Coalition’s ‘sunset’ poll: Many raise their hands for separating from PCUSA

Coalition’s ‘sunset’ poll: Many raise their hands for separating from PCUSA

By Parker T. Williamson, The Layman Online, August 18, 2006

ATLANTA – “What time is it?” asked Rev. James Tony, a board member of the Presbyterian Coalition and a principal speaker on the second day of its Atlanta conference. Tony flashed two pictures of the same scene on the screen, one taken at sunrise and the other at sunset. “Sometimes,” he said, “it is hard to tell the difference.”

Almost 450 Presbyterians who gathered for the event seemed similarly ambivalent. Rev. Roberta Hestenes, a process coordinator for the group, called for a straw poll among the five options that had been outlined on Wednesday: (1) Work for reform within the denomination, (2) Form fellowship networks with other evangelicals within the denomination (ignoring but not leaving the denomination), (3) Create non-geographic presbyteries along theological lines, (4) Divide the denomination into two synods, one for evangelicals and the other for revisionists, (5) Separate from the denomination. Hestenes assured the group that the straw poll was merely an informal attempt to take the group’s temperature and that the votes would be noted but not counted.

Looking for the exit
When a show of hands appeared, slightly more than half of the participants chose the separation option. The option calling for working for reform within the denomination received slightly less than half. Other options received scant support.

Given the format of the poll, it was impossible to know whether those who chose the “fellowships” option preferred fellowships composed of Presbyterians who prefer staying inside the denomination or those that are preparing themselves for some coordinated exit. behavior. Only two hands went up for the two-synod model, an option that had received substantial attention during Wednesday’s presentations.

The fact that so many of the participants chose the “separation” option was notable, particularly in light of the emphasis that Coalition leaders had placed on the “reform within” option. Every major presentation on Wednesday included language that gave this option a preferential boost.

So does the Coalition’s straw poll picture predict a denominational sunrise or sunset? Coalition board members said only that they intended to meet following the conclusion of the event and that they would announce “an action plan for the way forward.”

Timely tactics
Tony told the group that he could not predict whether the future of the PCUSA will be darkness or light, but that he believed the Lord was calling him to make a faithful witness now, regardless of the time of day in which that witness occurs. For Tony, that means “doing the hard work” of organizing, engaging the political process, making motions, writing overtures, recording decisions, and initiating complaints in the denomination’s judicial system.

“One General Assembly does not make the church,” said Tony. “In spite of an unprecedented campaign from denominational leaders” – including endorsements from fifteen former moderators, eleven seminary presidents, and several official advisory committees – the PUP report was approved by only a narrow margin at the 217th General Assembly. “37 votes would have changed the outcome,” said Tony.

Tony noted formidable efforts now being made by managers of the denominational apparatus, notably in advisory opinions issued by the Office of the General Assembly headed by Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, to make it easier for governing bodies to ordain homosexuals and adulterers and more difficult to uphold constitutional standards that prohibit such ordinations. Presbyterians who stand with Scripture and the denomination’s constitution are fighting an uphill battle, he said, but there are things that they can do. Tony presented a cluster of parliamentary procedures, sample motions and overtures that faithful Presbyterians can use to stem the tide at session, presbytery and General Assembly levels. These resources will be posted on the Coalition’s Web site.

Dissecting per capita
Rev. James Berkley made an information-only presentation, titled “Thinking about per capita,” sprinkled with disclaimers indicating the Coalition’s neutrality on whether or not a local church should discontinue making this payment to the General Assembly. “There are good reasons to pay per capita (‘feeding the beast’) and reasons not to pay (‘starving the beast’),” he said.

Berkley outlined several reasons in each category, avoiding a statement of the Coalition’s preference. He made it clear that local church sessions are constitutionally permitted to withhold or redirect General Assembly per-capita payments ($5.79 per member). But he said doing so is “a grave and serious step” and that churches that choose this option should “protect their pastor” by taking the initiative themselves and giving the pastor plausible deniability. Officials in the Office of the General Assembly have stated their opinion that, although it is constitutional for a church session not to pay per capita, ministers who advocate this option are violating their ordination vows.

The core of Berkley’s presentation was a list of offices and activities that are funded by the General Assembly per-capita budget. Included in the list is more than $1 million for “ecumenical expenses” that include the World and National Councils of Churches and funding for various gatherings of politically oriented denominational officials. Also on the list is $50,000 to assist presbyteries in their fight to claim the property of congregations that are distancing themselves from denominational control.

Coalition leaders have prepared a suggested overture to the 2008 General Assembly that is designed to sever some of these items from the per-capita budget. The text of Berkley’s presentation and the sample overture will be posted on the Coalition’s web site.

A state of ‘spiritual warfare’
Elder Peggy Hedden, chairman and chief executive officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, declared that the denomination is consumed by “spiritual warfare.” She noted significant increases in strong-arm tactics by denominational agencies and officials. “The posture of renewal efforts has changed,” said Hedden. “Before the 217th General Assembly, renewal groups were on top of the hill, trying to keep a boulder from rolling down. Now we are at the bottom of the hill, trying to roll the boulder back up.”

