The 2,631-member Grace Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas voted to enter into the discernment process with its presbytery this past Sunday (10/20/13).
During the congregational meeting, 616 ballots were cast, and 552 voted in favor of entering into the discernment process with New Covenant Presbytery; 64 voted against entering the process.
Sam Knight, interim pastor, and David Finck, session clerk, told the congregation in a letter that it was important for the church to understand that “the vote was to enter into the discernment process and not a vote to leave” the Presbyterian Church (USA).
“The elders have been very clear in their own conversations that no conclusion has already been reached and that this process calls us to genuine discernment about our future,” the letter read.
The motion presented to the congregation read:
“That Grace Presbyterian Church Houston enter into the Presbytery of New Covenant Discernment Procedure, the purpose of which is to allow Grace to evaluate its connection with the PCUSA in a structured and Christ-honoring way. Additionally, pursuant to the Discernment Procedure, the quorum for any future meeting of the Grace Congregation, held to vote on requesting dismissal from the PCUSA, shall be 30 percent of the active members of Grace.”
The letter stated that the elder “believe that Grace has come to a crossroads and it is important to the church’s future to discern if the theology and practices of the PCUSA and that of Grace remain compatible.”
It continued that the elders thought that the question could be answered by participating in the presbytery’s reconciliation and dismissal procedure.
The church has created a “Denominational Issues” resource page on its web site to help the congregation through the process.
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It was my hope that the Highland Park case would embolden other Texas congregations to exclude presbyteries, which have gained too much power and asserted even more, from their discernment processes. I guess that might not happen, at least until they see how the HP legal case plays out.
Grace is in the New Covenant Presbytery which developed a reasonable gracious dismissal policy and is not being punitive with Churches who are trying to leave the denomination. Therefore, Churches in the Presbytery are showing a willingness to go throught the gracious dismissal process. This is very different, I take it, from the situation Highland Park was in with their Presbytery.
“Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” (Rom. 13.7)
It reflects poorly on the character of a Presbyterian congregation that unilaterally moves to go into a discernment process to consider separating from its parent denomination without showing due respect to the presbytery that has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over it, irrespective of the character of said presbytery. “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Rom. 13.1) The presbytery is the governing authority over the local congregation in the presbyterian system of government, whether that is in the PCUSA, the EPC, the ECO, the PCA, the OPC, or so on. This authority is not nullified either by compromises the presbytery makes to the world or by draconian measures it takes to enforce Book of Order property trust clauses. The local congregation has typically been participating in the life and ministry of the presbytery that has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over it for several years and has been (or at least should have been) active in presbytery meetings and supportive of (at least some) presbytery ministries. Likewise, the local congregation will have been financially supporting the presbytery regardless of whether or not the presbytery had financially invested in the local congregation or its property.
Now, I will be the first to say that the PCUSA property trust clause is immoral, particularly where the presbytery has not invested financially in the local congregation or its property. But I believe that Scripture would have the local congregation deal honorably and faithfully with the presbytery in matters of discernment processes, to include the presbytery in the discernment process, regardless of whether or not a property trust clause exists in the denomination’s Book of Order, and regardless of whether or not the presbytery has a propensity to act belligerently toward the congregation. If the latter, seeking protection from the secular courts from aggressive acts of the presbytery might be necessary, but this should not be the first act of the congregation. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Rom. 12.18)
To be sure, I am not admonishing congregations to approach such negotiations naïvely, for as the Lord Jesus said, “Behold, I am sending you out, as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Mt. 10.16) But the unbelieving world is watching us, to see how we show respect to the governing authorities over us, including the presbyteries over our congregations. Many in the world already see little difference between the way that Christians and non-Christians live; let us not give them any evidence to support that view.
Finally, it is to the congregation’s advantage for the presbytery to be involved in the discernment process if, for no other reason, than to let the congregation see first-hand the unacceptable compromises that some presbytery ministers have made with the world. For example, when my church home was going through its discernment process three years ago, the session and the presbytery’s Administrative Review Committee held four town hall meetings for the congregation to hear both the session’s recommendation to seek dismissal and reaffiliation with another Reformed denomination and the ARC’s recommendation that we remain in the PCUSA. During the first such meeting, one adult Sunday School teacher in the congregation expressed his concern that some in the denomination and the presbytery have compromised on the Lord Jesus’ declaration in John 14.6 that He is “the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” In response, one minister member of presbytery stood up and basically validated his concern when he said:
“Well, I think that the first thing that needs to be said is, as (the executive presbyter) said earlier, there is no one person that can speak for all of the hundreds of members of Heartland Presbytery. And I think there are a couple of things that come to my mind. And one is a very important part of the Book of Order, the Constitution of the PCUSA, ‘God alone is Lord of the conscience.’ There are those who would say, ‘I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord,’ and I would be one who would say that. One reason being because what I know of God I know through Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord. But am I going to be so arrogant as to say, ‘I know everything there is about God to say the only way God can reach another human being is through Jesus Christ’? I don’t know that. I know that’s how God found me, and I believe very strongly in Jesus Christ. But I think sometimes, frankly, we Christians—and we Presbyterians—become a little arrogant. And the fact is, I think there is always something more—whether we’re talking about individuals, congregations, or presbyteries—there’s always something more to know about God and how God is working. And I become uneasy when any of us—and I’ve been guilty of it myself—put too many restrictions on what we believe Scripture is saying or what God is doing, and that’s one thing I just think needs to be kept in mind and in balance. I suspect a good number of people in Heartland Presbytery would say, ‘Absolutely! The only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ But there may be others who see it a bit differently, and I don’t think they’re all heretics. I just think some of us are at a different place in our spiritual journey and our spiritual growth, and I think we do well to remember, we have to leave room for that spiritual growth to take place wherever someone may be.”
Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” This particular individual made a mistake in that he gave an evangelical PCUSA congregation concrete evidence that at least one minister in good standing disbelieved the plain meaning of the Lord Jesus’ words in John 14.6. The discernment process can be an excellent opportunity for undecided members of the congregation to see presbytery minister members make similar mistakes, so they can see for themselves how far the PCUSA has drifted from its Biblical moorings, thus supporting session’s recommendation to seek dismissal. Do you want to deprive your congregation of this opportunity?