Six-month ‘season of prayer, study and dialogue’ sought over church’s request to leave the PCUSA
The Layman Online, March 30, 2007
The Montreat Conference Center board of directors is asking for a six-month “season of prayer, study and dialogue” over Montreat Presbyterian Church’s request to be dismissed to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
In a statement, the Montreat Conference Center board of directors said it was seeking the period of dialogue with the congregation, the presbytery and Montreat College.
“Should the congregation or the presbytery decline the invitation to dialogue,” the statement reads, “the trustees of the Mountain Retreat Association (Montreat Conference Center) further recommend that the Presbytery of Western North Carolina decline Montreat Presbyterian Church’s request for dismissal to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.”
The congregation voted 311-27 on Jan. 21 to request the Presbytery of Western North Carolina dismiss it to the EPC.
The next step in the future of the congregation will be taken by the Presbytery of Western North Carolina at its April 24 meeting, at which time the presbytery is expected to vote on the dismissal request.
According to its exit policy, the presbytery’s committee on ministry will meet with the Montreat church’s session to review the vote and procedures followed by the congregation. The committee on ministry then will make a recommendation to the presbytery regarding the church’s request.
Presbytery and general assembly leaders – including a personal visit from the Rev. Joan Gray, moderator of the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) – have mounted a concerted effort, both before and since the vote, to keep the congregation in the denomination.
One effort to keep Montreat Presbyterian Church in the PCUSA involves the formation of a “steering committee,” shortly after the congregation’s vote, “to discern how to be helpful to the loyal minority of the MPC, the presbytery of WNC, the Montreat Conference Center, the Montreat community and the whole PCUSA.”
In a letter, the steering committee wrote that, “It has been suggested that a blended congregation of MPC members loyal to the PCUSA and members from PCUSA churches in the Montreat area continue the Montreat Presbyterian Church within the PCUSA.”
The departure of the Montreat congregation would be a major loss to the Presbytery of Western North Carolina and the denomination. Although moderate in number, its passion for missions makes it a flagship congregation, placing it in the upper tier of per-capita congregational giving. Denominational statistics show overall contributions to the congregation in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available, were $729,859 – more than three times the average of $225,473 for all PCUSA congregations.
In a resolution approved March 16, the Montreat Conference Center board states that, “the trustees of the Mountain Retreat Association express their deep sorrow over the recent action of the Montreat Presbyterian Church and ask it to reconsider its action and remain loyal to the PCUSA, which gave it birth and nurture, and affirm the great importance of a continuing PCUSA congregation in Montreat, N.C., to further the ministry of the conference center and to deepen the ties of the greater Montreat community to the PCUSA.”
Transferring to another denomination, the resolution said, “would not be in the best interests of the greater Montreat community and would adversely affect the ministry of the conference center.”
The Montreat Conference Center board of directors, according to a statement on the Web site of the Synod of the Trinity, is comprised of “representatives from synods and various ministry divisions within the Presbyterian Church (USA), as well as at-large members, and although some of these representatives maintain residences in Montreat, many come from other areas of the country.”
Montreat Conference Center is one of three national conference centers – the others being Ghost Ranch in New Mexico and Stony Point in New York – affiliated with the PCUSA. Previously affiliated with the Presbyterian Church US, the Montreat Conference Center became affiliated in 1983 when the northern and southern branches of the Presbyterian Church merged.