Court to hear appeal in Confessing Church case The Layman Online Monday, August 19, 2002 The Synod of the South Atlantic will review the case of a Florida congregation whose session has been accused of "contumacy" because it has not recanted a Confessing Church resolution. The appeal of the case is docketed for 2 p.m. Sept. 12 in the synod offices in Jacksonville, Fla. One of the central issues in the case is whether the Sebastian session had the authority to adopt a Confessing Church resolution. Norman F. Blessing, a Sebastian elder who brought the action against the session, contended in his complaint and on the witness stand that the session had no such authority. "Normally, elders don't get into issues of this magnitude," Blessing testified. He said the essential work of sessions was church finances and scheduling events and that elders don't have "the authority to deal with spiritual issues." The Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of Central Florida heard the case – Blessing v. the Session of First Presbyterian Church in Sebastian – on Feb. 20. At a previous hearing, the court sent the Sebastian session a letter "requesting" – the exact word used in the commission's letter - that it recant key provisions of its Confessing Church resolution, which is identical or similar to resolutions adopted by 1,276 congregations in the Presbyterian Church (USA). The Sebastian session, contending that its resolution is firmly rooted in Scripture and The Book of Confessions, did not comply with the request. Court observers said that, regardless of the court's ruling, the case is likely to be appealed to the highest court in the denomination – the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly.

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