GAPJC will hear three cases on Friday
The Layman, October 24, 2012
The highest court of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will hear and decide three cases on Friday during its time together in Louisville, Ky.
While meeting at the Hampton Inn, Downtown Louisville, the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC) will hear:
- at 8:00 am: Larson, et al., v. the Presbytery of Los Ranchos
- at 11:00: Tom, et al., v. the Presbytery of San Francisco
- at 1:30 pm: Presbyterian Church (USA) through the Presbytery of Newark v. Reverend Laurie McNeill
The GAPJC is a permanent commission of the General Assembly of the PCUSA that exercises church discipline through judicial process.
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Larson, et al., v. the Presbytery of Los Ranchos
An appeal of the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii Permanent Judicial Commission (SPJC)’s decision in the Larson case was filed on May 22 with the GAPJC.
The SPJC ruled that a resolution approved by the Presbytery of Los Ranchos in 2011 was constitutional.
The presbytery’s resolution, passed by a 125-51 vote at its Sept., 2011 meeting, said “the Bible, the Book of Confessions and the Book of Order set forth the Scriptural and constitutional standards for ordination and installation;” and that ordained ministers should live in “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness and will so notify candidates for ordination/installation and/or membership in the presbytery.”
It further stated that Los Ranchos “will prayerfully and pastorally examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation and suitability for the responsibilities of office, including a commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions of ordination and installation.”
The presbytery’s action was in response to the denomination’s ratification of Amendment 10A, which deleted the explicit “fidelity/chastity” requirement from the constitutional ordination standard.
A complaint filed with the SPJC alleged that the presbytery’s resolution was unconstitutional. On May 4, the SPJC rejected the complaint by a 6-2 vote but also admonished the presbytery, stating that the resolution caused potential harm to the peace and unity of the denomination.
The synod decision stated that the complaint rested on the question of “whether a presbytery has the right to pass a resolution concerning the manner of life for its teaching elders as part of the proper exercise of the presbytery’s authority within the powers reserved to presbyteries.”
The SPJC said the presbytery did have that right but that “while this PJC considers the resolution constitutional, the use of specific language known to be divisive and inflammatory flies in the face of the responsibility to seek the peace, unity and purity of the church.”
The appeal to the GAPJC claims that the SPJC “failed to address the fundamental issues raised in the complaint – including allegations that the presbytery attempted to define, diminish, augment or modify standards for ordained service and that it defined ‘essentials’ for ordained service in advance of its examination of individual candidates.”
It also claims that the SPJC erred in “holding that the recent amendment of the Book of Order [Amendment 10A] renders prior judicial decisions merely ‘informative’ or ‘guidance’ rather than binding church law.”
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Synod court affirms presbytery’s right to dismiss congregation from PCUSA
Posted March 27, 2012
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Tom, et al., v. the Presbytery of San Francisco
The GAPJC will also hear an appeal of the Synod of the Pacific’s PJC decision to uphold the presbytery’s action to dismiss Community Presbyterian Church (CPCD) of Danville, Calif., pursuant to its terms of dismissal.
In its decision, dated March 23, 2912, SPJC ruled that:
- “Under G-11.0103i, presbytery has the authority to dismiss a church in consultation with its members to another Reformed body.”
- “Concurrent with dismissal, pursuant to G-8.0301, the property of CPC Danville was required to be held, used, applied, transferred or sold as provided by presbytery. In the exercise of that discretion, presbytery, consistent with its policy, determined to transfer by quit claim deed its interest in the CPC Danville property upon dismissal of the church to the EPC.”
- “In good faith, presbytery determined that acceptance of the PET [Presbytery Engagement Team] recommendations for dismissal would best serve the overall witness and ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ, thus benefitting the PCUSA.”
Following Danville’s Feb. 2, 2010 vote to leave the PCUSA and affiliate with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, the Presbytery of San Francisco voted on Nov. 9, 2010 to accept a dismissal agreement with the church that included:
- The dismissal of pastors from the PCUSA to the EPC;
- A one-time lump-sum payment of $108,640;
- An annual commitment of $42,500 for targeted PCUSA missionaries, ministries and ministers, paid quarterly for the five years following the congregation’s dismissal; and
- The presbytery relinquishing, through a quit-claim deed, any and all claims on the congregation’s property.
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Presbyterian Church (USA) through
the Presbytery of Newark v. Reverend Laurie McNeill
In the final hearing of the day, the GAPJC will hear the case of Rev. Laurie McNeill, who purportedly “married” her same gender partner in 2009.
The appeal states that “This case is about a teaching elder, the Rev. Laurie McNeill, who deliberately chose to do what was right in her own eyes rather than stay true to the Word, the Confessions, and the Constitution of which and by which she was called to be a pastor,” according to a Christian Post article.
On Oct. 17, 2009, while she was pastor of a church in Newark Presbytery, McNeill participated in a marriage ceremony with her partner at Christ Church Cathedral in Harwich Port, Mass., despite the fact that, at the time, the denomination’s constitution did not allow for non-celibate homosexuals to be ordained leaders in the church.
Even to this date, the PCUSA constitution defines marriage as being a covenant between one man and one woman.
Newark Presbytery charged McNeill with living in a relationship not condoned by the constitution and with participating in a same-sex marriage. She was acquitted by both the presbytery’s PJC and the Synod of the Northeast’s PJC.