Governing body moves to oust First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem’s pastor, replace leadership
By Sarah Wojcik, The Morning Call.
Marnie Crumpler
A dispute over denominational identity has taken another divisive turn in Bethlehem, where the Lehigh Presbytery is canceling its contract with the new pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem and preparing to push aside church elders.
The latest developments in the dispute that has migrated to the courts comes as the congregation is poised to vote Sunday on whether to split from the Presbyterian Church (USA) without approval from the presbytery.
The move by the Lehigh Presbytery is just the kind of action that First Presbyterian leaders sought to ward off when they filed an injunction motion on June 10 that raised concerns that they would be subjected to a “hostile takeover.”
Related article: PCUSA Presbytery Suing Megachurch to Keep It From Leaving Denomination
3 Comments. Leave new
Am I correct in understanding that the presbytery wants to rely on a “straw poll” to determine whether the congregation really wants to leave rather than allowing an actual vote? If only the anti-Brexit forces had thought of that!
Yes. The majority indicated that they would vote to leave PCUSA to join ECO. 57% to 43%, so not the 66% required by Presbytery dismissal process in the FINAL vote. The Presbytery indicated that this vote alone (ignoring many other measures which indicated far more support for leaving) was sufficient to determine that reconciliation was possible, and unilaterally terminated the discernment process.
The straw poll results have been called into question. The polling company administered the poll by sending each eligible voter a unique code, so that each person’s vote would only count once. (There was evidence of questionable votes in an earlier poll.) An individual could vote as many times as they liked, but only the last vote would be counted. We have no way to verify that the votes we cast were not subsequently overridden. (And the polling company accidentally sent ALL the codes to the Presbytery.) It would be easy enough to allow verification – post the individual votes with the code. We could each check to see whether the vote recorded was the vote we cast. Sadly, the Presbytery has not be forthcoming.
We battled Mission Presbytery in our successful effort to leave (with property). Whenever convenient they would try to avoid following the rules. If necessary they would change the rules to their advantage. It was a nightmare. Attending church had once brought me joy, but during those dark days going to church was anything but a joyful experience. We did prevail and were able to join ECO. The joy is returning to the congregation and we are moving forward doing God’s work again (instead of spending all of our time and energy fighting the denomination). We lost some dear friends and long-time members after the vote, but it’s interesting to me that the majority of those who left joined other denominations: Evidently they wanted out of the PCUSA too. We are a connectional denomination and there are quite a few people at First San Antonio who feel that connection with you and are praying for you.