissioners. The four years during which RE fees were lowered yielded the highest ever numbers of RE commissioners (between 654 and 755 each year) and the highest RE share since 2005 (between 31.0 percent and 32.1 percent). By both measures, RE participation during the years with lower RE fees was higher than participation during the Revoice years. It was only after RE fees were reduced that the number of RE commissioners exceeded 700, and the past four GAs (all with lower RE fees) have averaged 713.5 RE commissioners per Assembly. The fact that the green diamonds are plotted in the upper right quadrant of Figure 2 means that lowering RE fees resulted in historically high RE participation, both in terms of the number of RE commissioners as well as the level of RE commissioner share.

Claims that lowering RE fees did not materially or significantly impact RE participation are only plausible when one compares the past four GAs (2022-2025) to the 48th GA (2021) and ignores 20 years of recent history. Yes, Revoice saw a huge increase in RE participation. Even still, lower fees resulted in the four GAs with the highest number of RE commissioners in PCA history and the highest share of RE commissioners in 20 years.

Finding #3: Greater RE participation means more churches are represented at GA

Greater RE participation means more churches can have their voices heard in our denomination’s highest court. In Figure 3, I plot the ratio of RE commissioners to churches represented at GA over the 52 GAs. A ratio under 1 means that many churches represented at GA do not send even one RE commissioner. The RE/church ratio has always remained less than 1, falling to its nadir of 0.35 at the 45th GA. Since many churches send more than one RE commissioner, this figure represents an “upper bound estimate,” that is to say, at best only 35 percent of churches represented at GA sent even one RE commissioner that year. Thus, encouraging more REs to serve at GA likely means more churches will be represented at GA.

Lowering RE fees more than doubled the RE/church ratio and achieved the highest mark in 45 years. The past four GAs have averaged a ratio of 0.68 and the 52nd GA reached 0.74, the highest since the 7th GA in 1979. This recent trend is good news for church representation!

It is important to note that church representation does not necessarily grow as the number of TE commissioners grows. TEs can serve as RUF campus ministers, teach in seminaries or Christian schools, or labor in other out-of-bounds contexts (BCO 13-2). In contrast, with very few exceptions, nearly all REs will represent a particular local congregation (as well as their presbytery) if commissioned for GA.

The data suggest that church representation grows with RE participation, but not with TE participation. TE commissioner share is actually inversely related to the percentage of PCA churches represented at GA, a negative correlation of -0.56. In layman’s terms, assemblies with higher levels of TE commissioner share had lower proportions of churches represented. In contrast, RE commissioner share is strongly and positively correlated with the percentage of PCA churches represented at GA (r = 0.78).

We can visualize this relationship in Figure 4, a line graph of GA composition and representation. Here, RE commissioner share is plotted in a dashed red line, while churches represented at GA as a percentage of all PCA churches is plotted in a short-dashed green line. 

The parallels between RE participation and church representation are stunning. During the first 15 years, as RE commissioner share fell from 53.7 percent to 27.6 percent (and TE commissioner share increased), church representation fell with RE share from 82.7 percent to 51.7 percent. Since the 45th GA, we see the trend reversed for both REs and churches: RE commissioner share grew from 21.1 percent to 32.1 percent (and TE share decreased), while church representation grew from 56.9 percent to 61.2 percent.

Lessons Learned

To reiterate, the data reveal three important findings, which illustrate why RE participation at GA is vitally important. First, during its first 45 years, while the PCA grew tremendously, RE participation at GA did not grow commensurately. From 1973-2017, the total number of PCA churches grew 502 percent, while the total number of RE commissioners increased only 49 percent. Second, lower RE fees led to the highest RE participation in PCA history. This is absolutely true in terms of the number of RE commissioners, but it can also be inferred from RE commissioner share, as the past four Assemblies have had some of the highest proportions of RE participation since joining and receiving. Finally, greater RE participation means greater church representation in our highest court. While TE commissioner share is inversely related to church representation (r = -0.56), RE share is strongly and positively correlated with church representation (r = 0.78).

From these findings, I draw forth three lessons. First, the PCA is served by many gifted REs. During the course of debate over commissioner fees, I was struck by the many contributions of REs. A ruling elder moderated debate (Mel Duncan). A ruling elder first defended the Administrative Committee’s recommendation (John Bise, who, by the way, has served the PCA exceptionally as its provisional stated clerk). When a motion to reconsider was on the floor, a ruling elder (Jay Niekirk) helpfully reminded the Assembly to focus speeches on the merits of reconsideration. A ruling elder presented closing remarks for the debate (Flynt Jones). And if REs can claim him, a former ruling elder assisted the provisional stated clerk, and this man has taken the helm as the PCA’s Stated Clerk (Fred Greco). Praise God for these men, and many others who took time away from family and off work to serve at GA!

Second, it is a joy, an honor, and a duty to engage in the work of GA as a ruling elder. RE Bise reminded the Assembly, “If you’re a ruling elder, you’re here because you love the Church.” RE Jones encouraged the brothers, “We also need to know that it is a privilege to serve in the courts of the church. It is something we should do gladly.” Let us not lose sight of the fact that ruling elders (and teaching elders) serve out of love for Christ and His Church.

Finally, I am convinced lowering RE fees has contributed to increased RE participation. If we believe that RE participation is vital to the work of GA, we ought to accept that there is wisdom in taking actions that encourage such participation. Such actions do not necessarily undercut the love REs have for the work. My concern is not for REs who are able to attend GA and may now be faced with slightly higher fees. My concern is for REs and their churches who already felt that attending GA was too much of a financial burden, for whom sending even one RE commissioner is now a greater challenge.

Lowering RE fees may reduce revenues for the AC, a valid concern. However, there are many creative solutions for balancing the budget, including increasing exhibitor and sponsor rates, fundraising, or expanding the number of RE commissioners each church may send. I hope as the differential in fees has gone away that we will not see a decline in RE participation and that upcoming GAs will consider ways to continue to encourage and grow it.