 First Presbyterian Church in Corinth, Miss., v. St. Andrew Presbytery Agreement lets church leave PCUSA with property for EPC; presbytery to get $150,000; lawsuit to be dismissed By Patrick Jean Staff Writer The Layman Online Thursday, February 7, 2008 Exactly one year after a Mississippi church filed a property ownership lawsuit against St. Andrew Presbytery, the presbytery has agreed to let the congregation leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) with its property for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
In exchange for being dismissed with its property, the Corinth church will pay $150,000 to St. Andrew Presbytery. The first $25,000 installment is due within 30 days, with five more $25,000 payments to be made annually by the anniversary of the first payment. The lack of a dissenting vote came as a surprise to the Rev. Dr. Don Elliott, the Corinth church's pastor of 22 years. He said the stated meeting was going smoothly, but sometimes at such meetings there's a feeling that commissioners are "holding their guns for later." But at this meeting, "I could tell with my conversations. Everybody was cordial," Elliott said. "Many people were telling me, 'You know, we really think this is best,' 'Glad that there's an agreement,' and so on. So, it became clear that it was going to pass, but I was blown away that it was" without a dissenting vote. The whole thing took less than 30 minutes, he said. "I think it was because of the way we did it, which was to try to work with their administrative commission. And their administrative commission, when they got convinced the congregation wanted to leave, then they were willing to negotiate." "As you can see, part of that negotiation is that we were willing to settle the lawsuit, or dismiss it with prejudice," Elliott said. "I think both sides were really tired of the litigation that was going on." Origins of dispute The dispute involving the church, the presbytery and the PCUSA originated July 9, 2006. That's when First Presbyterian's session told the congregation that the church "cannot stay in the PCUSA as it stands now." Twenty-two days later, the session called for a six-month "season of prayer and discernment" to determine whether it would remain in the denomination. On Nov. 28, 2006, the session recommended to the congregation that "we go in the direction of leaving the PCUSA in 12 to 18 months or less and moving to a new place in another Presbyterian and Reformed denomination." The session shared that resolution Jan. 23, 2007, with St. Andrew Presbytery's committee on ministry. One day later, the committee on ministry sent a letter to Elliott informing him of the committee's pending report at the presbytery's stated meeting Feb. 6, 2007 that it "has directed the executive presbyter/stated clerk to begin the necessary legal proceedings to determine the presbytery's legal rights, and specifically to seek a declaratory judgment as to whether the courts in the state of Mississippi will recognize and uphold our constitution's trust clause." The letter also warned Elliott that "actively advocating for a congregation's withdrawal from the PCUSA is not an approved work." First Presbyterian filed suit Feb. 5, 2007 against the presbytery, seeking a declaratory judgment that it owns its property without interference by the presbytery or the PCUSA. A temporary restraining order was issued the same day. The lawsuit was filed to prevent the presbytery from taking action at its Feb. 6, 2007 meeting against First Presbyterian, one of the Jackson, Miss., attorneys representing the church said at the time. Final court stop; Administrative commission starts work On Feb. 13, 2007, the presbytery had the case moved to U.S. District Court when its attorney filed a notice of removal in federal court. But one week later, a federal judge remanded the case to Alcorn County Circuit Court. On March 13, 2007, the presbytery filed a motion to have the case moved to Alcorn County Chancery Court. The presbytery sought the transfer, said presbytery attorney J. Hale Freeland of Oxford, Miss., because chancery courts handle matters involving trusts and real property, while circuit courts hear contractual, civil and criminal cases. A circuit court judge ordered the lawsuit to chancery court April 17, 2007. Attorneys for both the church and the presbytery agreed that chancery court would be the final stop for the case. There also was a key development on the ecclesiastical front last spring. St. Andrew Presbytery, at its stated meeting May 1, 2007, authorized an administrative commission to direct the legal counsel of its defense against the lawsuit. The seven-member panel also was authorized "in accordance with G-9.0503a(4) of the Book of Order 'to visit particular churches, governing bodies or other organizations of the church reported to be affected with disorder, and to inquire and settle the difficulties therein.' " The administrative commission sent informational packets to every member of the Corinth church and led two congregational gatherings, then conducted a congregational survey and shared the results and the commission's conclusions with the church's session, Elliott said. The survey was the turning point, he said. "Before that, they were, I think, trying to convince us we shouldn't leave. After the survey, they became convinced that a majority of the congregation wanted to leave. So, they wanted to influence how we were going to leave. And that's really when we got into negotiations with them." 'Very little support … to remain' The administrative commission's consultations with the church are noted in its report to the presbytery at the Feb. 5, 2008, meeting. "It was clear to the commission, through its two meetings with the congregation, the results of the surveys and the meeting with the session, that there was very little support within the congregation to remain in the PCUSA," the report states. "The commission identified two essential matters of importance for the process of going forward:
