John Calvin’s theology arrests attention at the outset on two accounts: it has been extraordinarily influential, and it has been extraordinarily maligned.

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With an Episcopal diocese that wants to secede from its denomination and several Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations that are trying to do the same, Western Pennsylvania courts could soon be awash in lawsuits over church property.

What is at stake beyond souls are millions of dollars in assets and in buildings where generations have worshiped. Activists for both the denominations and seceding parishes express public confidence that civil courts will rule on their favor. But experienced attorneys on both sides believe the outcomes uncertain. That may be especially true if a whole diocese tries to secede — which is without legal precedent.

“Property law varies from state to state. It varies from one end of the commonwealth to the other,” said Michael McCarty, a Philadelphia attorney who has represented several churches that want to leave the mainline Presbyterian Church (USA) for the more conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Because the state Supreme Court has ruled that church cases will be decided on the basis of their deeds and other legal documents, “I suspect that in Pennsylvania [decisions] are going to come down to a case-by -case, parcel-by-parcel, analysis,” he said….

“This is new and sad territory,” said Robert Royce, a former Episcopal chancellor, now living in North Carolina, who has been an expert witness for the denomination’s side. “Both in our canons and experience we have never had a diocese threaten to bolt before. As far as I am concerned, this has never been litigated to the point where there is a legal precedent which would be binding. This is all new territory for everybody.”

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Vendors and shopkeepers are gearing up for business along a market street in the northeastern neighborhood of Adhamiya, when a platoon of American soldiers disgorges from Humvees. The soldiers fan out up and down the street. Even on a low-key patrol to make their presence known and gather intel, the soldiers have to stay on the qui vive. Eyes dart up to rooftops and down side alleys; while one soldier smiles and nods greetings to a vendor, another peers to the back of the store.

From a distance the soldiers are indistinguishable: domed helmets, dark glasses, and tight-fitting armored vests in camouflage grays and greens. But closer inspection reveals differences. From the back of one soldier, a radio antenna quivers: platoon leader. Across the chest of another, only gloved hands ”“ no rifle, no side arm strapped to thigh: chaplain. In orbit around him, another soldier, rifle ready: chaplain’s assistant and bodyguard. Should fighting break out, he’ll shove his charge behind a wall, to the ground, under a vehicle.

Chaplain Ron Eastes is on this patrol with members of his 82nd Airborne Army unit not because he is helping with the platoon’s mission, but because the platoon itself is his mission.

“I’ve heard it said that a shepherd needs to smell like his sheep,” he explains, “and if I’m going to care for these guys, I need to be where they are.”

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The close outcome followed months of debate. In the end, about a dozen ordained ministers wrote a paper defending their opposition to the change.

“It’s a painful position to take,” said one of those pastors, the Rev. Steven Carter of Christ Memorial Presbyterian Church in Columbia. “I believe that we have to speak the truth, but we have to do it with love.”

Although he welcomes gay and lesbian people at his church, “when it comes to leadership positions and when it comes to the role of marriage, in the biblical picture of the world, that is intended to be between a man and a woman,” Carter said.

“There are times when I wish it wasn’t so clear,” he said.

Under the proposal, marriage in the Presbyterian Book of Order would go from a lifelong commitment made by a “man and a woman” to a “lifelong commitment … between two people.”

Another sentence would be changed from, “Marriage is a civil contract between a woman and a man,” to “Marriage is a covenant between two people and according to the laws of the state also constitutes a civil contract.”

“We have great people at our church. … I don’t see why they shouldn’t have the same rights as my husband and I have,” said Jeananne Stine, a member of Govans Presbyterian who helped write the overture about marriage.

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Congregations that disaffiliated from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) over the denomination’s liberal direction on Scripture and theology recently realigned with the newly inaugurated New Wineskins-Evangelical Presbyterian Church Presbytery. Amid preparation to exit the PC(USA) and property issues, the breakaway groups acknowledged possible neglect toward congregations that have decided to remain in the denomination.

