 The Empire Strikes Back: Synod's Action, EPC-related overture show hostility of Louisville towards local congregations By Patrick Jean Staff Writer The Layman Online Wednesday, April 30, 2008
"That's a nice way of saying it acted in haste and ignorance," Lloyd Lunceford, a Baton Rouge attorney, told The Layman Online. Lunceford served from 1995 through 2002 on the board of directors for the Presbyterian Lay Committee, which publishes The Layman and The Layman Online. Executive committee and plenary members of the Synod of the Sun, meeting Friday in Irving, Texas, appointed the administrative commission "to examine concerns regarding church property and presbytery leadership" in South Louisiana Presbytery, according to a synod news release. The 13-member commission, "by the review of records and by whatever face-to-face conversations the commission deems helpful, shall determine the validity of the presbytery's procedures and decisions (past, present and future) regarding various congregations and their properties," stated a document from the synod meeting, a copy of which was obtained by The Layman Online. "All pending and future decisions regarding property in the Presbytery of South Louisiana shall require the approval of the commission. "This commission also shall listen to other expressions of concern and/or dissatisfaction with presbytery leadership and make suggestions as to ways the presbytery can move toward a fuller expression of the ministry of Christ's church," the document stated. "This commission shall make either an 'in progress' or a final report to the adjourned meeting of the synod Oct. 24, 2008, and at each stated meeting thereafter until the work is completed." Letter precipitates action The commission was requested in a letter to synod Executive Judy Fletcher from 10 South Louisiana Presbytery church pastors and elders that expressed concern "regarding our presbytery's leadership, particularly pertaining to the presbytery's response to churches seeking title to their properties, a step that in some cases has led to those same churches seeking dismissal from our denomination." Presbytery leaders "conducted negotiations on matters of property and dismissal while giving insufficient consideration to the protocols set forth in our church's constitution pertaining to those matters," stated the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Layman Online. "As a result, we believe that the valid interests of the presbytery, and its member churches, have been insufficiently consulted." The letter, dated April 8, was signed by the Rev. Neale Miller, pastor of Lakeview Presbyterian Church in New Orleans. Listed as co-signers were six pastors – the Rev. Kathleen Crighton of Metairie Ridge Presbyterian Church in Metairie; the Rev. Dr. Donald Frampton of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church in New Orleans; the Rev. Dr. Cliff Nunn of First Presbyterian Church in New Orleans; the Rev. Dr. Rick Pitcher of Baton Rouge; the Rev. Tom Reighney of First Presbyterian Church in Jennings and First Presbyterian Church in Welsh; and the Rev. Fred Seay of First Presbyterian Church in Lake Charles – and three elders: Zane Fisher, Sherri Hutton and Lisa Pretus of First Presbyterian Church in New Orleans. Fletcher met April 22 with members of South Louisiana Presbytery's council, the synod's news release stated. That same day, they sent a letter to the synod's council in which they supported the formation of an administrative commission, but requested "that it not be given the power to assume original jurisdiction." "We concur that our presbytery would benefit from outside consultation, on an ongoing and consistent basis, to help us move into healthier relationships among ourselves, the synod and denomination," stated the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Layman Online. "We look forward to an incisive and pastoral relationship which brings honor to Jesus Christ and His Church." The synod's action followed three days later, at its April 24-25 meeting. It came 14 months after the synod's Administrative Review Committee found the presbytery conflicted twice with the PCUSA's Book of Order in its November 2006 determination that First Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge owns its property and recommended that the synod "be more pro-active in assisting presbyteries in such difficult situations." Blogs, e-mail blast action Reaction to the synod's action was fast and furious. "I believe this action takes an unprecedented further step in enacting the 'Louisville Papers' brand of religion," the Rev. Bill Crawford, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Thibodaux, La., told The Layman Online. "The Synod of the Sun, at the request of 1/20th of the voting members of the Presbytery of South Louisiana, has assumed jurisdictional power to decide all property issues for PSL," Crawford wrote on his Bayou Christian blog. "Furthermore, it is empowering this commission to revisit all past decisions of the presbytery regarding property." Crawford's church, along with Woodland Presbyterian Church in New Orleans, filed suit against South Louisiana Presbytery last summer, seeking judgments that they, and not the presbytery or the PCUSA, are the owners of their properties. The presbytery approved stipulated final judgments in the cases in October 2007, the presbytery reported in the November 2007 edition of its Leadership Letter newsletter. "The request for this administrative commission should have been heard and dismissed," Crawford wrote on his blog. "The property; it's not yours, it's not theirs, it's someone else's. That's when you get it – it isn't Essential Tenets – it's Essential Tenants" (emphasis added). The synod's decision essentially "suspends the right of the presbytery to make decisions about whether churches may be dismissed to another denomination with their property," wrote the Rev. David