New Hampshire congregation votes to leave PCUSA, join New Wineskins EPC Presbytery
By Patrick Jean, The Layman Online, October 8, 2007
Citing “recent decisions and actions” by the Presbyterian Church (USA) that “caused concern … as to the direction and fundamental beliefs of the denomination,” the second-largest church in the Presbytery of Northern New England has voted to immediately disaffiliate from the PCUSA and align itself with the New Wineskins Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
Londonderry Presbyterian Church in Londonderry, N.H., also has taken Northern New England Presbytery to court to secure the title to its property.
The Londonderry church held several congregational votes Sept. 30. A motion to immediately leave the PCUSA was approved by 208 voters and disapproved by 86 voters. The tally for disaffiliation represented 71 percent of those voting and 47 percent of the church’s total membership of 446 that is reported on the denomination’s Web site.
The church is gathering written and e-mailed “letters of intent,” for or against the motion to disaffiliate, from members who were not present to vote Sept. 30. “These do not count as votes, but will be used to demonstrate the will of those members who were unable to participate in the Sept. 30 congregational meeting,” the church’s Web site states.
A motion to join the non-geographic, transitional New Wineskins Presbytery of the EPC also passed by “overwhelming majority” Sept. 30, according to the church’s Web site. The exact vote total was not available.
The joint commission of the New Wineskins EPC Presbytery voted Oct. 1 to receive the Londonderry church, said the commission’s chairman, the Rev. Dr. Bill Meyer.
The Londonderry church congregation also voted Sept. 30 to reaffirm the election of the church’s existing elders and deacons. A fourth motion, on the church’s bylaws, was withdrawn until a future vote to let the session incorporate comments received from several congregation members, the church reported on its Web site.
Gone to court
A spokeswoman for Rockingham County Superior Court confirmed that the Londonderry church had filed a property ownership lawsuit against Northern New England Presbytery, but she could not provide additional information.
The church’s Web site mentions the lawsuit in a letter from the session to the congregation. This “will likely take several months to settle, due to the court’s busy schedule,” the letter states. “We remain confident this will be resolved in our favor.”
Attempts to contact the church’s clerk of session, Lee Carvill, and Northern New England Presbytery’s general presbyter, the Rev. Dr. Richard O. Wyatt, were unsuccessful.
‘Misalignment with core beliefs and values’
A four-paragraph news release, announcing the church’s votes and acceptance into the New Wineskins EPC Presbytery, was sent to The Layman Online and also posted on the church’s Web site.
“This action ends a season of prayer and discernment by the session and the congregation regarding the church’s denominational affiliation,” the release states. “Recent decisions and actions on the part of the PCUSA have caused concern at the Londonderry church as to the direction and fundamental beliefs of the denomination and the misalignment with Londonderry’s core beliefs and values.”
The release did not specify which decisions and actions caused concern, but two actions taken by the 217th General Assembly in 2006 led a number of churches to vote to either immediately disaffiliate or request dismissal from the PCUSA:
- Approval of the Peace, Unity and Purity report that keeps the current ordination standards in the PCUSA Constitution, but allows those who choose not to obey them to declare them to be non-essential.
- Receiving a paper on the Trinity that proposes both the Biblical tradition for the names of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – as well as a number of alternatives never linked in Scripture as Trinitarian language.
Northern New England Presbytery has lost not only its second-largest church in terms of membership, but its most generous church in terms of monetary contributions to the PCUSA. Londonderry Presbyterian Church members gave $658,349 in 2006, according to the denomination’s Web site.
Looking for a pastor
The Londonderry church currently is without a pastor. “The passing of the recent motions make the way clear for Londonderry Presbyterian Church to continue its search for a pastor,” the church’s news release states. “The pastor nomination committee expects to begin circulating the church information form in the coming weeks.”
The New Wineskins EPC Presbytery has contacted the pastoral nominating committee “to begin providing us with potential pastor candidates,” the church’s Web site states. The church’s Web site provides additional details about how the new membership in the New Wineskins EPC Presbytery will factor into the pastor search:
- “We have an excellent ‘picture’ of our church family. The church information form (CIF) that was developed for LPC will be reviewed and updated to reflect our new direction. We will be fine-tuning the CIF so that it can be released into the New Wineskins/EPC community.
