Task force wants
Mississippi
Presbytery to cede property
to control of congregations
By John H.
Adams
The Layman
Online
Friday , October
13, 2006
The Presbytery of
Mississippi will consider a task force report on Oct. 19 that calls for
releasing with their property congregations that vote to disaffiliate
from the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The report also asks the presbytery to present a number of pointed
questions to General Assembly Moderator Joan Gray, who had previously
accepted an invitation to attend the meeting.
The five-page task force report follows a trend already established by
the presbytery when it voted shortly after the 2006 General Assembly to
reject relationship with any presbytery in the PCUSA that ordains
practicing homosexuals. In addition, Mississippi is one of 25
presbyteries that remit only the per capita that they receive from
member congregations.
The 2006 General Assembly approved an authoritative interpretation that
allows homosexual candidates who will not abide by the "fidelity/chastity"
requirement in the Book of Order to "scruple" the
requirement and gives ordaining bodies the leeway to grant exemptions.
Citing the "Great Ends of the Church," the task force asks
the presbytery to recognize that some congregations might find
themselves more able to work for those ends if they are not members of
the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The panel asks the presbytery to approve a resolution saying:
- "That it trusts its congregations to make their own
decisions concerning how best to use their property to accomplish
the great ends of the church."
- "That the Presbytery of Mississippi recognizes all its
particular churches as having the ability to sell, lease, mortgage,
or otherwise encumber any of their real property without further
written permission of the Presbytery."
- "That the Presbytery of Mississippi recognizes all its
particular churches as having the ability to acquire real property
subject to an encumbrance or condition without further written
permission of the Presbytery."
- "That it shall it shall take no action to enforce any
general trust interest claimed by any higher governing body against
any property, real or personal, held by any of its congregations."
- "That it will not resist any congregation of the Presbytery
of Mississippi which would ask the courts of the State of
Mississippi to clear its property of any claims made by higher
governing bodies against that property."
"We maintain it is inadequate to say that the PCUSA owns the
property of all its member congregations because such a statement is
present in the Book of Order, because individual congregations
didn't have an opportunity to vote on whether that requirement would be
in the Book of Order," the task force says. "Presbyteries,
not congregations, vote on changes to the Book of Order. It is
just as impossible for presbyteries to transfer titles to property that
they do not themselves hold as it is for the PCUSA simply to assert that
it has title to all the property of all its member congregations."
The report says the presbytery has historically opposed the
denomination's property trust clause. "And so as a matter of
pursuing the love and justice of Jesus Christ, the Presbytery of
Mississippi will not interfere with any of its member congregations
which desire to act to clear their titles of any claims made on them by
the higher governing bodies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)."
If adopted, the property resolution could put the presbytery at odds
with Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick and the Office of the General
Assembly, which has advised presbyteries that it is their obligation to
secure the property of congregations seeking to leave the PCUSA.
Furthermore, the OGA has warned that presbyteries failing to use
administrative and legal efforts to claim local church property could be
taken over by the synods.
The presbytery established the task force to help it "re-evaluate
the nature of its relationship with the General Assembly." As part
of that consideration, the task force approved six questions that were
submitted to Gray along with a request that she answer them at some time
during her visit:
- 1. It is the considered opinion of this Presbytery, expressed in
our overture to the GA, that a critical flaw of the PUP report was a
failure to distinguish between scruples of belief and scruples of
practice. Do you agree?
- 2. We are concerned that sessions and presbyteries might allow
ordinands to declare scruples not only to matters of faith, but also
to matters of polity. How can ordinands promise to be governed by
the church's polity and abide by its discipline at the same time
that they are openly declaring that they will not in fact be bound
by part of the Book of Order?
- 3. G-6.0106b declares that individuals who practice certain
behaviors will neither be ordained nor installed. Sessions and
presbyteries are the governing bodies of this church who carry out
ordinations and installations. G-6.0106b thus places clear
limitations, not only on the behavior of ordinands, but also on the
ordination and installation powers of sessions and presbyteries. How
can the PUP report justly allow ordinands' freedom of conscience to
override these limitations?
- 4. The Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A, in a
letter to Presbytery Stated Clerks dated September 8, declared the
following to be unconstitutional: "Actions by a presbytery
that in essence set aside the assembly's authoritative
interpretation of G-6.0108 and require subscription to all or
specific constitutional standards," and "Mandates
that presbyteries seek to place on sessions for procedures or
content for the examination of candidates to be elders or deacons
beyond those specified in the Constitution or its authoritative
interpretations." How can it be unconstitutional for
sessions and presbyteries to enforce the constitution within its
jurisdiction?
- 5. The Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., in his
Advisory Opinion 19, asserts that Presbyteries are responsible for
enforcing the PCUSA's claim to all its congregations' property,
despite the fact that this responsibility is not listed in
G-11.0103. He also implies that synods should intervene if
presbyteries choose to be generous with congregations that desire to
depart from the PCUSA with their property, even though G-8.0301
clearly allows presbyteries the power to determine what happens to
property when a congregation ceases to use it as part of the PCUSA.
