Presbytery’s prey flies away
By Parker T. Williamson, The Layman, May 1, 2009
DENISON, IOWA – Quick thinking during Holy Week by elders at Denison’s United Presbyterian Church loosed a noose that was being prepared for their pastor by leaders of Prospect Hill Presbytery.
The Rev. Brian Rihner stands outside Denison United Presbyterian Church, where he served before being ousted by Prospect Hill Presbytery.
Alerted that presbytery leaders planned a meeting to oust the Rev. Brian Rihner from his pulpit on the Thursday after Easter, members of Rihner’s session gathered on Maundy Thursday to protect their pastor and his family. Convinced that they couldn’t stop the presbytery from taking his job, they were determined that Rihner would be fully compensated while he sought other employment. They authorized a gift to Rihner equal to six months of his salary and benefits.
Session members knew that an administrative commission that had been created by the presbytery could take over the church and confiscate its bank accounts at any time before or after its called meeting to deal with Rihner. So they cut Rihner’s check that night and told him to deposit it when the bank opened the following day. The next morning, $37,000 was moved from the congregation’s investment account into the Rihner family’s checking account.
The ‘trial’
When Prospect Hill Presbytery met several days later it did exactly what Rihner’s session thought it would do. A list of charges that Rihner had never seen was read in front of his colleagues. The sources of the charges were not revealed, and no evidence was presented to back up their allegations.
Among the “reasons for dissolution” that were voiced at the meeting was “Pastor Rihner’s integral role in the division and polarization of the Denison congregation.” The word “integral” was not defined, nor were any facts asserted to verify the claim that there was substantial division or polarization in the congregation. The session had been unanimous in August, 2008 when it called a congregational meeting to discuss possibly changing denominations, and eight of the session’s 12 members have stood shoulder to shoulder with Rihner since that vote was taken.
Rihner says that to the best of his knowledge, only a handful of his members expressed concerns over an article that he wrote in the congregation’s newsletter, criticizing actions of the denomination’s 2008 General Assembly.
Again without specificity and based on anonymous sources, Rihner was accused of “negligence and exclusion of pastoral care to members of the congregation.”
“What members are they talking about?” asked Rihner. “When? Where? On what occasion did I neglect or exclude anybody?”
The pastor says it is entirely possible that within his congregation of 250 people some individual may not have been satisfied with the level of pastoral care they received, and it’s certainly possible that he may have made some statement that unintentionally hurt someone’s feelings. “If that kind of complaint came up when the commission was polling our membership list, I would have appreciated having been notified so I could make amends,” he said. “But vague, un-attributed accusations like this don’t help anyone.”
But the accusation that floored Rihner was this one: “Inappropriate and unethical arrangements regarding pastor’s signatory and access to church financial accounts.”
The only arrangement that Rihner has with the church’s financial accounts is the same that his congregation has always had with its pastors, namely, that the pastor is a signatory on the church’s financial accounts.
“When I came to Denison I was taken to the bank to fill out the necessary forms,” he said. “The secretary writes the checks and the treasurer normally signs them. I am simply one of those authorized to sign. Isn’t that the way most churches operate?”
There were no allegations of unauthorized disbursements from the church’s accounts.
A predetermined verdict
Rihner is convinced that Prospect Hill Presbytery leaders wanted him out of the way because of his public criticisms of the denomination. He believes that a back room decision to dump him had already been made before the presbytery met.
After voting to remove him from the Denison pulpit, the presbytery proceeded to discuss a severance arrangement. It authorized “four months severance paid in monthly installments.” Then came the conditions. Before he could receive the money, Rihner would have to sign a document consenting to all allegations that had been made against him.
“There’s no way I can do that,” said Rihner. “I’m not about to sign a statement that says I was guilty of ‘inappropriate and unethical’ financial arrangements. If that’s what I have to do, the presbytery can keep its severance package.”
An additional condition leveled by the presbytery was that Rihner must “promise to seek remedies for grievances only in the Courts of the PCUSA.” Apparently, presbytery officials believed that they would fare better in a denominational conclave than before a court of law where the parties must substantiate their allegations with evidence.
Rihner, who has secured legal counsel, was not about to sign that condition either.
Amazing grace
The Denison minister says he was blessed by the fact that his session anticipated what the presbytery would do to him and headed it off at the pass. He says that under no circumstances would he have agreed to the presbytery’s conditions, even if his refusal had left him penniless, but he is deeply grateful that his family will not have to pay that price.
Toothless tiger
Presbytery leaders have learned of the session’s gift to Rihner, and they are none too happy about it. They created an “investigative commission,” alleging that the session had no right to make the payment, because according to the Presbyterian Church (USA) Book of Order, the terms of a minister’s call can be changed only by a vote of the congregation.
Rihner’s session believes it made no change in the terms of Rihner’s call. In fact, the gift to Rihner and his family was in anticipation of the presbytery’s dissolution of his call. The Book of Order makes no reference to severance payments, and it specifies that the session of a local church has authority over the disposition of the congregation’s offerings.
Rihner says he finds it ironic that a presbytery that had so flagrantly violated the Book of Order’s rules of fundamental fairness would now cite that book in support of its grievance.
The Book of Discipline, a section of the Book of Order, requires that the accused be informed of allegations made against him in writing, be accorded the right to retain counsel and be allowed to examine and respond to any purported evidence related to the allegations.
Precedent established by rulings of the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission requires that these protections be accorded to defendants not only in disciplinary cases but in administrative procedures if the result of these procedures could be detrimental to the minister’s call.
Renouncing jurisdiction
But Rihner and what appears to be a substantial majority of his congregation no longer care what the Book of Order says. On May 1, the minister notified the presbytery that he renounced the jurisdiction of the Presbyterian Church (USA). This renunciation places him beyond the presbytery’s reach and safely away from any discipline that denominational officials might have in mi
nd.
In Rihner’s communication to the presbytery he stated the following reasons for renouncing the jurisdiction of the denomination:
- The PC(USA) as a denomination drifting away from clear Biblical teachings;
- The failure of many leaders in the PC(USA) to follow clear Biblical doctrine;
- The PC(USA)’s continual watering down of clear Biblical Christology;
- The failure of the PC(USA)’s leadership and courts to discipline those who clearly violate Biblical teachings;
- The failure of many in PC(USA) leadership to acknowledge these problems and attempt to deal with them;
- The publicly given accusations rendered against me by the Presbytery of Prospect Hill with no explicit supporting evidence;
- The Presbytery of Prospect Hill representatives not allowing myself nor many members of the Denison Presbyterian Church the right to assemble or freedom of speech, including the right of church members to express their views freely in letters;
- The Presbytery of Prospect Hill representatives’ unsubstantiated accusations against me in open public forum;
- The Presbytery of Prospect Hill representatives’ failing to follow the rules of fundamental fairness accorded to Presbyterians in the Book of Order by withholding the information outlining the accusations against me and not allowing me time to prepare a defense of these accusations prior to dissolving my relationship with the Denison congregation in a Special Presbytery meeting.
Exodus
Prospect Hill Presbytery now controls a shell of what was a viable congregation as what appears to be a substantial majority has rallied in support of its pastor. Meanwhile, Rihner’s family will have shelter, food and clothing for six months during which he is free to seek the Lord’s leading for his ministry.
Presbytery leaders are fulminating over what has happened as a result of their intervention in this small Iowa community, but they appear powerless to do much else.