New York congregation defies constitution during communion
The Layman Online, January 31, 2002
The pastor of a Presbyterian congregation in Mount Kisco, N.Y., says that his congregation also is openly defying the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in the manner in which it conducts communion – and has been for 30 years.
“We believe the invitation to sup with Jesus is His invitation, not yours, or ours, or that of any organized religion,” the Rev. Jack S. Miller, pastor of the church, wrote in a letter to The Layman Online. “It is not subject to ecclesiastical rules and regulations,” he wrote.
That admission comes after the leadership of a congregation in Cincinnati, Ohio, in a Jan. 24 story on The Layman Online, said they are openly defying the constitution in the manner in which they conduct communion. That congregation, Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, practices what is known as “open communion,” in which people who are not baptized – including nonbelievers – are invited to receive the elements.
The Book of Order says the elements representing the body and blood of Jesus Christ must be served only to baptized Christians, including Christians from other denominations. The section titled “Who May Receive” (W-2.4011) states:
“The invitation to the Lord’s Supper is extended to all who have been baptized, remembering that access to the Table is not a right conferred upon the worthy, but a privilege given to the undeserving who come in faith, repentance, and love. In preparing to receive Christ in this Sacrament, the believer is to confess sin and brokenness, to seek reconciliation with God and neighbor, and to trust in Jesus Christ for cleansing and renewal.”
Miller, in his letter to The Layman Online, also wrote:
“Your article regarding the new policy of Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati is an interesting note about changes sweeping the nation. Our congregation in Mount Kisco, New York, has practiced Open Communion for 30 years. … This open interpretation has strengthened the bonds of fellowship within our congregation, and attracted countless new members to our church.
“Many children are not baptized until they join the church at the time of confirmation. How sad it would be to prohibit them prior to that age, from sharing in Holy Communion with their church family. Also, many families in our church are of two traditions, Christian and Jewish. If these or anyone else not baptized should feel called by God to partake in Communion, we trust the Spirit of God more than the laws of man,” he wrote.
The Rev. Harold Gordon Porter of Mount Auburn Church describes his congregation’s open-communion policy – as well as its reasons for defying the constitution – in a lengthy commentary posted on the Web site of More Light Presbyterians, one of the most aggressive advocates for ordaining homosexual ministers, elders and deacons.
The sessions of both Mount Kisco and Mount Auburn also have declared their defiance of the constitution’s prohibition against ordaining self-affirming, practicing homosexuals.
“The denomination permits homosexual persons to be received as members in the church, but the denomination excludes them from leadership at any level,” Porter said. “At Mount Auburn we are convinced that this is an offense to the Christian gospel. For us there would be no compromise on this issue.”
The pastor and ruling elders in Mount Kisco, in an Oct. 4, 2000 letter to the Presbytery of Hudson River, wrote, “We have not and cannot in good conscience comply with the recent amendment to our denomination’s constitution [the “fidelity/chastity” clause, G-6.0106b]. While we recognize General Assembly’s controversial dilemma regarding this issue, we humbly declare that the right to religious conscience is not granted or denied by civil or church governments, by however few or many votes, but rather it is bestowed by our Creator as a certain and inalienable right of the human mind and spirit.”
In 1989, Porter said, Mount Auburn’s session submitted an overture favoring open communion throughout the denomination, but the Presbytery of Cincinnati, one of the most liberal presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church (USA), narrowly defeated the proposal.
“Nevertheless, Mount Auburn continues the practice … Our new policy, ‘A Table Set for All,’ became the central focus of our witness, bringing the richest experience of God’s unbounded love, focusing clearly the ministry before us,” Porter said.
According to Porter, Mount Auburn “lift[s] up Jesus’ teaching that all are called, all are chosen” – a universalist theology that conflicts with historic Reformed teaching and the confessions of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Mount Kisco and Mount Auburn are two of a number of Presbyterian congregations – 16 in the Presbytery of Hudson River alone – that are publicly defying the constitution of the denomination, with apparently little or no action by denomination leaders or higher governing bodies to bring them into compliance.
In a Jan. 3 letter, General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick called on the stated clerks of other governing bodies to enforce the constitution, but he has not publicly suggested any specific actions.
Instead, Kirkpatrick’s strongest language was aimed at evangelical congregations that, as is their constitutional authority, choose not to pay their per-capita apportionments. He accused leaders of those congregations of violating their oaths of office – an offense that could result in removal from office or excommunication.