Presbytery revises charge for weighing church’s dissent
The Layman Online, July 17, 2002
The Presbytery of Cincinnati has modified its charge to an administrative commission that will consider what action – if any – will be taken against a congregation that has publicly declared it “has not and will not comply” with the “fidelity/chastity” ordination standard in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The amended version of the charge has a number of minor changes designed to meet Book of Order requirements and to prevent congregational flare-ups. Furthermore, it orders the commission to contact General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick or someone in his office to address the “Constitutional implications of the commission’s charge.”
Kirkpatrick already has notified the presbytery that Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church is violating the constitution and told the congregation that its continued dissent could lead to disciplinary action. But Kirkpatrick himself has claimed that it is not his duty to enforce the constitution.
Mount Auburn’s session has declared that the PCUSA’s ordination standard is “not Christ-like, not Scriptural, not Reformed and not Presbyterian.” It has submitted an overture to the presbytery that seeks affirmation of the congregation’s “ministry in its totality” to resolve the dispute.
In a competing overture, the session of Madeira-Silverwood, an evangelical congregation, has asked the presbytery to require Mount Auburn to end its defiance of the constitution or have its leaders face disciplinary action, including the possibility of determining that they have renounced the jurisdiction of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The Presbytery of Cincinnati voted May 14 to appoint an administrative commission that would consider the overtures from Mount Auburn and Madeira-Silverwood. On July 9, the presbytery’s council voted to amend its charge to bring it more in line with Book of Order requirements.
One significant section of the original charge said the commission “shall consider the ‘ministry of MAPC in its totality” – just as the Mount Auburn session requested.
The amended charge says the commission may consider the Mount Auburn ministry in totality – but that the commission “shall not lose sight of its purpose in assisting the presbytery to work pastorally with the session to assist it in resolving its delinquency.”
The charge repeatedly acknowledges that the Mount Auburn session is delinquent in dissenting from a constitutional requirement that was reaffirmed by a 3-1 margin during a recent referendum of the denomination’s 173 presbyteries.
The council’s amended charge also reversed an order that the commission call congregational meetings at Mount Auburn and Madeira-Silverwood. The commission will continue to have the authority to call for meetings of the sessions of the two congregations.
Instead of congregational meetings, the new charge authorizes – but does not require – the commission to hold hearings on the issues. Pastors and church members in the presbytery would be invited to speak if the hearings are held.
The presbytery plans to name the administrative commission in September.