Indiana church dismissed
to affiliate with the EPC
By John H. Adams, The Layman, March 25, 2009
The Presbytery of Whitewater Valley has dismissed Wallace Street Presbyterian Church from the Presbyterian Church (USA). The 109-member congregation is expected to be admitted soon to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
The Rev. T. Alan Thanes, executive presbyter, said the 13 months leading to the presbytery’s dismissal vote on March 9 was “certainly a hard process involving good people, brothers and sisters in Christ.”
One of the terms of the settlement is that Wallace Street will continue providing some financial support for the presbytery, although Thanes said he could not disclose the amount. The Rev. Doug Barnes, pastor of Wallace Street Church, could not be reached by telephone Tuesday or Wednesday.
Before the presbytery’s vote, an administrative commission that began working with Wallace Street Church in April 2008 made its final report.
It noted that Wallace Street’s reasons for seeking the dismissal are “(a) the PCUSA has ‘walked away from’ a Scriptural understanding of issues having to do with sanctity of life for the unborn, ordination of gay/lesbian individuals, salvation through Jesus Christ alone and the inerrancy of Scripture, and (b) it does not appear that the PCUSA as a body is moving to rectify those concerns.”
The commission was “given the responsibility and authority to work with the pastor, session and congregation of WSPC in dialogue to mutually act in a consistent and pastoral manner, with accountability and due consideration for fiduciary and connectional concerns with open and transparent communication with each other in a gracious and pastoral manner to come to a satisfactory conclusion for all involved. The Administrative Commission affirms that the pastor, session and congregation of WSPC have acted in such a manner and we thank them for that.”
The report noted that the Wallace Street property was appraised at $427,000. The report provided a chronology of its involvement in the case, including approving a congregational meeting on Jan. 25, 2009, during which members voted 42-2 to leave the PCUSA.
Wallace Street is the second congregation in Whitewater Valley to leave the PCUSA and affiliate with the EPC. First Presbyterian Church in College Corner, Ohio, was also going to a dismissal process with the presbytery. But believing the process had dragged on too long, members of the congregation decided to forego further efforts to be dismissed from the denomination. Instead, they decided to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church immediately and wrangle over property-settlement terms later.
“We’ve been working about a year on dismissal,” Jason Bantz, pastor of the 135-member congregation, told The Layman. But he said the process did not seem to be advancing. The presbytery and the congregation have tried to work out a property settlement, Bantz said, adding that there is support for a proposed amount but that other issues have not been ironed out.
The College Corner congregation has filed suit against the presbytery to prevent it from taking over the church’s property. That case is under way.