In response to the 217th General Assembly, many congregations are choosing “to disengage in place, tending only to local affairs,” said Hedden. “If a congregation chooses any response other than disengagement, in my opinion, the congregation is a prime candidate in many presbyteries for being targeted for reprisals. Even if a congregation is in a ‘good’ presbytery, there will be pressure from Louisville on the presbytery to coerce the congregation, even coercion of the presbytery.”

Hedden said she based her prediction of draconian measures by denominational officials on “trends that I have observed over the last two decades, particularly the actions and statements by the stated clerk, the Advisory Committee on the Constitution, the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly in the past six years and the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission in the last 15 years.”

Hedden listed the following developments as indicative of the coercive trend:

(1) A New Year’s 2002 letter from GA Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick to the stated clerks of lower governing bodies in which he stated that those who advocate gracious separation or the withholding of per capita are violating their ordination vows. Such advocacy, he said, is unconstitutional. Further, Kirkpatrick’s Advisory Opinion Note 9 (2004) reiterated that “the Book of Order provides no right for sessions to withhold per capita as a form of protest.”

(2) The 2004 decision of Western North Carolina Presbytery not to validate Rev. Parker Williamson’s ministry because of the Lay Committee’s statement that it did not think the General Assembly per-capita budget is worthy of support. This decision was overturned after a year-long struggle in Presbyterian courts.

(3) The clerk’s involvement in the just-settled Serrone Church dispute over property, in which Seronne’s elders were sued individually for punitive damages, a very, very low tactic.

(4) The 2005 instance of Hollywood Presbyterian Church, which, according to the best information I have, was retribution for Hollywood having given leadership in the fight against the ordination of practicing homosexuals.

(5) The current case in Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery in which the presbytery filed liens on the property of all of its 66 churches.

(6) Several cases in which small congregations with large endowments have been dissolved to provide funds for dying presbyteries.

(7) The 48 pages of strategy advice from the stated clerk and his legal office to presbyteries, disclosed last week by The Layman Online. “This is must reading for those who think that Louisville harbors an ounce of charity for those who disagree with the recent events,” Hedden said. The documents were prepared and used in the January 2006 workshop that Louisville sponsored for all presbytery attorneys. Because of their timing and intended use, these documents must be considered Part II of the PUP report.

Hedden identified several weapons that governing bodies have used, or have indicated that they intend to use against dissenters:

(1) Against pastors – threats of declaring that they have renounced the jurisdiction of the PCUSA, thus removing their ordination. Mutterings about pensions. Filing a disciplinary action for violation of ordination vows.

(2) Against individual session members – taking over the session and then trying dissenting members in a disciplinary case.

(3) Against the entire session – administrative commission assuming jurisdiction in place of the elected session.

(4) Against the congregation – dissolution of the congregation and taking its real and liquid property.

“How can congregations arm themselves for this warfare?” asked Hedden. She said that the place to begin is found in Ephesians 6, where the congregation can be theologically prepared. Additionally, she listed the following helps:

(1) Equip your people with news of what is happening across the denomination. Specifically, Hedden spotlighted PresbyWeb, The Layman and The Layman Online.

(2) Count the costs. Those who have responsibility for stewardship of gifts for Christ’s service must weigh the financial and emotional costs of fighting versus the cost of not fighting.

(3) Engage in prayer, before and during each contest.

(4) Engage in strategic thinking. Consult with an attorney and other congregations that have similar experiences. Elders of the church should take the lead, giving some protection to their pastors. Obtain a complementary copy of the Presbyterian Lay Committee’s booklet on the pension rights of Presbyterian ministers.

(5) Protect the real property, endowments, liquid assets of the congregation. Obtain a copy of A Guide to Church Property Law, published by Reformation Press and distributed by the Presbyterian Lay Committee. Download from The Layman Online copies of the “Louisville Papers,” confidential denominational strategy documents.

(6) Purchase a directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policy to give your session some protection against individual lawsuits filed by representatives of the denomination.

(7) Protect your congregation from an administrative commission. Have a temporary restraining order drafted in advance of the need. Prepare the session and congregation not to resign.

(8) Seek help from the Coalition’s attorney group, larger churches and the Christian Legal Society.

(9) Endorse the New Wineskins Association of Churches’ call for a moratorium on administrative commissions and legal actions by presbyteries while congregations are discussing and discerning faithful responses to actions of the 217th General Assembly.

Hedden reminded her audience of Jesus’ instructions on how to live in these latter days, as recorded in Matthew 24: Don’t be deceived. Don’t be afraid, and do the work that the Master has given us.

Remember this counsel from God’s Word, she said, “These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world, ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Closing comments
The Coalition concluded its meeting with an “open mike” session. The event comprised a cacophony of personal opinions. Many voices expressed frustration over a leadership vacuum in the evangelical/orthodox community. “We need a Moses who will lead us out of Egypt,” said one of the participants. His comment received sustained applause.