Polity Matters
A podcast on the foundations of Presbyterian Church government. Hosted by Scott Edburg, Jared Nelson, and Ben Ratliff.
Episodes
104 episodes
102. We Do Have a Time Limit (BCO 43)
Jared and Scott are joined by Art Sartorius to discuss Complaints.
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Season 2
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Episode 49
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52:55
101. Black Jeans & a Navy Blazer (BCO 42 Part 2)
Scott and Ben finish up BCO 42 (with a fair amount of help from Dr. Guy Waters).
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Season 2
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Episode 48
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31:24
99. Never Know When a Party Breaks Out (BCO 42 Part 1)
Scott and Ben are joined Dr. Guy Waters to discuss the first five sections of BCO 42.
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Season 2
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Episode 46
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35:08
98. Pastor Could Ask His Dad (BCO 41)
Ben, Steve, and Jared discuss BCO 41.
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Season 2
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Episode 45
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42:27
97. Inept to Do This Alone (BCO 40)
A Ben and Fred duo episode--all about Review and Control.
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Season 2
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Episode 44
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58:27
96. Nothing of Substance (RPR w/Thomas Rickard)
Scott and Jared are joined by Thomas Rickard to have (another) discussion about Review of Presbytery Records.
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Season 2
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Episode 43
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57:35
95. Put Me Out of My Misery (BCO 39)
It's all about the modes! Join Scott, Jared, and Fred as the discuss the BCO chapter with the longest title: Modes in Which the Proceedings of Lower Courts Come Under the Supervision of Higher Courts.
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Season 2
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Episode 42
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50:15
94. A Good Church, A Bad Church, and Nowhere (BCO 38)
He's never introduced, but you can't deny the dulcet tones of RE Howie Donahoe, who joins Scott and Jared to get into BCO 38.Presbytery Clerks Downlo...
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Season 2
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Episode 41
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49:17
93. BCO Amendments Are Coming!
Scott leads us through the BCO amendments sent down from this years General Assembly. https://pcapolity.com/2025/07/22/thirteen-proposed-ame...
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Season 2
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Episode 40
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52:06
92. Regarding Paul Settle
Jared sits down with Mel Duncan and Jason Helopolous to discuss the influential ministry of Rev. Paul Settle.
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Season 2
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Episode 39
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42:01
91. 52nd PCAGA Recap
Ben and Jared hit a few highlights of the 52nd General Assembly, and then Jared is joined by the PCA Archivist Wayne Sparkman for a brief interview.To win a signed copy of Our Bond of Union by Per Almquist,
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Season 2
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Episode 38
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45:31
90. Revisiting RPR
Our AI substitute wasn't able to record an episode, so it seem like it generated an introduction with NotebookLM and then aired our RPR Deep Dive from last year. Enjoy.
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Season 2
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Episode 37
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1:08:39
89. Crash Course on the PCA General Assembly
Jared, Scott, and Ben spend time with friend of the show Steve Dowling, discussing the week of General Assembly and what we might expect at the 52nd.Fred Gr...
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Season 2
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Episode 36
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39:55
88. Some Sense of Order (Overtures 2025 Part Two)
Alex Ford is back! We quickly put him to work sifting through Overtures with the guys...http://pcahistory.orgOvertures discussed: 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26, 27, 28, 29, 33, 34, ...
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Season 2
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Episode 35
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1:06:50
87. It's Almost GA, Where's Our Controversy? (Overtures 2025 Part One)
Alex Ford is back! We quickly put him to work sifting through Overtures with the guys...http://pcahistory.orgOvertures discussed: 1, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, 37, ...
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Season 2
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Episode 34
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1:01:47
86. Orderly Meeting
Orderly Meeting WebsiteOrderly Meetings TwitterCler...
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Season 2
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Episode 33
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55:10
81. BCO 37: The Removal of Censure
Mel Duncan joins the show to help us think through the removal of censures in BCO 27.
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Season 2
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Episode 33
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1:00:39
80. BCO 36 The Infliction of Church Censures
Dr. Waters joins the guys to discuss the infliction of censures.
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Season 2
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Episode 32
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1:02:16
79. Bigger Problems Than Testifying in a PCA Court (BCO 35 part two)
Ben, Jared, Scott, and Fred finish out BCO 35.
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Season 2
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Episode 31
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38:30
78. An Out of Date Bunch of Malarkey (BCO 35 part one)
Ben, Jared, Scott, and Fred begin PCA BCO Chapter 35 on Evidence. They discuss the competency of witnesses, the rights of the accused and accuser, procedures for handling testimony, and the judgment of evidence in church courts.
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Season 2
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Episode 31
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35:29
77. All of My Secrets Have Been Exposed (BCO 34)
Jared and Scott are joined by RE John Bise to work through matters pertaining to process against TEs.
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Season 2
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Episode 30
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49:35
76. Until I Read Them Out Loud (BCO 33)
Steve Dowling joins the polity bros to work through BCO 33: Special Rules Pertaining to Process Before Sessions.
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Season 2
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Episode 29
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41:51