Those teams, one representing the church and one representing the administrative commission, began meeting last fall, said Randy Long, a member of the church's negotiating team and a church elder. They were far apart at first, he said, "but everyone was operating in good faith, I believe, in trying to find a resolution." "We're believers together in Christ, and we need to please Him together like the Bible tells us to as fellow believers. As we progressed in those meetings, each meeting got better and better. We prayed before, during and after. It was unlike anything I've ever been a part of. "We just talked through this with a smaller group, which enabled us to work out something that was mutually agreeable to us both," Long said. "But it took three or four meetings. Some lasted, I don't think, any longer than an hour and a half. And some took as long as three hours. But (there was) a lot of prayer, and a lot of give and take." In December, the negotiating teams took their proposed settlement to the church's session and the administrative commission. Each approved it. The agreement included authorizing a congregational meeting to vote on whether to request that the presbytery dismiss the church with its property to the EPC. The church's session agreed to hold that meeting Dec. 23, Long said. More than 250 of the church's approximately 465 members attended the Dec. 23 meeting, Elliott said. Of those, he said, 246 members or 94 percent voted to request dismissal, 14 members or 5 percent voted against the request, and two members abstained. "That congregational vote was rather confirming about an overwhelming majority of the congregation in favor," Elliott said. "As elders, we kind of knew that all along." Terms of settlement, lawsuit's dismissal The congregational vote was noted in the settlement agreement that the administrative commission presented to the presbytery for its approval Feb. 5. The administrative commission made two recommendations to the presbytery:
The presbytery's vote to approve the settlement agreement and the lawsuit's dismissal is "seen as the official authorization for all of the terms of the settlement agreement plus the joint stipulation to take place," Elliott said. "I'm just so grateful for the graciousness finally resulting from presbytery and from our congregational session," Long said. "It just seems like the Lord smoothed out the rough edges for us, and there's not all this contentiousness and anger and bitterness. I know there's deep hurt feelings from some for a variety of things, but people were very kind today in spite of the heaviness of the situation." The St. Stephen Fund, which will receive the church's $150,000 payment to the presbytery, is the presbytery's new church development account, Elliott said. The administrative commission placed the stipulation on how the presbytery was to use the money, he said. As for the $150,000 figure, "They started real high and we started real low, and that's where we landed," Elliott said. "One dynamic, I think, that was going on with the money is that they wanted at least an amount equal to what they had spent on legal fees. And I don't know exactly what they spent on legal fees." What's next? The Corinth church will hold a congregational prayer meeting Feb. 6 in addition to its regular service, Elliott said. He will give a report about what happened at the presbytery meeting, as well as the next steps to be taken with the EPC. Elliott's also planning four days of renewal meetings April 20-23 called "Something Old, Something New: A New Beginning for an Established Church." "We're really wanting to stir up the congregation to see this as a new beginning and really deal with, just struggling with, 'Lord, what do you have for us next?' " he said. The church has sent its application to the EPC, Elliott said. The administrative commission for the transitional presbytery to receive churches directly into the EPC will meet to act on the application, he said. As the church's future becomes more settled, Elliott hopes its membership steadies as well. He said the rolls have fluctuated between about 30 gains and about 40 losses over the past 20 months, including eight members who departed Sunday because they didn't want to leave the PCUSA. The dismissal of the church's property ownership lawsuit against the presbytery will become official in 45 days unless a third party files a complaint, Elliott said. "We wondered about if there might be some members of the presbytery filing complaints, like what happened in Sacramento Presbytery," he said. "But ... it just feels real solid right now." Elliott expressed appreciation for the administrative commission and the presbytery "and how they did their business with us. … I've been in this presbytery 22 years, and I said goodbye to a lot of friends today," he said. "But what was interesting, some of those conversations went to, 'We're not going to be in the same presbytery, but our paths are going to cross again.'" Long agreed. "I'm just amazed at how the Lord can work things out," he said. "And it's really a lot of mixed emotions because, as Don pointed out, there's a lot of friendships and relationships that have existed through this presbytery. A feeling of sadness that those relationships are changing. But we are all still part of the Body of Christ, and there are ways that our ministries are going to overlap. And I know the Lord's going to use it for the good of all of us involved." The church is looking forward to resuming delayed planning for building projects, Long said. "I feel like we as a church can get back to many things that we were used to as a church," he said. "But I'm mostly excited about what God has in store for us now. He's brought us through this difficult period, and now we've got to look ahead. It's not just a time to sit down and listen to Rev. Elliott preach and do nothing. We've got to get out and love one another and spread the Gospel." 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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