Do you agree with the Stated Clerk's analysis?
- 6. The Presbyterian Publishing Corporation has publicly
embarrassed the entire denomination by allowing a spurious attack on
the President of the United States to be disseminated as legitimate
academic discourse. Given that this corporation is neither funded
nor meaningfully controlled by the denomination, what can we do
about this?"
The full text of the task force report:
Report of Presbytery Task Force
Submitted to the Presbytery of Mississippi
October 19, A.D. 2006
For Information:
1. The Task Force would remind the Presbytery of the press release
approved at the May 20, 2006 meeting of Presbytery, which can be found
on pages 26-28 of the minutes. The press release contains brief
summaries of the Presbytery's positions on Divestment, Scripture,
Marriage, Ordination Standards, and Abortion.
2. The Task force would also call to the Presbytery's attention the
resolution adopted at the July 13 meeting of Presbytery, which is as
follows:
- The Presbytery of Mississippi does hereby,
- Declare that the action of the 217th General Assembly in the
passage of Recommendation 5 of the Peace, Unity, and Purity Task
Force Report, is a grievous error seriously lacking Biblical,
Confessional and Constitutional integrity, and of such magnitude
that it places the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in a state of
constitutional crisis, requiring that the Presbytery of Mississippi
re-evaluate the nature of its relationship with the General
Assembly,
- Reaffirm its strong conviction that all constitutional
requirements for ordination, including G-6.0106b, are binding on all
the sessions and presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.),
and none are subject to being considered "inessential" by
any governing body of the Church,
- Reaffirm its resolution that no exceptions to the requirement
that all deacons, elders and ministers must "live either in
fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman
or in chastity in singleness" will be allowed within the
jurisdiction of this Presbytery, and
- Resolve that any governing body of the Presbyterian Church,
(U.S.A.) which abrogates this requirement has broken fellowship with
the Presbytery of Mississippi. Ministers from such unbiblical,
unconfessional, and unconstitutional presbyteries will not be
received for membership in this presbytery unless they personally
affirm their belief in and their willingness to be governed by this
requirement.
3. The Presbytery has already taken action on per capita payments
to the General Assembly. On February 15, 2003, the Presbytery approved
the following recommendation of Council: "That the Presbytery
forward only those per capita funds received from a particular church to
the General Assembly." This action was incorporated into standing
rule 16.2.2, which reads in part, "Only those funds actually
received from particular churches which are designated to pay General
Assembly per capita will be forwarded to the General Assembly."
Please note that the Presbytery has taken no action to alter its
commitment to pay all of the per capita requested by Synod. Synod per
capita will thus be paid regardless of congregational remittances.
4. In an effort to fulfill its mission to help the Presbytery "re-evaluate
the nature of its relationship with the General Assembly," the Task
Force approved the following questions which have been submitted to the
Moderator of the General Assembly, along with a request that she answer
them at some time during her visit to the Presbytery of Mississippi:
- a. It is the considered opinion of this Presbytery, expressed in
our overture to the GA, that a critical flaw of the PUP report was a
failure to distinguish between scruples of belief and scruples of
practice. Do you agree?
- b. We are concerned that sessions and presbyteries might allow
ordinands to declare scruples not only to matters of faith, but also
to matters of polity. How can ordinands promise to be governed by
the church's polity and abide by its discipline at the same time
that they are openly declaring that they will not in fact be bound
by part of the Book of Order?
- c. G-6.0106b declares that individuals who practice certain
behaviors will neither be ordained nor installed. Sessions and
presbyteries are the governing bodies of this church who carry out
ordinations and installations. G-6.0106b thus places clear
limitations, not only on the behavior of ordinands, but also on the
ordination and installation powers of sessions and presbyteries. How
can the PUP report justly allow ordinands' freedom of conscience to
override these limitations?
- d. The Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A, in a
letter to Presbytery Stated Clerks dated September 8, declared the
following to be unconstitutional: "Actions by a presbytery
that in essence set aside the assembly's authoritative
interpretation of G-6.0108 and require subscription to all or
specific constitutional standards," and "Mandates
that presbyteries seek to place on sessions for procedures or
content for the examination of candidates to be elders or deacons
beyond those specified in the Constitution or its authoritative
interpretations." How can it be unconstitutional for
sessions and presbyteries to enforce the constitution within its
jurisdiction?
- e. The Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., in his
Advisory Opinion 19, asserts that Presbyteries are responsible for
enforcing the PCUSA's claim to all its congregations' property,
despite the fact that this responsibility is not listed in
G-11.0103. He also implies that synods should intervene if
presbyteries choose to be generous with congregations that desire to
depart from the PCUSA with their property, even though G-8.0301
clearly allows presbyteries the power to determine what happens to
property when a congregation ceases to use it as part of the PCUSA.
