The PCUSA is allocating substanital sums of money to litigate against the EPC.
The Layman Online
Is this a violation of I Corinthians 6:1-7? Other biblical principles?
Here's the rationale taken from the
motion:
RATIONALE
We are in the civil court defending freedom of religion, the right of the PC(USA) and any other denomination to organize and govern itself according to its beliefs. The precedent set in the decision in this case could have serious and far-reaching effects.
The Book of Order, G-1.0400, reads as follows:
4. The Historic Principles of Church Government
The radical principles of Presbyterian church government and discipline are:
That the several different congregations of believers, taken collectively, constitute one Church of Christ, called emphatically the Church; that a larger part of the Church, or a representation of it, should govern a smaller, or determine matters of controversy which arise therein; that, in like manner, a representation of the whole should govern and determine in regard to every part, and to all the parts united: that is, that a majority shall govern; and consequently that appeals may be carried from lower to higher governing bodies, till they be finally decided by the collected wisdom and united voice of the whole Church. For these principles and this procedure, the example of the apostles and the practice of the primitive Church are considered as authority. [The text of this section was adopted in 1797 by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. In this quotation the word “radical” is used in its primary meaning of “fundamental and basic,” and the word “appeals” is used in a general sense rather than with reference to a case involved in judicial process.]
The PC(USA) holds that the Church is an organic unity of which its synods, presbyteries, and local congregations are integral parts.
On September 15, 2007, the Presbytery of Northern New England recognized a problem in the Londonderry Presbyterian Church of Londonderry New Hampshire, in that the session had called a congregational meeting and recommended that the congregation vote to disaffiliate with the PC(USA). In response to this action, the presbytery elected an administrative commission to work with the session and congregation for resolution.
On September 27, 2007, the session of the Londonderry PC(USA) filed suit against the presbytery, obtaining a court order prohibiting the administrative commission from taking any action, prohibiting the presbytery from exercising any oversight in the selection of their pastor, prohibiting the presbytery from exerting any control over the property of the congregation, and prohibiting any minister or elder or representative of the presbytery from entering onto the church property.
On September 30, 2007, the Londonderry Presbyterian Church voted in a congregational meeting to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to join the New Wineskins Non-Geographic Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The session immediately brought a civil law suit against the Presbytery of Northern New England and obtained a civil injunction to prevent the presbytery from settling this matter within the framework of our Constitution, or even entering the property.
The continuing congregation (those who did not vote to leave) is now about 200 members strong and is meeting in another location with 80 to more than 125 attending worship each Sunday. The newly constituted session of the continuing PC(USA) congregation has brought a civil suit against the dissidents to reclaim its property that was illegally taken.
These two lawsuits have been joined into one trial with the presbytery covering all legal costs. So far, we have incurred more than $226,000 in legal costs. We estimate another $150,000 by the end of this year. These legal costs are running much higher than the $80,000 in the presbytery’s 2008 budget.
The Presbytery of Northern New England consists of 3,837 members in 31 churches and 3 ethnic fellowships. Most of the churches are small rural churches with an average membership of 124 and over half with less than 100 members. The presbytery’s budgeted income for 2008 is $347,925. The additional legal costs for 2008 may increase presbytery expenditures by more than 50 percent over its budget. Many of the churches are already struggling to pay their per capita of $35.25 and any significant increase is not possible.
For a small, mostly rural, presbytery these legal costs are extremely difficult to handle. The result of this civil lawsuit will set a precedent for our entire denomination and all of us will benefit or suffer from the consequences. Our connectional system of government compels us to work together in our mission. It is unfortunate that part of our mission is to deal with such distasteful affairs as defending our constitution and our freedom of religion in civil courts.
We have received small contributions from General Assembly and synod to help with our costs. Additionally, a law firm in New York has been made available to assist our attorneys. We are very grateful for this assistance, and we realize that neither General Assembly nor synod has the budgeted funds to provide any additional assistance.
We must be careful that we do not lose the civil lawsuit and set legal precedent endangering our Constitution, simply because we cannot afford to put up the best defense.
Thus, we ask that funds be provided to share costs in this matter. The $185,000 represents approximately half of the estimated legal costs of $376,000.
The Reverend Thomas Woodward, Presbytery of Northern New England
Elder Ingrid Cyros, Presbytery of Northern New England
And the PCUSA apparently mandates that all their churches and foreign churches that they support MUST have female elders. That might make a migration to a faithful reformed denomination a bit more difficult.
