 Analysis repudiates 'Louisville Papers,' suggests alternative to PCUSA tactics By John H. Adams The Layman Online Thursday, October 26, 2006
In an analysis posted on the Web site of Presbyterians For Renewal, the group calls the papers "unbiblical and vexatious," a phrase borrowed from the Westminster Larger Catechism (C-7.252). "[W]hile the Stated Clerk was publicly affirming the PUP Task Force's call for peacefulness, community, and conciliation, his office was privately promulgating a diametrically opposite approach," the analysis says. "The Stated Clerk's office has not repudiated or tempered this legal advice. The lack of repudiation feeds the fear that those who would exercise freedom of speech will face preemptive retaliation. The result is conformity through intimidation." While opposing the denomination's tactics, the group did "encourage every congregation, every presbytery, and every member to stay and renew this denomination. Yet we would exercise forbearance, not coercion, toward any who believe, after due consideration and prayer, that they can better serve the Kingdom of God from outside our fellowship. Our goal always should be to further the Great Ends of the Church, not the parochial interests of the denominational structures." The analysis recommends against following the advice of denominational lawyers who work with Kirkpatrick in constitutional services and prepared the Louisville Papers. Instead, the 10 renewalists who prepared the analysis say, presbyteries should consider each request for dismissal by a congregation on a case-by-case basis and be concerned not only about property but also about the Great Ends of the Church. For example, would a congregation dismissed from the PCUSA to affiliate with a more evangelical denomination have more encouragement to proclaim the gospel to the world?
"We shall not treat property as a basis for unity or as an opportunity for division," the renewalists say. "Thus, we encourage every congregation, every presbytery, and every member to stay and renew this denomination. Yet we would exercise forbearance, not coercion, toward any who believe, after due consideration and prayer, that they can better serve the Kingdom of God from outside our fellowship. Our goal always should be to further the Great Ends of the Church, not the parochial interests of the denominational structures." The analysis says Clifton Kirkpatrick, the stated clerk of the General Assembly, should "bring his advice into conformity with the 1988, 1989 and 1990 Authoritative Interpretations [of those general assemblies] and publicly correct the advice of his legal counsel regarding actions to be taken in secular or church courts against pastors, sessions and congregations who might contemplate or seek dismissal from the Presbyterian Church (USA), so that it accords with the ordination vow to 'try to show the love and justice of Jesus Christ'" as prescribed in G-14.0405b(9) of the Book of Order. The writers included with their analysis a sample resolution for consideration by presbyteries that would counter the recommendations of the stated clerk's office and the denomination's lawyers, who recommend hardball administrative actions to secure church property and coercion and threats against church officers who consider the possibility of withdrawing from the denomination. But the renewalists' proposal asks presbyteries to resolve that they will not "take any preemptive coercive action, such as that recommended by the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, against any pastor, session, or congregation who merely considers faithfully following the Great Ends of the Church in another Reformed denomination." It notes that the presbytery has the sole judgment to determine what furthers the Great Ends of the Church and that, in some cases, "a congregation, with its property and financial assets, may be dismissed from the Presbyterian Church (USA) without penalty." It warns against Christians vs. Christians lawsuits and coercive tactics, as have occurred in more than 15 confrontations between congregations and presbyteries this year in the dismissal requests and/or renunciations of the PCUSA. "Since the 217th General Assembly in 2006, many faithful believers within the Presbyterian Church (USA) have been experiencing crises of conscience that may lead them to seek dismissal from this denomination," the renewalists say. "This has resulted in increasing discord and turbulence in the denomination over the issue of property." The Louisville Papers "recommend many harsh tactics that would be considered aggressive but common in the secular realm and are unmistakably designed to squelch as much potential dissent as possible. Presbyteries are counseled to establish predetermined rules and processes." "The Stated Clerk's advice in Processes for Presbyteries and Church Property Disputes, along with his more recent Advisory Opinion #19, stands in stark contrast to the action of General Assembly in 1988 , 1989, and 1990. In its Authoritative Interpretations of G-11.0103, GA warned against rigid guidelines on property issues, mandated fact-specific, case-by-case analysis, and recognized that presbyteries should trust their own good judgment. But now the Clerk insists on predetermined, inflexible answers and threatens retribution against presbyteries that exercise that good judgment," the analysis says. "To squelch discussion or dissent preemptively, and by fiat, is troubling." The following people prepared the analysis:
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