Do you agree with the Stated Clerk's analysis?
- f. The Presbyterian Publishing Corporation has publicly
embarrassed the entire denomination by allowing a spurious attack on
the President of the United States to be disseminated as legitimate
academic discourse. Given that this corporation is neither funded
nor meaningfully controlled by the denomination, what can we do
about this?
For Action:
1. The Task Force recommends that Presbytery charge the moderator with
appointing a study group composed of members of CPM, COM and
representatives of the Task Force to look at the "Essential Tenets
and Reformed Distinctives" of the San Diego Presbytery to develop
guidelines for examining candidates within our Presbytery.
2. The Task Force recommends that the Presbytery adopt the following
resolution concerning property:
The Presbytery of Mississippi is hereby resolved:
That the great ends of the Church found in G-1.0200 explain the purpose
for the existence of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),
That therefore whenever congregations pursue those ends they are in fact
using their property for the benefit of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.),
That it trusts its congregations to make their own decisions concerning
how best to use their property to accomplish the great ends of the
church, That many of its congregations believe they hold clear title to
their own property,
That the Presbytery of Mississippi recognizes all its particular
churches as having the ability to sell, lease, mortgage, or otherwise
encumber any of their real property without further written permission
of the Presbytery,
That the Presbytery of Mississippi recognizes all its particular
churches as having the ability to acquire real property subject to an
encumbrance or condition without further written permission of the
Presbytery,
That it shall take no action to enforce any general trust interest
claimed by any higher governing body against any property, real or
personal, held by any of its congregations,
That it will not resist any congregation of the Presbytery of
Mississippi which would ask the courts of the State of Mississippi to
clear its property of any claims made by higher governing bodies against
that property, and
That these statements be transmitted through the sessions of all the
particular churches of the Presbytery.
Rationale
All the ruling elders and Ministers of the Word and Sacrament
have promised to show the love and justice of Jesus Christ in their
ministries, especially in the context of the government and discipline
of the Church. We believe there is little justice in the way that church
property is considered to be held by the Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A).
Congregations should not be burdened by the expenses of purchasing,
building, and maintaining places of worship and study if they do not
ultimately control what happens to their buildings and property.
We maintain it is inadequate to say that the PCUSA owns the property of
all its member congregations because such a statement is present in the
Book of Order, because individual congregations didn't have an
opportunity to vote on whether that requirement would be in the Book of
Order. Presbyteries, not congregations, vote on changes to the Book of
Order. It is just as impossible for presbyteries to transfer titles to
property that they do not themselves hold as it is for the PCUSA simply
to assert that it has title to all the property of all its member
congregations.
We acknowledge that a clause stating that all property is held in trust
for the denomination was already in the PCUS Book of Order before
reunion. But neither the Presbytery of Central Mississippi nor the
Presbytery of South Mississippi approved of that change to the PCUS
constitution. It cannot be assumed that any congregation in the
Presbytery of Mississippi in fact wanted to transfer their property to
the PCUS through such a constitutional change.
While in 1983 the PCUSA Book of Order allowed a window of opportunity
for congregations to leave the new denomination with their property, it
is unreasonable to assume that because congregations did not leave that
they desired to transfer the title of their property to the PCUSA. There
are numerous reasons for staying within a denomination and numerous
reasons for leaving. It is quite possible that many congregations
disapproved of the property provisions in the Book of Order but wanted
to stay with their presbyteries for relational or ecclesiological
reasons.
The experience of the Presbytery of Mississippi proves this. The Central
Mississippi Presbytery voted in 1982, by a vote of 15 for and 40
against, to reject the changes to the PCUS book of order that included
the "use and benefit" clause. The same presbytery, one year
later, voted for reunion by a similar margin - 36 for and 19 against. It
is therefore irrefutable historical fact that many Mississippi
Presbyterians while favoring reunion opposed giving away their church
property. Simply staying within the denomination creates no implied
trust to benefit the PCUSA.
The Presbytery of Mississippi, by this action, expresses its trust in
its congregations. The Presbytery, however, cannot act on behalf of
higher governing bodies. It is possible that, while the Presbytery calls
for love and justice to be demonstrated where it comes to congregational
property, the Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.) may continue to claim
ownership of the property belonging to the congregations of the
Presbytery. Only the courts of the state of Mississippi can make final
determinations concerning the validity of such claims.
Through its antecedent presbyteries, the Presbytery of Mississippi has
gone on record as opposing the "use and benefit" clause of the
PCUSA constitution. And so as a matter of pursuing the love and justice
of Jesus Christ, the Presbytery of Mississippi will not interfere with
any of its member congregations which desire to act to clear their
titles of any claims made on them by the higher governing bodies of the
Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.). |