- “The PNC (pastor nominating committee) will meet with the session for a final review and approval of the revised document.
- “The updated and approved CIF will then be sent to the New Wineskins Association of Churches, where it will be posted to their Web site.
- “Also, the CIF will be posted on the LPC Web site, and in other venues, as appropriate.
- “LPC will then begin receiving personal information forms (PIFs); i.e., pastor resumes. Your PNC will then be able to prayerfully begin the process of reviewing candidate PIFs. We will then also be able to schedule the start of the interview process.
- “The PNC will also be subject to the nominating committee’s addressing the issue of the number of positions on the PNC.”
“May we be open to God’s will as we move forward in our new and exciting affiliation within the New Wineskins/EPC non-geographic denomination,” the pastoral nominating committee states. “We seek your continued prayers during this time for this congregation, for our session and deacons, for this committee, and for our new pastor and their family. May our God and Savior continue to bless each of you as we continue forward together.”
Online letter to congregation
The Londonderry church’s session posted a question-and-answer letter to the congregation, dated Oct. 3, on the church’s Web site. The text of that letter is as follows:
- 1. “What happened on Sunday, Sept. 30?
- “The congregation voted by over a two-thirds majority to disaffiliate from the PCUSA denomination (208 to 86). The two subsequent motions, to reaffirm the election of existing elders and deacons and to join the New Wineskins Non-geographic Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (NWEPC), also passed by overwhelming majorities. The fourth motion on the bylaws was withdrawn to allow the session to incorporate the comments received from several members of the congregation. The bylaws will be brought to the congregation for a vote some time in the near future.
- “We are still gathering letters of intent from those who didn’t/couldn’t be present to vote. These can be as simple as a postcard sent to the church addressed to Lee Carvill, clerk of session, or even an e-mail to lee@lpcnh.org. Please state that you missed the vote and had you been there, you would have voted for or against the motion to disaffiliate. These do not count as votes, but will be used to demonstrate the will of those members who were unable to participate in the Sept. 30 congregational meeting.
- 2. “What’s happening now?
- “The NWEPC met early on Monday morning after the vote and accepted LPC into membership! They have already made contact with our PNC to begin providing us with potential pastor candidates.
- “Our efforts to secure the title to our property continue and will likely take several months to settle, due to the court’s busy schedule. We remain confident this will be resolved in our favor.
- 3. “What changes can we expect to see?
- “There will be no change to the activities in which you normally participate. The three worship services, Sunday school, Bible studies, music rehearsals, current staff, etc. will remain the same.
- 4. “What will happen to those who voted to stay PCUSA?
- “We will be actively reaching out to these folks and ask all in the congregation to do the same. We would like all to continue to worship with us – you are our LPC family! However, for those who do not consider staying at LPC under this new Presbyterian denomination as a viable option, the PNNE would like you to contact them for help assimilating into another PCUSA church family. There are four PCUSA churches within 15 miles of LPC. These are located in Windham, Litchfield, Bedford and Nashua. The point of contact at the PNNE is the Rev. Dr. [Richard O.] Wyatt, who can be reached at (603) 629-9900.
- 5. “And now?
- “We follow our mission statement: We, the Londonderry Presbyterian Church, proclaim ourselves to be a Christ-centered church, dedicated to the spiritual growth of the whole congregation through inspired worship, life-changing Christian education, committed service to others and active evangelism, with a rich fellowship of love and caring for each member of our church family.
- “We welcome you to join together with us: to heal, to pray and to worship. We praise and thank the Lord for all He has done and continues to do in our midst.
- “‘And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.’ – Ephesians 3:17b-19
- “Together with you in Christ’s service,
- “The session of Londonderry Presbyterian Church”
Patrick Jean is a staff writer for The Layman and The Layman Online. He can be reached at pjean@layman.org.