Presbytery of Mississippi Presbytery letter requests PCUSA file complaint against EPC, New Wineskins
By Paula R. Kincaid, February 22, 2008
Instead of approving an overture to the 218th General Assembly that would suspend the Evangelical Presbyterian Church’s relationship with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Presbytery of Mississippi has voted to ask that a formal complaint be filed against the governing bodies of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the New Wineskins Association of Churches.
At a Feb. 12 special called meeting, presbytery commissioners voted to send a letter to Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick and General Assembly Council Chair Allison Seed requesting that they file the complaint against the EPC and the NWAC requesting that the organizations “cease and desist from recruiting or receiving congregations of the PCUSA before they are officially dismissed, and to meet with representatives of such bodies for the purpose of coming to an amicable agreement with respect to such matters.”
The letter begins by comparing the matter to Hurricane Katrina, which swept through the Gulf Coast in August 2005: “Thanks to much help, we are recovering from Hurricane Katrina. However, other foul winds are blowing, and we seek your help. Our concern deals with the best way to respond to the unwelcome interference and hostile actions of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the harm this is causing in our presbytery.”
The original overture, which during discussion was replaced by the approved letter, was proposed by the administrative commission for Grace Chapel Presbyterian Church in Madison, Miss.
The church had requested a temporary restraining order to prevent Mississippi Presbytery from violating a final declaratory judgment that declared that the church property was owned by the congregation, not the presbytery or the denomination.
U.S. District Court
Mississippi Presbytery had filed papers to move the lawsuit to U.S. District Court calling it a federal question about the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But U.S. District Court Judge Daniel P. Jordan III returned the lawsuit to state court, stating in his ruling that, “The only relief sought in the TRO motion is the enforcement of the final judgment and the preservation of the property rights delineated therein.”
In its letter to Kirkpatrick and Seed, the presbytery wrote that it had organized the church and invested “hundreds of thousands of dollars in the property and support during the congregation’s early years.”
“On August 5, 2007, with active encouragement from the EPC, and against our wishes, the congregation voted to disaffiliate from the PCUSA,” the letter continues.
The letter states that the congregation’s vote was railroaded by the pastor and session, who would not allow presbytery representatives to address the congregation prior to the vote. EPC representatives did meet with the congregation for approximately an hour on July 25, according to the interim report of the administrative commission.
Administrative commission
When the presbytery appointed an administrative commission to deal with the situation, the letter states that, “Grace Chapel informed us that they have joined the EPC and filed suit against the presbytery. We are now a defendant being sued by a church claiming EPC status!”
The letter claims that the presbytery would not “be in this position but for the active involvement of the EPC, which encouraged the congregation to leave, and which accepted this congregation while the presbytery was contesting the election. This is hostile. This is morally wrong. It is illegal.”
“We object to representatives of the EPC visiting Grace Chapel and encouraging the congregation to quit the PCUSA,” the letter continues. “We object to the EPC’s unlawful attempt to enroll a congregation that is still a member of the PCUSA. We object to the EPC’s refusal to remove Grace Chapel from their roll even after we communicated to them the irregular and unconstitutional nature of Grace Chapel’s attempt to separate from us.”
According to the interim report, the administrative commission sent a certified letter to the stated clerk of the EPC, the Rev. Dr. Jeff Jeremiah, on Sept. 24 informing him that Grace Chapel had not been dismissed from the PCUSA.
Jeremiah replied: “The National Transition Presbytery received their application for membership, found it to be in good order, and received the church and its pastor into the presbytery. Having reviewed this process, the Committee on Administration does not believe that we have made an error in taking this action: Grace Chapel EPC is a member in good standing in the EPC.”
A second administrative commission letter was sent to John Adamson, the chair of the National Transition Presbytery, who also confirmed that “Grace Chapel Presbyterian Church, now Grace Chapel Evangelical Presbyterian Church, is a member in good standing of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. We trust the actions of your Commission will soon cease.”
Paula R. Kincaid is a staff writer for The Layman and The Layman Online. She can be reached at pkincaid@www.layman.org.