John Knox, San Francisco
complaints receive support
The Layman, March 29, 2010
Two high-profile remedial cases in the Presbyterian Church (USA) judicial system are being joined by additional congregations that object to ordination violations.
Click here to download a blank version of the complaint to the Synod of the Pacific.
San Francisco complaint
The original complaint against San Francisco Presbytery, alleging an errant vote on Nov. 10, 2009 to ordain lesbian candidate for ministry Lisa Larges included seven PCUSA elders. Soon after filing, the session of Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church, along with the San Joaquin and Santa Barbara presbyteries joined the case. The complaint says that because Larges refuses to comply with mandatory ordination standards, she is ineligible for ordination.
Three additional congregations have added support for the remedial complaint in recent weeks. According to complainant Bruce McIntosh, the sessions of Centerpointe Presbyterian Church in Pleasanton, Calif., and Covenant Presbyterian in Boise, Idaho, have joined the case. Mary Naegeli, legal counsel for the complainants, said that the session of Contra Costa Korean Presbyterian Church in Walnut Creek, Calif., also has joined.
The “self-avowed and unrepentant lesbian,” as she is referred to in court documents, has been seeking ordination in the PCUSA for two decades. The latest ordination attempt was approved by San Francisco 156-138. The case is expected to go before the Synod of the Pacific’s Permanent Judicial Commission later this year.
Naegeli’s Web site, PCUSA Standards, provides blank joinder templates for other sessions and presbyteries that want to support the case. She said others can join the case until the trial begins.
John Knox complaint
The session of Caledonia Presbyterian Church in Portage, Wis., wasn’t alone when it filed a complaint against John Knox Presbytery, which voted to ordain Scott Anderson on Feb. 20 despite his scrupling of the fidelity-chastity standard in the PCUSA’s constitution. According to a news release from the congregation, five individual minister and elder commissioners joined the petition, which asks for the PCUSA’s courts to “correct” the presbytery’s action.
Anderson, who is openly gay and involved in a long-term relationship with another man, now will have to hold off on his ordination ceremony as the legal challenge plays out. Anderson’s ordination request, through his work as executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches, was approved 81-25 on Feb. 20 in Madison, Wis. The ordination examination and vote was closed to public and press.
“The action by the presbytery violates the express provisions of the Book of Order, breaks faith within the Presbyterian fellowship and creates constitutional chaos within the church,” a statement by Caledonia said. “The complainants alleged that the ordination candidate, Scott Anderson, admitted that he was engaged in a sexual relationship outside the bounds of marriage from which he had not repented. The complainants further assert that such persons are barred from ordination by the constitution. This is a serious breach of the standards for ordination set by the whole church.”
Individual presbytery members that have joined the John Knox complaint include: Paula Bremer, Alan Crandall, Jerry Indermark, James Gunn and James Scaife. Also admonishing the action was The Presbyterian Coalition, which called the presbytery’s action “covenant-breaking.”
The complaint will be heard by the Synod of Lakes and Prairies Permanent Judicial Commission.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on March 30, adding Santa Barbara Presbytery to the second paragraph, which incorrectly named “Walnut Creek” as a presbytery joinder.