S. Fischler, assistant pastor for church planting at Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Kingstowne, Va., on his Reformed Pastor blog. "[W]hich means, as I read it, that the provision of the PCUSA Book of Order that allows presbyteries to do just that has been usurped … . "I suspect that the synod would not have taken such a provocative, indeed potentially destructive, course of action without approval from Louisville," Fischler wrote. "As it is, they have encouraged an entire presbytery to consider itself disciplined by higher authority simply for allowing churches to do what they are constitutionally permitted to do. They've also, not incidentally, confirmed what lots of observers including me have thought all along, which is that for much of the PCUSA's leadership, it is all about the property, and little if anything else." Fischler also said the decision "runs utterly contrary" to Presbyterian polity in which "the presbytery, not the denomination, is the basic unit of governance, which is why decisions such as forming and dissolving churches, ordaining ministers and approving pastoral calls is vested in the presbytery." "I suggest that it brings to an end the presumption in congregations, sessions and presbyteries that the delegation of powers contained in the Book of Order still exist," wrote Michael R. "Mac" McCarty, a Philadelphia attorney, ordained elder and member of Forks of the Brandywine Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Glenmoore, Pa., on his Around the Scuttlebutt blog. "Imperial Louisville intends to come down hard on any congregation that asserts its rights. Any presbytery that acts on its conscience and good judgment to apply the Book of Order in any way other than that demanded by Louisville will also be suppressed. "Coupled with the scheme cooked up by Louisville to get a presbytery to make the unfounded allegation that the EPC is 'recruiting' PCUSA churches as a basis of referring the matter to the WARC [World Alliance of Reformed Churches] … for a 'fair investigation,' this action by the Synod of the Sun signals that the Empire is striking back," McCarty wrote. "The Presbyterian Polity Wars have taken a decidedly historic turn for the worse," wrote the Rev. Toby Brown, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Cuero, Texas, on his A Classical Presbyterian blog. "This is one of the worst examples of Presbyterians behaving badly that we have seen since the ReImagining God conference debacle of the '90s." (The 1993 conference, which was sponsored by the PCUSA, espoused a radical revision of Christian doctrine that refuted the maleness of God and the atoning work of Jesus Christ.) "For if this Star Chamber-like execution of 'justice' stands, our presbyterian form of government will crumble," Brown wrote. "Our votes are meaningless when we take them. Liberty gives way to tyranny." "As local counsel to many of the particular churches involved here in South Louisiana, I have a personal familiarity with this situation that provides a perspective that may help put this recent development in context," Lunceford told The Layman Online. "The Synod of the Sun acted precipitously and without full information. That's a nice way of saying it acted in haste and ignorance. Although an action directed at one presbytery in the Gulf South, the appointment by a synod of an administrative commission to remove property authority from a presbytery is an action with national implications. "Was the presbytery in 'schism,' because 1/20th of its members did not like the result of the presbytery's democratic process?" Lunceford wrote. "What about respecting the decisions of the other 114 presbyters? The presbytery's votes followed extensive deliberation by its own lawyer and council, and individualized, church-by church evaluation. The presbytery meetings themselves were all noticed and conducted decently and in order, with no procedural irregularities alleged, much less appealed to a synod court. "What was the synod's basis or standard of review, then, when deciding to acquiesce to the request of the … disgruntled presbyters?" Lunceford wrote. "I don't know if the PSL has a basis for appeal to the GA PJC [General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission], or if it does whether it will. "It is reasonable to believe that the synod took this unprecedented step only after first consulting with Louisville, which is only too eager to fire a chilling shot across the bows of presbyteries nationwide," Lunceford wrote. "All of this should prompt a huge national hue and cry, from renewal organizations and from presbyteries of all stripes. Locally though, within the PSL, I suspect that after some initially expressed consternation this sad situation will in sheep-like fashion become the new normal. Regardless, the synod's action is an insult to Alan Cutter, the PSL general presbyter, the PSL Council, and the vast majority of the entire PSL all of whom have been doing heroic work in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita." Official reaction more muted Reaction from presbytery and synod officials was more muted. Cutter said he sent an e-mail to presbyters Monday explaining the synod's decision and that he was to begin a previously planned two-week vacation Tuesday. He declined to comment specifically on the synod's decision, but said he doesn't see it as the synod going on a rampage. "I expect they'll come in, sit down and we'll have some interesting conversations over the summer," he said. Fletcher was not in the synod office Monday and could not be reached for comment. "This is one part of the church body helping another part," she said in the synod's news release. The administrative commission's 13 members represent every presbytery in the Synod of the Sun except South Louisiana, the synod's news release stated. Commission members are:
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