COMMITTEE ON MINISTRY

Committee On Ministry

Description (according to the Book of Order and Standing Rules)

The Committee on Ministry shall consist of twelve Ministers and twelve Elders, divided into three classes
of four Ministers and four Elders each, one class of which shall be elected annually. It shall have the duties and
responsibilities described in the Book of Order. (G-11.0500).

1. This Committee shall have responsibility to interview in person and inquire into the credentials of all
8 Ministers and Certified Christian Educators applying for reception into the Presbytery, or laboring or seeking
to labor within the bounds of Presbytery.

2. In consultation with representatives of any Church without an installed Pastor, the Committee shall
nominate a Moderator for the Session (a member of this Committee being preferred, if practical), and provide
for a liaison with the Pastor Nominating Committee when such a Committee has been elected by the
congregation. Moderators of the Sessions of Churches without installed Pastors who are not members of the
Committee on Ministry shall maintain communication with the Committee and shall present a written or oral
report as requested.

3. The Committee shall see that the pulpit is properly supplied until a Pastor is chosen, and remuneration
of such supply shall be at a rate approved by the said Committee.

4. When any Minister or any Elder in active service in a Church approaches this Committee with a
concern about the peace, unity, and purity of that particular Church, this Committee shall, through its chair,
direct such inquiries and concerns to appropriate counselors or advisors who will help resolve the issues and seek
to restore the peace, unity, and purity of that Church.

5. This Committee shall prepare plans for Ordination and/or Installation in consultation with the
candidate before presentation to the Presbytery.
a. The Moderator, or his or her appointee, shall preside and propound the Constitutional
Questions. At least five Ministers and Elders of this Presbytery, including the Moderator, as
nearly evenly divided between Ministers and Elders as possible, and with no two Elders from the
same Church, shall be elected by Presbytery to every Ordaining and/or Installing Commission,
and shall participate in the Service, two of whom shall deliver either the Sermon, Charge to the
Minister, or Charge to the Congregation. In addition to the five Ministers and Elders constituting
the Ordaining and/or Installing Commission, there may be “Other Participants” in the Service of
Worship, and these may include other Ministers and Elders, family members, friends, Seminary
classmates, etc., as appropriate.
b. All Ministers participating in a Service of Ordination and/or Installation, who are not members
of this Presbytery, shall be members in good standing either in the Presbyterian Church (USA),
or in a denomination in correspondence with the General Assembly of our Church.
In accordance with Book of Order G-11.0502h, the Presbytery of the Palisades delegates authority to
the Committee on Ministry in special circumstances where time is a compelling factor to: approve and present
Calls from local Churches, approve the examination of Ministers transferring from other Presbyteries as required
by G-11.0402, dissolve the pastoral relationship in cases where the congregation and Pastor concur, grant
permission to labor within or outside the bounds of the Presbytery, and dismiss Ministers to other Presbyteries,
with the provision that all such actions be reported at the next Stated Meeting of Presbytery.

Each June the COM appoints one of its members to the Bills and Overtures Committee.

MEETINGS: Meetings are held the first Thursday of each month, except during the summer, at 6:30 PM at the Presbytery office. Occasionally there are months when no meeting is held, when the Committees business is light, but the Committee always meets in those months when stated meetings of Presbytery are scheduled. There are also occasions when special meetings are called to address emergent matters, often during a break in a Presbytery meeting.

The business meetings of the COM usually last no more than two hours.