Proposed settlement of Londonderry suit
‘Unwrapped and ready to go’
By Deborah A. Hills, The Layman, August 6, 2008
The mainline Londonderry Presbyterian Church and the majority group that left to realign with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church have reached a tentative settlement. The mainline congregation of approximately 86 members voted to remain in the PCUSA and the majority of more than 200 members voted to realign with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
While many welcomed the move to the new denomination, it was still a painful parting of the ways as it means leaving a church in which they have worshipped for decades. On the other hand, according the Reverend Kenneth Glasier, new pastor of the breakaway congregation, it is an exciting opportunity to reach out the community anew and proclaim Jesus Christ according to the Biblical guidelines they embrace. He compared it to John, chapter 11, when Jesus visited the grave of Lazarus and commanded that they “Unbind him and let him go.” This is a congregation “unwrapped and ready to go,” he said.
The court battle over the sanctuary, which was built in 1847, was suspended on Friday, August 1, while the parties hammered out the details of an out-of-court settlement. Rockingham County Superior Court Judge Tina Nadeau approved the settlement on Monday, August 4. The congregations will have until August 31 to ratify the agreement. The EPC congregation has scheduled its vote for August 17.
According to the terms of the settlement, Londonderry Presbyterian Church (USA) will keep the historic building and name, while the conservative congregation will receive an unimproved 15-acre parcel adjacent to the church. The EPC congregation will also be able to take a Unity Fund, some Bibles, handbells and some recently acquired furniture and equipment. The value of the two pieces of property has not been determined. According to one person familiar with real estate values in Londonderry, the 15 acres would be worth more than $1.5 million as residential property.
If the settlement is ratified, the final meeting of the EPC congregation in the old sanctuary will take place on August 31. According to Glasier, teams are already making plans for a new location in which the church will meet and a new name under which they will operate.
The EPC congregation can either build on the 15-acre parcel or choose to sell it. Both congregations would have the right of first refusal if the other decided to sell its property. Glasier admitted there might be some awkwardness in meeting next door to the former building and the members they knew and worshipped with.
Glasier has only been with the church since July 20, 2008. But he sees this as a new beginning. As one of his favorite passages proclaims, they want to become a congregation with an authentic “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thessalonians 1:2).