Church that filed property ownership lawsuit offers to settle case if presbytery dismisses them
By Patrick Jean, The Layman Online, December 10, 2007
A church that has taken the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta to court over its property rights has offered to settle the litigation – if the presbytery first will consider dismissing the church with its property.
The offer was made in a letter from the Rev. Matt Allison, pastor of Timberridge Presbyterian Church in McDonough, Ga., to the Rev. Ed Albright, executive presbyter and stated clerk of the Atlanta presbytery. But only an administrative commission that was appointed for Timberridge Church can address the offer, Albright said.
The administrative commission, which was approved at the presbytery’s stated meeting Nov. 27, will hold its first orientation meeting Dec. 12, Albright said. He said he’ll ask them whether they want to respond to Allison’s letter or have him respond.
Allison’s offer in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Layman Online, is the latest move in a three-month dispute pitting his 350-member congregation against the largest presbytery in the Presbyterian Church (USA) in terms of membership. Greater Atlanta Presbytery is comprised of more than 46,000 members in 110 congregations.
Albright’s letters to Allison
According to the commissioners’ meeting handbook posted on the presbytery’s Web site, Albright contacted Allison “for discussion, dialogue and information as to how he was upholding his ordination vows in light of the lawsuit.” They met Oct. 24, the committee on ministry’s report stated, and, in Albright’s “opinion, Matt could not point to any ways in which he upheld his ordination vows in this matter.”
In a letter dated Nov. 9, Albright informed Allison of the committee on ministry’s recommendation for approval of an administrative commission at the stated meeting Nov. 27. It was that recommendation which led to Timberridge Church’s session calling for a congregational vote Nov. 25 on immediate disaffiliation from the PCUSA, Allison wrote in his Nov. 27 letter to Albright.
On Nov. 21, Albright sent a second letter to Allison expressing concern about the planned vote. “The congregation does not have the authority to ‘disaffiliate from the PCUSA, thereby denouncing their authority over our congregation’ and ‘worship temporarily as an independent congregation,'” Albright said in the letter.
“In G-7.0304 of the Book of Order, the five powers of a congregation are listed and it is clear that it does not give the power to the congregation to do what you are suggesting,” Albright wrote. “In G-11.0103(i), it is clear that only the presbytery (not the congregation, not the session, not the synod, not the General Assembly) has the ability to dismiss a congregation.”
Allison’s letter to Albright
In his Nov. 27 letter to Albright, Allison made a lengthy rebuttal to Albright’s assertion. He offered a detailed argument, supported by parts of the Book of Order, as to why his church had the right to vote to immediately disaffiliate:
“G-9.0103 states, ‘… The jurisdiction of each governing body is limited by the express provisions of the Constitution, with powers not mentioned being reserved to the presbyteries, and with the acts of each subject to review by the next higher governing body. Elsewhere, at G-9.0101, “governing bodies” are defined as “session,” presbytery, synod, General Assembly.’ Thus, while the Book of Order indicates that power is divided between governing bodies and a power expressly granted to one governing body may not be exercised by another governing body, nowhere does the Book of Order say that all power resides within one of the four defined governing bodies. To the contrary, the Book of Order expressly acknowledges that certain residual powers also reside within congregations.
“The Book of Order elsewhere states that the relationship between a particular church and the PCUSA can only be ‘severed’ by ‘constitutional action’ of the presbytery. See G-8.0601, citing G-11.0103i. This express provision does not cancel a congregation’s permissive powers (which include a right to depart). A more informed interpretation, given existing case law and other Book of Order provisions, is that G-8.0601 acts as a limitation only on other ‘governing bodies,’ i.e., session, synod and General Assembly. Put another way, the fact that only a designated agent (the presbytery) of an employer (the PCUSA) has authority to fire (dismiss) does mean that an employee (congregation) may not choose to walk away (disaffiliate).
“G-7.0304a(1) through (5) sets forth powers that a congregation has which can be exercised at congregational meetings. G-7.0304b says that business at congregational meetings ‘shall be limited to the foregoing matters’ (i.e., (1) through (5)). However, subparts (1) through (5) are all modified by G-7.0304a – which states that subparts (1) through (5) are illustrative only. Put another way, introductory part a does not say ‘shall be limited to.’ Instead, it says, ‘shall include.’ The word ‘include’ indicates that the list that follows is not intended to be all-encompassing or exclusive. To underscore this, subpart (5) itself is a catch-all provision, which broadly states, ‘matters relating to the permissive powers of a congregation … .’
“The phrase ‘permissive powers of a congregation’ is not expressly defined in the Book of Order, but they are those that are not expressly prohibited, i.e., are permitted. Of course, there are boundaries to a congregation’s permissive powers. A congregation may not exercise a power specifically and exclusively granted to a ‘governing body,’ nor may a congregation violate an express provision of the Book of Order. Viewing G-7.0304a(1) through (5) as a whole, the sample powers listed therein all pertain to a basic right or power of congregational self-government or self-determination, subject, as I have noted, to express provisions in the Book of Order or rights granted to governing bodies.
