Q. What is the ERPC's position on confessional subscription?

A. Our Form of Government states:

We are united in doctrine, each minister and elder of the church subscribing to grammatical-historical principles for the interpretation of Scripture, and subscribing, without equivocation, to the plain and normal meaning of the words of the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms.

Our purpose is to avoid the trap of philosophies such as the OPC's "hermeneutic of trust," and the PCA's "good faith subscription" where men can say that the words of Scripture mean different (even diametrically opposite) things, so long as they also say that they subscribe to the Confession.

Here is a real-world example: The session of Church A distinguishes justification and sanctification as Scripture does; the session of Church B in a neighboring presbytery says there is no clear distinction and that we are justified through being sanctified. Both sessions say they hold without exception to the Scriptures and to WCF chapters 11 and 13, but only Church A's session actually does. In the ERPC, Session B's position would not be permitted. At the same time, there will be provisions for reasonable declared exceptions. For example, some ministers have a more strict view of what is a prohibited activity on the Sabbath than others do.