Citing recent General Assembly actions, small Iowa congregation votes to leave the PCUSA
The Layman Online, May 18, 2006
A church in Iowa has left the Presbyterian Church (USA) in what congregation and presbytery officials called “a cooperative move forward in the work of Jesus Christ.”
Third Presbyterian Church in Dubuque will join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church on June 1. Beverly VanDerZyl, a member of the church’s session, told The Layman Online that John Knox Presbytery, meeting at Dubuque Theological Seminary, approved the action Tuesday by a vote of 54 yes and 7 no, with one abstention.
The 160-member congregation, a member of the Confessing Church Movement within the Presbyterian Church (USA), will keep its church property and assets, rather than have them revert back to the presbytery. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reported that the church offered an unspecified monetary “thank gift” to the presbytery to be “used for mission work, especially to develop Latino ministries.” The church also will remove all references to the Presbyterian Church (USA) from its signs and other communications.
For nearly 30 years, according to the newspaper, “Third Church members have differed with their denomination over basic Biblical interpretation and politics. More recently, Third Church voted to withhold its per-capita assessments from the church’s General Assembly. Eventually, the congregation told presbytery officials they could not continue as part of the Presbyterian Church (USA) because … the General Assembly, ‘continues to debate issues which the session and members of Third Church consider to be settled according to their understanding of Biblical authority.'”
Both parties, the newspaper said, had vowed to avoid the rancorous public wrangling that has happened when some congregations have tried to leave their denominations, resulting in locked churches, lawsuits and decidedly un-Christian bitterness.
Such infighting could have “consumed the talents, finances and graces” of both sides, “distracting from the mission of the church,” the Rev. Hal Murry, executive presbyter of the 62-church presbytery, told the newspaper. But participants say they were instead led by the Holy Spirit to find common ground.
“This process was unique. There wasn’t anger, but peace, love and mutual respect because our common goal is to further the mission of Jesus Christ in Dubuque,” Nancy Wallace, a member of the presbytery’s task force appointed to respond to Third Church’s request to leave, told the newspaper.
VanDerZyl, who participated in the months-long negotiation process, told the newspaper that, “I have mixed feelings. I’m joyful, yet I’m sad. We plan to continue the relationships we’ve established with Dubuque’s other Presbyterian churches and with the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary.”
After the presbytery vote, the congregation released the following statement:
“In an era when even church decisions can be all about winning and losing, God worked through Presbyterians in Dubuque, Iowa, to find a better way. Meeting in Dubuque on May 16, John Knox Presbytery voted to transfer Third Presbyterian Church to a sister denomination, which is more in tune with that church’s views on the work of the church in the world. Representatives of both congregation and denomination hailed the action as a cooperative move forward in the work of Jesus Christ.
“The situation had the potential to be a devastating church fight. The leaders and members of Third Presbyterian Church have differed with their denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA), for years over basic biblical interpretation and politics. Add to that the fact that in the Presbyterian Church (USA) member churches do not hold clear title to their church property and financial assets; these are considered to be held in trust for the denomination. All the elements were present to ignite a major religious battle.
“Many churches and denominations in similar disputes have engaged in bitter litigation in church and state courts at great cost to both church and denomination. John Knox Presbytery, a regional governing body of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and Third Presbyterian Church decided to follow a different path to resolve their differences. In keeping with traditional Presbyterian practice of making decisions through ordered processes which seek God’s guidance, each body appointed representatives to meet together in intense prayer, Bible study, and face-to-face discussion over a period of five months.
“This representative group believed they were led by the Holy Spirit to focus on furthering the mission of Jesus Christ, rather than to debate who was right or wrong. Every decision the group made flowed from this principle. It was a challenging process for two groups differing in their understanding of how the church is called to perform that mission, but the groups kept faith with each other and finally reached agreement on every matter assigned to them. The report of their work became the foundation for the presbytery’s action.
“Third Presbyterian Church in Dubuque, Iowa will become a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, a denomination which recognizes and is recognized by the Presbyterian Church (USA). Third Presbyterian Church will be free to carry on its work with support of other churches which share its particular theology and understanding. The congregation will continue its ministry from the same location.”