“Significantly, nowhere does the Book of Order expressly refer to a local church petitioning a presbytery for dismissal. There is only very thin constitutional support for the coercive proposition that the only avenue by which a local church can depart from the PCUSA is by ‘dismissal’ by a presbytery. G-11.0103i states:
‘The presbytery is responsible for the mission and government of the church throughout its geographical district. It therefore has the responsibility and power …
- i. to divide, dismiss or dissolve churches in consultation with their members.’
“Nowhere in the Book of Order is there any mention of how this dismissal process is to be initiated or implemented, or even that the talismanic phrase ‘dismiss’ be utilized when a presbytery acts to effectively dismiss a church. This ecclesiastical ambiguity in part reflects an acknowledgement that the matter of denominational membership ultimately be coerced. The voluntary nature of denominational association or affiliation has long been recognized at law. … The alternative to voluntary association, of course, is indentured servitude. Freedom of association, however, is expressly guaranteed by state and federal constitutions, is not contrary to the Book of Order, and can only be restricted or impeded if there is some legally recognized constraint.”
Albright said he disagrees with Allison’s written interpretation of the Book of Order, “but he had gone into great detail about why that would be interpreted differently. It would not be my interpretation.”
“I’m trying to stay on the pastoral track,” he said. “I am the pastor in this presbytery of all the pastors, and I really want to stay on that track. Therefore, I can understand that there is another side to my understanding of the Constitution, but (which) I have not gone into. There are about eight or nine paragraphs, and I have not read it that carefully to know where I would disagree.”
Church votes, presbytery acts
Two hundred and 19 church members, or 62.5 percent of the church’s 350 members, took part in the Nov. 25 vote, Allison wrote. Of those, 205 members or 94 percent voted for immediate disaffiliation and 14 members or 6 percent voted against leaving, he said.
A separate vote was held on ratifying the election of the church’s session and pastoral staff, Allison wrote. Two hundred members or 91 percent voted for ratification and 19 members or 9 percent voted against it, he said.
“The effect of this vote was to terminate the PCUSA’s ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Timberridge and to render moot any need for the presbytery to appoint an administrative commission to take over the administration of Timberridge’s affairs,” wrote Allison, who also renounced the jurisdiction of the PCUSA.
Nonetheless, presbytery commissioners approved the administrative commission the same day Allison sent his letter. The seven-member panel was charged with investigating “the role of the ordained leadership in living out their ordination vows and their role in working with the church to prevent/promote schism” and was granted the following powers:
- “Obtain and review the minutes of session, the trustees, as well as the minutes of congregational meetings.
- “Obtain and review any correspondence from the session, the trustees, and the pastor to the congregation.
- “Obtain and review any correspondence between any of the above-mentioned bodies.
- “Grant the powers to determine the issues and causes contributing to the decision of the Timberridge Church to disaffiliate.
- “Obtain or develop an accurate record of the membership rolls of the church.
- “The power to remove the pastor and any other ordained leadership, if deemed appropriate, with special attention to following the guidelines as outlined in G-9.0505(b).
- “Communicate with members of the congregation in whatever fashion that the commission deems appropriate. Examples are: hearings, focus groups, subcommittee meetings.
- “Grant the authority to call for congregational meetings, session meetings, conduct worship and extend pastoral care.”
The presbytery accepts Allison’s renunciation of jurisdiction, Albright said but it still considers his congregation a member of both the presbytery and the PCUSA.
Allison’s offer
After making his lengthy argument for disaffiliation in his Nov. 27 letter to Albright, Allison concludes by offering to resolve both the disaffiliation dispute and the litigation.
“The Presbytery of Greater Atlanta may wish to exercise its ecclesiastical desire to formalize, in appropriate ceremonial fashion, the change of relationship which has occurred between Timberridge Presbyterian Church and the PCUSA,” Allison wrote. “If the presbytery wishes at its next meeting to have on its agenda a ‘motion to dismiss with property,’ with such motion to be made by you or some other representative or committee of the presbytery, Timberridge Presbyterian Church would voluntarily cooperate and have representatives present to receive the presbytery’s blessing on the future to which God has called Timberridge.
“Such an ecclesiastical ceremony might also serve as a vehicle for a negotiated closure, via a consent judgment, to the pending property litigation,” Allison wrote. “Given the strong facts presented by Timberridge’s case and the likelihood of Timberridge’s success when neutral principles of law are applied, a negotiated resolution would seem preferable to the PCUSA.”
When the presbytery’s administrative commission for Timberridge Church meets Dec. 12 for orientation, Albright said he will suggest that they not do anything with Allison’s offer until after Jan. 1.
“What I like about that is that there are really two tracks going on here,” he said. “Of course, our lawyers are responding to the lawsuit – that’s one track. And that’s not the track I’m on. My track is, which I’ll say publicly and personally to anybody that will listen to me, that we can work this out if we can just get it to dialogue with one another.
“So this gives me a little more time because I can’t answer his question. Only our administrative commission can answer that question – and I’m not even sure they could” given their granted powers, Albright said. But they’ll have to decide that, he said.
The administrative commission can either act for the presbytery or make a recommendation for the presbytery, Albright said. Allison’s offer could be addressed at the presbytery’s next stated meeting Feb. 23 – which Albright said gives him six weeks to pursue dialogue.
“I want to do something besides being in court,” he said.
Patrick Jean is a staff writer for The Layman and The Layman Online. He can be reached at pjean@www.layman.org.