Rhee says he was never asked to be church’s interim pastor
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, May 5, 2005
Syngman Rhee, moderator of the 212th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), says he was never asked to become the interim pastor of the largest Korean congregation in the denomination and that he would not have accepted the job if it had been offered.
Rhee was identified as the incoming pastor of the 2,700-member First Presbyterian Church in Torrance, Calif., in court records that are part of a civil case in which the congregation is seeking to leave the PCUSA and retain its property.
The PCUSA is listed as one of the plaintiffs in the case. It included in its filings in Los Angeles Superior Court a document titled the “Declaration of Margaret Wentz,” a former General Assembly Council member who is stated clerk of the Synod of Southern California.
Wentz implied in her deposition that Rhee had agreed to accept a presbytery administrative commission’s call to become the interim pastor of the congregation. Wentz contended that the “true church” at Torrance were those who disagreed with the session and staff.
“Hanmi Presbytery has nominated Dr. Syngman Rhee (‘Rev. Rhee’) to serve as senior pastor of Torrance First Presbyterian,” Wentz said. “Rev. Rhee is a pastor member in good standing of PCUSA and Hanmi Presbytery. Because of the actions of the Seceding Faction in seizing control of First Presbyterian, judicial intervention is necessary to allow Rev. Rhee to assume his pastoral duties with Torrance First Presbyterian at the earliest opportunity.”
That comment was included in the court papers given to Judge David Yaffe, who rejected the PCUSA’s argument.
Rhee said he did preach at the Torrance church on Sunday and that he is heartbroken over the dispute. “I went there with tears,” he said. “That is a wonderful church. I told them, ‘Whatever happens, please do not become enemies to each other. Speak the truth in love.'”
But he said he was surprised to discover through The Layman Online that he allegedly was to become the interim minister at Torrance.
On April 28, Yaffe declared improper the request by the Presbyterian Church (USA) to allow an immediate takeover of the property of First Presbyterian Church in Torrance, Calif., and the installation of Rhee as the interim minister.
He ruled that their request was improperly timed and that he would not consider it until after conducting a hearing in June.
The leaders of the Torrance congregation are seeking to renounce the jurisdiction of the PCUSA and stake claim to their property, which is valued at “tens of millions” of dollars, according to court papers.
The PCUSA, the Presbytery of Hanmi and the Synod of Southern California have filed suit to support the denomination’s claim to the property and recognize the synod’s administrative commission as governing body of the congregation.
Peter B. Min, an associate minister at First Presbyterian in Torrance, said the session has already voted to dissolve the relationship with the PCUSA. He cited two reasons: denominational leadership that has espoused non-Biblical causes and treatment by two presbyteries and the Synod of the Pacific.
No vote has been taken by the congregation on whether to leave the denomination. A vote was scheduled on April 24, but that was delayed. But, on an earlier issue that sparked the Torrance leaders’ civil court case, 2,400 members of the congregation signed a petition supporting the call of a senior minister who was serving in the Presbytery of Olympia.
That call was short-circuited by a complaint filed against the minister. The Constitution of the PCUSA prohibits a minister from accepting a call to a church in another presbytery whenever charges are pending.
A presbytery investigating committee decided that there were no grounds for a trial, and the minister was cleared to accept the call to the Torrance congregation. Just as he was preparing to go to Torrance, another complaint was filed – delaying his call once again – and Torrance’s leaders argued that their church was suffering for lack of a senior minister.
In her declaration, Wentz said the Torrance session and the members who want to leave the PCUSA have effectively renounced the jurisdiction of the denomination and should no longer have a role in deciding the congregation’s affairs.
“Torrance Presbyterian Church … is the largest Korean church in the entire PCUSA denomination,” Wentz said in her court declaration. “It is also a highly influential church among the hundreds of other Korean Presbyterian churches within the PCUSA denomination. Any action taken at this church will certainly have repercussions at many other churches within Hanmi Presbytery and throughout the country. I have already received calls expressing grave concern about this matter from representatives of other churches and from organizations concerned about the highly negative impact that a loss of this church would have on the health of Korean ministries in this country.”
She outlined in detail the “hierarchal” structure of the PCUSA and the constitutional property trust clause that declares that all congregations hold their property in trust for the denomination.