# Apology for Misstatement concerning Iowa Presbytery



## bouletheou (Feb 4, 2010)

It has come to my attention that a Session in Iowa Presbytery has sent an overture or letter to the Presbytery concerned that I’m breaking the 9th commandment based on what I said about Iowa Presbytery.

I am grieved that I have offended my brethren with my words, and will strive to be more careful in the future

I have been in touch with several presbyters from the Iowa Presbytery. I have tried to obtain this overture through three different people, but I have not been able to obtain it, although one man read me the letter over the phone, and for that I am grateful. A written record of the issue at hand would be more useful, for human memory is frail and prone to failure, but I have been unable to access such a written record.

I also asked all three which session sent the overture, so I could call them directly and address their concerns. None of the men was willing to release that information either. An apology is apparently in order, so I will apologize. 

As best as I remember it, they seem to be concerned about the following sentence that I wrote on the Puritan board:

“I’m told the Iowa presbytery basically runs almost its whole meeting in executive session to keep things from being talked about. There are men in that presbytery with definite FV/Emergent leanings.”

I asked for the minutes of their Presbytery so I could give a more accurate report and publicly apologize, if I made a mistake. I was also unable to attain the minutes.

So, I have done a little research now trying to determine if I had made a mistake. After talking to a few people about it, I have discovered that I did make a mistake. I think I jumped to conclusions based on my own concerns about the executive sessions in my own presbytery and elsewhere.

The truth of the matter seems to be that only about 10 percent of each meeting is done in executive session. I spoke to a couple of men about this, and they said that the reasons for the executive session were good and normal ones.

I am convinced that I erred. I did not willfully misrepresent the truth, but I was too quick to jump to conclusions. I will be attending the February stated meeting of the Iowa Presbytery to bring greetings and a personal apology. 

I have discovered that the Colfax Center church is the session responsible for the overture. I will also send a printed copy of this letter to the Colfax Center church. I am sorry for the distress that I caused you by the sentence I wrote on the Puritan Board. I have removed it. I hope that my explaining the matter here will satisfy you, and I will add a link to this post on the Puritan Board.

I am also distressed by the fact that two Sessions have now talked to two different Presbyteries about me breaking the ninth commandment. I say to them and to everyone else, please feel free to come to me directly. I want to report the truth that I feel in my heart needs to be told. I am happy to be corrected when I make a mistake, and I would be thankful for the opportunity to report more accurately. My church’s phone number is on the PCA website, my own phone number can be found on whitepages.com, and my email address is available through my blog. Any one of those avenues can be used to contact me, and I promise a speedy communication with you about your concerns. 

In addition, I know that I have also expressed my own views concerning several matters in Presbytery that are controversial. I would like to invite anyone involved to write their own interpretation of the events, however different they may be from mine, and I will post it on my blog. If you do so, I will only allow comments that you agree to. I’m interested in open and free discussion. Please feel free to give your side of the story on my blog. 

The address is The Happy T.R.


Sincerely, 

TE Brian Carpenter
Sturgis, SD


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