 Peters Creek United Presbyterian Church Pennsylvania church that filed property ownership lawsuit to vote Sept. 9 on leaving PCUSA for EPC By Patrick Jean Staff Writer The Layman Online Friday, September 7, 2007 A Pittsburgh-area church that went to court to be declared the owner of its property has scheduled a congregational vote Sept. 9 on whether to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) for the smaller, more conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
The church's session will meet Sept. 10 to respond to the vote and decide how to officially report it to the presbytery, Howard said. The administrative commission will decide whether to recommend the church's dismissal and whether the church must meet any conditions, such as making a monetary donation to the presbytery in exchange for being released with its property. The administrative commission is scheduled to make a report to presbytery commissioners at their stated meeting Sept. 11, but no action is scheduled, according to the meeting docket on the presbytery's Web site. The next stated meeting is Nov. 13, but Howard said a special meeting could be called before that to address Peters Creek Church's dismissal request. Washington Presbytery's general presbyter, the Rev. Dr. David Bleivik, did not return a phone call from The Layman Online seeking comment. Will policy terms be honored? Presbytery commissioners July 10 approved a policy stating that the property of a church considered for dismissal from the PCUSA will be "held in trust … based upon resolution of any outstanding debts and dedicated endowments." However, Howard said presbytery officials told him the policy doesn't apply in this situation since it was approved after his church originally scheduled a congregational meeting to vote on requesting dismissal. That meeting initially was scheduled for June 10, but was postponed to allow the church's negotiating team and the presbytery's administrative commission to talk, he said. Howard hopes presbytery commissioners still will honor the terms of the policy when they vote on his church's dismissal request. Revised injunction allows for talks
Both sides agreed to a revised temporary injunction in mid-June that allowed negotiations to begin, Howard said. "We were working on protection, and they were working on boundaries. And we've done everything that they have asked us to do," he said. The church agreed that it would give the administrative commission 10 days notice before calling a congregational vote on requesting dismissal from the PCUSA, Howard said. In return, the administrative commission agreed to give the church 10 days notice before attempting action such as replacing Howard or the church's session or staff or assuming original jurisdiction of the church, he said. The 10-day window would let each side go to court to challenge the other side's planned action. The Sept. 9 voting date was agreed to by both sides, Howard said. Complaint sits dormant In the meantime, the church's complaint seeking "quiet title" claim to its property – filed May 9 along with its request for a temporary injunction – sits dormant. It hasn't been withdrawn from the court, but it's not moving forward on the court docket, either. "My understanding is the judge (Paul Pozonsky) is hoping that the presbytery and the congregation will reach an agreement on this, and that the case will not need to be heard by the court. Both sides will withdraw it in a mutual agreement," Howard said. "In other words, the court wants us to deal with it with the presbytery – which is what we're trying to do, which is what we've always wanted to do. We just wanted protection in the process." Dismissal with its property would end an ordeal for the church that began last year with its plans to build a Christian education building. Property was purchased next to the existing facility, but Howard said church members expressed concern with denominational problems that included:
Howard said he approached the presbytery earlier this year about his church being given clear title to its new land and the Christian education building that would be built on the property. But he claims he was stonewalled, and that a follow-up attempt by his elders was rejected because the presbytery did not yet have a policy for congregations wanting to leave the denomination. The church session decided April 24 to recommend that the congregation vote for requesting dismissal to the EPC. The congregation was told about the recommendation at a May 6 meeting that was attended by presbytery officials. Two days later, Washington Presbytery commissioners approved the administrative commission for Peters Creek Church and were first presented with the proposed policy for churches that want to leave the PCUSA. The church went to court a day later. 'God's hand has been with us' Members of the administrative commission will be at the church Sept. 9 to observe the registration process, the meeting, the ballot counting and the report of the vote to the congregation, Howard said. They are not scheduled to address the congregation and have not asked to do so, he said. Administrative commission members have met multiple times with the church negotiating team, twice with Howard, at least once with the church session and have spoken with pastoral staff members, Howard said. They also hosted three meetings with the congregation – two forums in July and a presentation Aug. 26 about staying in the PCUSA, he said. The church has held about 20-to-25 congregational forums and meetings over the past year leading up to the vote, Howard said. Questions from congregation members, he said, primarily have dealt with:
"This really has been, in my mind, clear that God's hand has been with us and blessed us in our deliberations, discussions and leadership." Patrick Jean is a staff writer for The Layman and The Layman Online. He can be reached at pjean@layman.org. |
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