ARTICLE VIII – CHURCH DISCIPLINE this section contains the laws which deal with disciplining members of the Church of God in Christ. There are currently five sections which deal with the requirements which must be met, who can file charges and the procedures which must be followed; they consist of,
- Judiciary Board–(The Supreme Court)
- Section A – Trials of Local Churches
- Section B – Trials of Pastors of Local Churches
- Section C – Trials of Jurisdictional Officers
- Section D – Trial of All Bishops
(Click the links above to view each file)
With the passage of Article VIII-Judiciary Board in 1991 the General Assembly entrusted the newly formed Judiciary Board with all of the adjudicatory duties of the General Assembly with the exception of all Judiciary Board members, all General Board members and the Chairman of the General Assembly. The court of first mention for these elected officers is the General Assembly Judicial Council.
The General Assembly is no longer the final appeals court. It gave that exclusive right to the Judiciary Board, just as it gave its Executive duties to the Presiding Bishop and General Board. The General Assembly can change the law, but it cannot overturn any decisions of the Judiciary Board.
In each of the sections A through D, all language which spoke of appeal to the General Assembly was repealed with the passage of the amendment creating the Judiciary Board in 1991.