Click here for the audio (MP3) of our January 19, 2016 “Conversation with Carmen” conference call
During the call, Carmen addressed:
- The President’s proclamation of a national “Religious Liberty” day and the rise of persecution of Christians around the world. Currently, on average, one Christian is killed every hour of every day for the sake of Jesus Christ.
- March for Life events (this is just a sampling) this week in D.C.
- Evangelicals for Life event co-sponsored by the Ethics and Religious Commission and Focus on the Family
- Anglicans for Life summit at Falls Church, VA
- If you want to join other Presbyterians in the March itself on Friday in D.C., email Presbyterians Pro-Life at ppl@ppl.org
- A call to join in the national RESET movement seeking an awakening of the Church, the revival of the culture and the advancement of the Kingdom of God among the kingdoms of this world. There is a national nightly prayer gathering at 9 pm eastern through January 31.
- The action of the Anglican Communion to sanction the Episcopal Church USA for its affirmation of same-sex marriage and a few predictions about what that may mean for PCUSA and ECUSA members and congregations.
- The PCUSA General Assembly meeting to be held in Portland, OR is now just six months away. Carmen will survey the business before the assembly including:
- Proposed reorganization and downsizing of the bureaucracy including actions already underway
- Election of a new Moderator, new Stated Clerk and potentially a new CEO of the Presbyterian Mission Agency
- Celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Confession of 1967 and ratification of the Belhar Confession elevating it to confessional status (workbook)
- Overtures that have been submitted broken down into categories
- Reports with recommendations from Task Forces called for by the last GA, including:
- U.S. drug policy reform
- End of life issues
- Sustainable development and the precautionary principle
- Israel and the Palestinians
- Proposed new Directory for Worship
Finally, the heat is rising in relationships between churches seeking dismissal from the PCUSA and presbyteries that are growing increasingly reluctant to let them leave peaceably. Large settlements are being required in the cases where churches are being allowed to realign, but in some cases, presbyteries are exercising their authority to take original jurisdiction, remove sessions, bring charges against pastors and siding with 10-20% of what they consider the “true church.” We’ll discuss all this on Tuesday and pray for those involved.
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Other than monetary reasons (and there may not be any) why do some Presbyteries want churches to stay that don’t want to stay??
Joan, you’ve answered your own question.
The bureaucracy of the Presbyterian Church (USA), down to its presbyteries, is dominated by the “Big Tent” philosophy of Theological Liberalism. By this, they mean that the PC(USA) is big enough to accommodate a great diversity of theological thought, including not only various schools of Liberal Religion (e.g., Process Theology, Feminist Theology, Black Theology, Sexual Orientation Theology, Liberation Theology, Neo-Orthodoxy, New Age Theology, Emergent Theology), but shades of Evangelical Christianity as well. The presence of Evangelical congregations within the pale of the PC(USA) helps to validate Big Tent Philosophy, while their departure undermines it. Partially in an effort to keep Evangelical congregations from departing, the PC(USA) bureaucracy has made it as painful and expensive as they can for congregations to depart with their property.
Additionally, there is the matter of pride. The Presbyterian Church (USA) is painfully aware that it has lost two thirds of its membership in the last fifty years. Evangelical congregations are usually committed to mission and evangelism, and as a rule, they typically buck the national trend, growing while the denomination hemorrhages members. When Evangelical congregations—especially large ones like Eastminster in Wichita, Kansas, and Colonial in Kansas City, where I was a member for most of the last quarter century—depart, it is a blow to the PC(USA)’s dignity and pride.
And there is the issue of money. Evangelical congregations typically raise more money than Theological Liberal congregations (and more Evangelicals than Theological Liberals practice tithing), whereas these same congregations have very little say in how money provided in per capita income to higher governing bodies is spent. And the bureaucracy does not want these cash cows to leave. Hence, the PC(USA) bureaucracy has made it as painful and expensive as they can for congregations to depart with their property. It declares unilaterally through its Book of Order that the local congregation holds its property in trust for the benefit of the denomination, despite the fact that neither the denomination nor its presbyteries has contributed so much as one red cent toward the purchase or upkeep of most Evangelical congregations’ property.
To be sure, some presbyteries are more gracious toward departing congregations than others. For example, Eastminster reached an amicable settlement with the Presbytery of Southern Kansas when it was dismissed in 2011 (of course, EPC had donated its old property to PSK in the late 1980s after it had built and moved into a new building, giving it leverage in its negotiations), whereas Colonial was forced to unilaterally disaffiliate in 2010 and defend its property rights in Kansas and Missouri courts after negotiations seeking terms of dismissal from Heartland Presbytery soured. But the national PJC has ruled that all presbyteries must seek compensation from departing congregations in order to uphold the Book of Order’s Trust Clause. Yet within these constraints, some presbyteries have been more gracious than others toward departing congregations—compare Northeast Georgia Presbytery’s treatment of Central Presbyterian in Athens, GA, to John Calvin Presbytery’s treatment of First Presbyterian in Branson, MO.
So then, although money is not the sole reason behind some presbyteries trying to keep congregations from departing, it is the biggest reason.