Southern Kansas Presbytery dismisses congregation to EPC
The Layman, November 18, 2011
The Presbytery of Southern Kansas dismissed the 127-member St. Luke Presbyterian Church in Newton, Kan., to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church at its Nov. 15 meeting.
According to the agreement between the presbytery’s Resolution Team and St. Luke, the congregation’s vote to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) was unanimous.
The presbytery agreed to dismiss the congregation with its property and the congregation agreed to make a $6,368 financial gift to the presbytery. The funds will be divided between the Westminster Woods Camp ($3,184) and the Presbytery of Southern Kansas Disaster Relief Fund ($3,184) and must be paid within two years.
Another stipulation in the agreement refers to a possible $5,500 grant given to the church in the 1950s. If documentation of the grant and the amount can be found by the presbytery or the church, the congregation will pay back the amount within two years.
The final stipulation in the agreement, “Upon such gracious dismissal, and by such action, the presbytery will release any and all claims of any nature whatsoever which it, or to the extent within its control, PCUSA may have against St. Luke,” was amended by presbytery commissioners so that it would “apply equally with both parties relinquishing all claims against the other,” according to an e-mail from James Ayers, presbytery administrator.
Ayers said that the “presbytery considered this matter seriously. We are not all in one accord as to the best Christian response, in times of conflict such as these. In the end, the presbytery acted from the conviction that the best thing to do in this situation was to pray God’s blessing on our brothers and sisters at St Luke, and to dismiss them in the hope that they will prosper in service to our Lord.”
The dismissal was in accordance with the presbytery’s gracious dismissal policy, “Process for Congregations Considering Leaving the Presbyterian Church (USA),” that commissioners approved earlier in the day at the same meeting.
The church website declares a new church name: St. Luke Evangelical Church.