“First, those of us in the New Wineskins who have left the PC(USA) want to ask your forgiveness if we have been short with you, less than encouraging in our conversations, or down right neglectful of your needs and feelings. It has been a busy time for us,” stated Randy Jenkins, moderator of the New Wineskins EPC Presbytery, in a letter addressed to members of the New Wineskins Association of Churches, a network of Presbyterian churches discontent with the PC(USA).
The network claims nearly 200 Presbyterian churches, representing about 100,000 Presbyterians. Only 46 churches in the network have voted to leave the PC(USA) so far. Others have decided to remain in the PC(USA) while committing to reform the denomination and still others have not yet voted.

Speaking for those who have focused their energies on cutting ties, Jenkins highlighted the distance that might have been felt in recent years with churches that were not splitting.

“We probably haven’t been as encouraging to you, our friends who have not yet left, or who are committed to staying, as we should have been,” he said. “We mean no disrespect, it’s just that our course was set and now we must take a moment and realize that others are just as, or sometimes more, faithful than we were; and that faithfulness may be lived out in staying in the PC(USA) and being a prophetic witness.”

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The Presbyterian Church (USA) has removed Citigroup Inc. from its list of businesses probed for possible ties to violence and oppression in the Palestinian territories, saying it found no “improprieties.”

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A Peters congregation that felt Washington Presbytery had balked at its request to join a more conservative Presbyterian denomination voted yesterday to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) without presbytery approval, and to immediately affiliate with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

The vote at Peters Creek Presbyterian Church was 207-26 with five abstentions. According to Peters Creek leaders, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church had already approved its request to affiliate, so people left the 11 a.m. service as members of the smaller, more conservative denomination.

The Rev. L. Rus Howard, pastor of Peters Creek, said during the service that this would put the matter of who owns the property into the civil courts, but he believed they would be more fair and impartial than Washington Presbytery.

“I’m very grateful” for the vote, he said afterward. “This has been a long struggle, but we did it as a matter of faith. We … believe this honors God and lets us get on with our mission.”

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Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church was dismissed from the Pittsburgh Presbytery yesterday so it could join a more conservative denomination — the first of what could be several votes over divisive theological and ecclesiastical questions.

The dismissal was the culmination of six months of discussions precipitated by the Mt. Lebanon church’s overwhelming vote in April to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

The vote by the presbytery’s clergy and elders was 174 for dismissal and 73 against, with two abstentions.

The action takes effect immediately.

According to the settlement between the presbytery and the 400-member church, Beverly Heights will keep its building and land — together valued at more than $1 million — and the rights to its name.

In exchange, it will pay the presbytery $250,000 over 10 years and forfeit $46,655 in a trust account.

Read it all.

Opinions on the denomination’s long-term prospects vary widely.

The Rev. John Buchanan, pastor at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, said that while staunch conservatives and liberals are unhappy with church policy, the vast middle is satisfied.

“The people of this congregation are not at all distressed with where we are right now,” said Buchanan, a former moderator of the denomination. “And I think there are many, many more churches like that, than there are churches that are unhappy.”

Cutter takes a long view, noting the denomination’s history of splits and mergers.

“The process of union and reunion in the Presbyterian Church … has been going on for centuries,” he said. “I don’t anticipate it stopping. I anticipate there may be people that want to come back.”

But the Rev. Parker Williamson, editor emeritus of The Layman newspaper, said entire congregations are leaving, an escalation from the usual pattern of disgruntled individuals leaving on their own.

“It’s happening as bits and pieces of the church that are flying off,” Williamson said. He contends that the pace of departures is “ramping up significantly.”

The Rev. Gerrit Dawson, senior pastor of the Baton Rouge church, said his congregation hungers for theological clarity instead of the “institutionalized nebulousness” in the larger denomination.

“PCUSA is not getting better,” Dawson said. “It’s going to keep fragmenting. And we don’t want to spend the rest of our ministries doing that. There’s a world to be reached.”

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Peters Creek Presbyterian Church voted 273-86 yesterday to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA ) for the more theologically conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

The vote — which included two abstentions — represented more than half the church’s full membership of 595 and just over 75 percent of the 361 ballots cast. Those percentages would meet the standard that Washington Presbytery set in July to consider allowing churches that want to move to the other denomination to do so along with their property.

