Church closure hurts local needy;
members eye settlement, appeal
By Edward Terry, The Layman, August 17, 2010
Pledging not to give up the fight for their church’s life, some members of Jermain Memorial Presbyterian Church in Watervliet, N.Y., are eagerly awaiting word from the secular court system to decide their fate.
At the same time, the group now in charge of the historic church property has completely shut down some of the essential services Jermain Memorial once hosted or provided. The presbytery carried out its promise to close the church after the Synod of the Northeast’s Permanent Judicial Committee denied its requested pardon from a presbytery-imposed death sentence.
On July 17, Jermain Memorial had its final worship service and most of the outreaches it once offered have ceased. But those who want to carry on the Jermain Memorial name and tradition are making plans to minister in Watervliet regardless of what happens in secular or church courts.
A mission field closer to home
Jermain Memorial Elder Ed Dombrowski was a little disheartened when members of his now “dissolved” Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation received correspondence from the denomination asking for money to start churches overseas through missionaries.
He was upset because he’s aware of a village – not in a faraway foreign land – but in his own community, that’s in need of missionaries. The need has grown tremendously in recent weeks as the outreach once offered by Jermain Memorial has faded into history.
“The General Assembly promoted the need for new churches and mission work in the former Eastern European countries,” he said in an e-mail. “There was no mention of the mission work done for the poor, sick and hungry in the poor village of Port Schulyer in Watervliet, New York.”
The needy of that blue-collar community lost a neighborhood daycare and a summer lunch program that served free meals to the community’s poorest children while school is not in session due to the forced closure of Jermain Memorial. The lunch program was carried on at a Catholic Church building, but the daycare, along with the church’s thrift store, monthly community dinners and other ministries, ceased their work.
Synod PJC loss
Jermain Memorial was scheduled to close on May 31, but a stay of enforcement from the synod’s PJC halted the action by Albany Presbytery so that a formal complaint could be considered. On June 25, the synod heard objections to the Nov. 17 action by the presbytery to close Jermain, but did not find a claim upon which relief could be granted.
“We find that the presbytery had the right to take the actions they assumed under the constitutional authority given to them pursuant to Book of Order provisions,” the decision stated.
The case was dismissed and the stay of enforcement was lifted, clearing the way for an official closure and Albany Presbytery taking possession of the Jermain Memorial’s property.
According to the group’s attorney, an appeal to the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission is being prepared.
With court’s blessing, free to go
Albany Presbytery executive Cass Shaw, during a July interview with The Layman, expressed regret that the issue had not been resolved more favorably for all involved.
“Through all of the occasions that were afforded for people to talk honestly and openly and faithfully with one another, throughout the four years the administrative commission was trying really hard to transform and resurrect that congregation, there were a number of missed opportunities for those who now find themselves the dissidents to help shape a viable future within the PCUSA,” Shaw said. “I really regret that they didn’t see those opportunities or weren’t willing to take them, and that we didn’t present them in a way that they understood or could respond to well.”
Shaw also lamented that the situation became confrontational in the end.
“I really do believe the administrative commission and the presbytery have done our absolute faithful best to listen to be available to hold hearings to ask questions and to be open all the way through,” she said. “The level of conflict and distrust was so high late in the game. It wasn’t in the beginning. … As people began to realize that the closing of the church had become the last and only option, and as the level of conflict rose, a lot of damage was done to a lot of good people who were trying to do a good thing.”
Ideally, Shaw said she would like to see the now closed Jermain Memorial congregation being part of worship community where their faith is “nurtured and supported,” and the building they occupied would be used for the benefit of Watervliet. Shaw said that all along the presbytery had hoped a group could take over the building and serve the community. The presbytery’s even open to giving the property back to the group that was just kicked out.
“We said to them from the very beginning that if they were interested in forming a religious corporation, and having worship and whatever else they want to do there,” Shaw said. “If they believe they can take care of the building, and they want to welcome nonprofits, we would love to find a way to give the building to them.”
So far, no one has expressed interest in the majestic, Gothic-style stone building, except members of the now dissolved congregation. Several of them had felt like the presbytery was working against their efforts to revive the congregation in recent years, rather than helping.
Fighting for new life
Having lost its first legal dust-up in the PCUSA’s court system, the group doesn’t plan to stop fighting for its life. Battling on two fronts, in the ecclesiastic and secular courts, the congregation is trying to preserve its right to worship and minister on the property granted it by the Jermain family.
In a Troy Record newspaper article, Dombrowski declared “we’re not giving up without a fight.” That fight already has gone to the secular court, where the group is arguing that legitimate Jermain heirs exist and they want the trust their ancestor left to the congregation in Watervliet to stay with that congregation. Both sides are awaiting the court’s next action, now that the Synod PJC made its ruling based on procedural matters.
The $169,000 Jermain legacy fund was intended to sustain public worship at the church, and if the congregation were to close, the building would to revert back to a Jermain descendent. The presbytery had argued that no such descendents could be found, while the congregation claims to have found one.
A New York court currently is considering the disagreement over the Jermain heir – who wants to revert ownership of the property to the congregation wanting to keep the church open.
The group’s attorney Rosemary Nichols doesn’t expect a ruling before Labor Day due to a high volume of cases before the court. But many are hoping the property ownership dispute could be solved before the court decides.
Nichols said she has made a settlement offer to the presbytery, similar to one that was offered before the closure that would have kept the congregation in the building and allow it to continue its ministry.
Nichols said that either way the group plans to continue its worship and community outreach. She’s currently preparing incorporation papers so the group can start a new church if the presbytery ends up with the Jermain Memorial property, or if it gets to return to
its long-time home.
Though dismissing congregations to another denomination is often a sticky situation with presbyteries, Shaw said it wouldn’t be a problem with the Jermain Memorial group, since it is no longer under Albany’s care.
“At this point the church has been dissolved – so, they can create a new congregation if they want,” she said. “They can be independent. They can be under the umbrella of another Reformed denomination – whatever they choose. In terms of the polity, once the church is dissolved whatever is created there is up to them.”