The very first ‘Confessing church’ from Pennsylvania leaves PCUSA

The Pennsylvania congregation that began the “confessing church” movement in 2001 is no longer part of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Summit Presbyterian Church, located north of Pittsburgh in Butler, Pa., finalized its dismissal agreement with Beaver-Butler Presbytery Sept. 11, five months after it was given approval to leave the PCUSA for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC).

“This took way more time than we thought it should, but we’re blessed that we did not have any dissension in the congregation. That would have dragged it out even longer,” said Tom Jones, who has been pastor of Summit for nearly three years.

Beaver-Butler Presbytery did not respond to an email regarding the dismissal sent by The Layman.

 

Starting a movement

Twelve years ago, Summit and then-Pastor Paul Roberts developed its confessional statement, also adopted by the presbytery, and the resolution called for other congregations to join the “confessing church” movement. Thousands of PCUSA sessions followed suit, aligning themselves with the foundational truths that:

• The Bible alone is the Word of God and the sole authority for faith and life;
• Jesus Christ alone is the Way of salvation, the Truth of God’s Word and the Life of the church; and
• The Holy Spirit continues to work to bring people into conformity with the will of God, toward holiness, including living within fidelity in marriage between a man and woman or chastity in singleness.

The movement was a step toward making a clear distinction between cultural accommodation and historic Presbyterian theology.

 

Deciding to depart

Summit began seeking dismissal from the PCUSA in the summer of 2012. Jones said decisions to allow practicing homosexuals to hold leadership positions in the church as well as the decision of the Board of Pensions to offer same-sex marriage benefits were turning points for the session.

“We felt the denomination was going against those three issues (salvation through Jesus Christ alone, the Bible as God’s Word, being called to holiness in life), and they kept coming up over and over again,” Jones said. “We had been told numerous times by presbytery representatives that some of those courses were being reversed, but nothing changed.”

Summit’s session notified Beaver-Butler Presbytery of its intent to seek dismissal on Aug. 14, 2012.

Three months later, a congregational vote of the 193-member church yielded a 123-2 margin in favor of leaving the denomination.

 

A new denomination

After exploring possible denominational homes, the EPC was selected, and negotiations on a settlement commenced. The appraisal of the Summit property, which included two manses and the church building, came in at $1.4 million, and the property buyout suggested by the presbytery was $100,000. Jones said the church’s Christian school was not part of the property negotiations.

On Feb. 17, the congregation voted 104-3 to accept the financial terms and agreed to join the EPC by a 101-4 margin.

“No one was upset, and no one quit the church,” Jones said. “This congregation was very united.”

At the April stated meeting, presbyters voted to approve the dismissal of Summit, which was accepted into the EPC as a transitional member of Presbytery of the Alleghenies.

A backlog of churches seeking entry into the EPC slowed the process, as did a 90-day appeals process of the decision within the presbytery. Jones said the settlement check was given to presbytery officials in July but was not cashed until Summit officially was received into the EPC.

“So many churches were coming in (to the EPC) that there was a backlog,” Jones said. “(The EPC) had some growing pains, and it took a while to get us in.”

Jones said the decision to align with the EPC came as a result of the stability of the denomination as well as its structure and clear identification of who and what it is.

“With ECO we did not know what we would be getting because it was so new,” Jones said. “And the EPC was so similar to us in theology.”

 

Looking ahead

Jones said the process of leaving was one that was neither amicable nor antagonistic between the church and presbytery.

“In fairness, both sides seemed to keep themselves at arm’s length,” he said. “We just felt we were no longer part of (the presbytery). There are no hard feelings.”

Summit’s focus now is on moving forward with its ministry in western Pennsylvania, continuing to be part of the “confessing church” movement it started a dozen years earlier.

“It’s about moving forward and doing ministry now,” Jones said. “We’re no longer involved with the battle. The executive presbyter (Alan Adams) told us we needed to stay in and fight, but we told him we’re not here to fight. We’re here to minister. Now we can focus on what the church should be focused on instead of fighting, and that’s to minister in our walk together.”

Jones indicated that Summit will rewrite its by-laws and may even look at a possible name change, though it has not reached a final decision on that matter just yet.