But because Peters Creek initiated its move before that plan was adopted, the presbytery is not required to consider those numbers in its case. In the absence of such a local plan, denominational law says that the property belongs to the denomination.

“We have placed the future of this ministry into your hands and into the hands of Washington Presbytery,” the Rev. L. Rus Howard said in a prayer after the decision was announced. “Help us treat each other with love and grace and mercy.”

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Leaders on both sides know it may take a U.S. Supreme Court decision to tie up the many loose ends in this legal fight – affecting millions of dollars worth of pensions, endowments and church properties nationwide.

Similar conflicts are shaking the Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and other old-line Protestant bodies.

There will be unity in the future, said [Parker] Williamson, but it will not look like the unity of the past.

“There isn’t going to be a central, merged denominational office somewhere,” he said. “The new church unity will be in new networks of people with common beliefs. It’s going to look more like the World Wide Web, not the old industrial model.”

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A retired Presbyterian minister with roots on the North Side was found guilty of violating church law in officiating at two lesbian weddings.

Jane Spahr of San Rafael, Calif., is an openly gay ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She was ruled to be at odds with the church’s constitution when she married the couples in 2004 and 2005.

A judicial commission with the Synod of the Pacific, a multistate governing body, ruled 6-2 that while Ms. Spahr “acted with conscience and conviction,” she was guilty of misconduct. It reversed a local Presbytery decision in March 2006 that said Ms. Spahr was within her rights as an ordained minister when she married the couples. The decision came with the recommendation that Ms. Spahr be rebuked.

Ms. Spahr said the decision made her sad, calling it second-class treatment for people who are different and “perpetuates myths and stereotypes that give license to violence.”

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A wonderfully encouraging article from Outreach Magazine (a sister publication of Christianity Today) about two New York City churches committed to multiplication and seeing the church impact the culture:

For all the wonders of New York City, the South Bronx still has a long way to go. As the country’s poorest congressional district, it is home to gang leaders, pimps and others””like Tyrone””whose main interest is simply finding a way to survive.

As a teenager, Tyrone found his identity in a gang named the Neighborhood Gangsters, and his future, like that of so many of his peers, seemed to be a dead-end street. Then one week, he went with a relative to Friday Night Live, a monthly, large-scale outreach hosted by a new, youth-oriented church named Infinity. Tyrone liked the hip-hop music, even though the words were about God. After the music, the pastor, Dimas Salaberrios””who had grown up a few miles away in Jamaica, Queens””spoke with relevance and passion about Jesus Christ.

Tyrone put his faith in Christ that night, but was still uncertain about his future. Quitting a gang could mean a death sentence, but he didn’t have to explain this to Salaberrios, who already understood the problem. Salaberrios boldly contacted the gang’s leader, asking that Tyrone’s family not be punished because of his decision. Today, Tyrone serves on Infinity’s security team, is discipled through a fellowship group and is being groomed for leadership by Salaberrios.

Tyrone’s story is common for Infinity, which began four years ago through Bible studies and community building, and formally launched in November 2006.

“Our No. 1 goal and priority is to get Christ into kids’ lives,” says Salaberrios. He also believes that God has used Infinity’s presence to reduce the murder rate to almost zero in the Bronx River Projects””a complex of nine high-rise towers which is home to almost 20,000 people as well as the new church.

Infinity’s story of success, however, can’t be told without also telling the story of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, located less than 10 miles away in Manhattan. Launched 18 years ago, Redeemer is now spiritual home to 5,000 of the city’s young professionals. […]

In an overwhelmingly secular community, Redeemer’s unique worship settings””including jazz and classical music””diverse makeup and [Tim] Keller’s intellectual preaching style have all resonated among the area’s mostly non-Christian young professionals. In fact about 15% of attendees in any given year don’t yet identify themselves as followers of Christ.

“Growth in itself though is not a goal for the church””evangelism is,” says Keller. That’s why Redeemer became a multiplying church.

“We know the only way to increase the number and percentage of Christians in a city is to plant thousands of new churches, and the only way to change the culture is to increase the number of churches engaged in it,” Keller explains.

So in 1994, Redeemer planted its first two churches, one in Greenwich Village (lower Manhattan) and another in the suburbs, both affiliated with its Presbyterian Church in America denomination. In the 13 years since, Redeemer has planted more than 100 churches””the majority non-Presbyterian””directly or in partnership with other churches, in New York City and other cities.

Enter Infinity. Thirty-three-year-old Salaberrios had fully committed his life to Christ when he was 21””a year after Redeemer planted its first two churches””and began to hold evangelistic rallies for hundreds of kids through Youth for Christ in New York City (YFC; yfc.net). But he noticed that when young people accepted Christ, local churches didn’t receive them as they were. Street manners, tattoos and baggy clothing were considered unacceptable “Sunday best.”

“I kept thinking to myself, ‘What are we going to do with all these kids who are coming to Christ?’ ” Salaberrios relates. “Romans 2:29 talks about circumcision of the heart. It’s not about changing a dress code, but making church relevant.”

Church, culture, relevancy and contextualization””Salaberrios and Keller were speaking the same language, even though their target groups were unmistakably different.

The full article is here.

David Fischler, an EPC pastor and blogger has an encouraging story of a church split “done right.” We Episcopalians can only dream of reading such stories. Sigh.

This Is the Way to Do It

The congregation of Middle Sandy Presbyterian Church in Homeworth, Ohio has been dismissed to the EPC by the Muskingum Valley Presbytery with its property and without the necessity of a payoff. Instead, the congregation agreed to honor its mission commitment to the presbytery for the remainder of the year and to take a “love offering” for the presbytery. According to a press release issued jointly by the church and the presbytery:

In a time when church disputes often generate animosity and public suspicion, we believe God worked among us to seek a better way. On April 21st, the Muskingum Valley Presbytery appointed an Administrative Commission to respond to the request of the congregation Middle Sandy Presbyterian Church in Homeworth, Ohio, to be dismissed to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Representatives of the congregation and the presbytery worked together to develop an agreement which will move forward the ministry of Jesus Christ”¦.

In keeping with traditional Presbyterian practice of making decisions through ordered processes which seek God’s guidance, a Commission elected by the Presbytery met with the Middle Sandy Session in a time of Bible study, prayer, and listening so that together they might discern how God’s mission could best be accomplished. The groups mutually agreed that they were led by the Holy Spirit to focus on furthering the mission of Jesus Christ rather than on claims of being right or wrong.

Subsequently, a small group of representatives of each party worked out terms of mutual agreement which concluded with the dismissal of Middle Sandy Presbyterian Church to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church on July 12, 2007.

The full entry is here.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) has selectively disseminated two “privileged and confidential” documents by denominational lawyers calling on presbyteries to use draconian measures when claiming local church property.

The tone of the documents is reflected in the words they use to describe the parties: the “true church” ”“ meaning those who submit to the government and decisions of the PCUSA ”“ versus the “schismatics” ”“ meaning those who believe the denomination has abandoned its Biblical and Reformed roots. One recommendation for presbytery representatives is to portray themselves as the aggrieved party embattling the ungodly ”“ “keep the presbytery in a ‘defensive’ secular legal posture. (Let the schismatics seek Caesar’s help.)”

That proposal is interesting in that most litigation in church property disputes is begun by presbyteries filing civil complaints and congregations having to defend themselves.

Read it all.

Read it all.

It looks like it is not only Anglicans establishing new, non-traditonal church structures in the US. The following article from Crosswalk provides details about the new non-geographic presbytery which was formally approved at the recent Evangelical Presbyterian General Assembly.

New Wineskins Yearn to be Filled with the Spirit

They left because they were tired ”“ tired of merely standing in the pews on Sunday, tired of leaders who denied the truth of Scripture, tired of seeing their numbers dwindling. They were also thirsty — thirsty for a filling of the Holy Spirit and thirsty to reach out in their communities. The men and women who formed the New Wineskins Association of Churches (NWAC) ”“ a splinter group of the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) ”“ saw the new wine of the Holy Spirit being poured out across the world. They saw lives being transformed and longed to be part of the movement.

Gerrit Dawson, co-moderator of the New Wineskins, says, “We realized we needed new wineskins and it’s not really about denominations at all. It’s about being missional, out-turned congregations. That’s where the real deal is. The rest is peripheral to our calling.”

According to Dawson, conservative Presbyterians have for years been troubled by signs of increasing liberalism in the PCUSA such as drifting from the Trinity and the denial of absolute truth. Some tried to take a stand within the denomination. But actions by the PCUSA’s 217th General Assembly, such as a move toward the ordination of homosexuals, rang a final warning bell for the conservative Presbyterians. “For years we have mourned our denomination’s unfaithfulness and we have grieved its actions,” says Dean Weaver, a New Wineskins co-moderator. “We have labored faithfully for renewal.”

So, on Feb. 9, 2007, representatives of the New Wineskins voted unanimously to pursue refuge within the conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) after the EPC proposed to establish a temporary, non-geographic presbytery for dissident PCUSA congregations.

According to EPC Moderator Paul Heidebrecht, “The Holy Spirit drew us toward the New Wineskins. We are truly impressed by the mission-driven polity of the NWAC.”

On June 22, the move became official when the 27th General Assembly of the EPC officially created a New Wineskins Transitional Presbytery. Transitional membership commenced on the adjournment of the 27th General Assembly and will end on June 30, 2012.

The full article is here. (h/t Pat Dague)

Some background links from “Reformed Pastor” David Fischler:
New Wineskins Press Release (June 22)
David Fischler’s June 22 live blog of EPC Assembly vote on the Transitional Presbytery proposals
EPC General Assembly Q&A on Transitional Presbyteries

And from the EPC website, there is this:
Structure for Receiving Churches and Pastors Transitionally, Approved by the 27th General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, June 2007

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Interestingly enough, after we had prepared the above text as a draft for posting, we continued our “blog crawl” and reached “The Lead,” one of the blogs that make up the Episcopal Cafe site. They’ve posted a short entry yesterday on a June 24 Washington Times article about how the EPC is coping with explosive growth. Here’s what The Lead has to say:

We, of course, don’t hear about the small denominations that folded or merged. Denominations that start from a tiny base – and have survived – more than likely are experiencing high growth. No doubt PCUSA has lost some members due to controversial issues – and gained or held onto others for the same reason. But what newspapers rarely mention, when pointing out the declining membership in the mainline denominations, is that conservative denominations tend to have higher birthrates, and in mainline denominations the birthrate hovers at or below replacement.

Besides, PCUSA isn’t merely following the times. It is following its moral compass – even if that means those more attracted to religion are turned off by the change in direction.

Is anyone surprised by this spin? But it really does strike this elf as pretty incredible denial.

We hope our readers know that Reformed Pastor is the best blog to keep up with what’s happening among reasserting Presbyterians (if we can use Kendall’s Anglican-coined term in such a way). [Of course, this statement is merely this sometimes not-so-humble elf’s opinion! I’m trying not to presume to speak for Kendall. But you know, while the cat’s away….!]

Here’s David Fischler’s most recent Presbyterian news post. Interesting that as in ECUSA it’s some of the most-historic parishes that are leaving.

And David often provides excellent commentary on things Anglican. For instance, he’s picked up the news we posted this morning about Ed Bacon’s sermon about Vice President Cheney at All Saints Pasadena. And his comments are open. So, should you have been eager to comment on that story, now you can.

The Anglican communion seems to be keen on tearing itself apart on the issue of same-sex relationships. Archbishop Rowan Williams must look over the border with envy. Yesterday’s wise decision recognises that the Church of Scotland is divided on this matter, and is not ready to move to judgment without further study.

A cop-out? Not really. It’s not a disgrace to acknowledge ignorance. There are many people who have not (knowingly) had a conversation with a gay or lesbian. The heartfelt story of Kirk elder James Simpson, whose life was turned into turmoil when his son announced that he was gay, moved the assembly deeply.

Read it all.