California minister: Enforce constitution or lose per capita By Paula R. Kincaid The Layman Volume 35, Number 2 Posted April 8, 2002 ATLANTA – Saying “enough is enough,” the Rev. John Huffman of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, Calif., has called for holding accountable those who have declared that they are defying the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). John Huffman In an address at the National Celebration of Confessing Churches, Huffman said he will ask the St. Andrews session to take action to cut off its per-capita payments if the constitution is not enforced. The sessions of dozens of congregations have announced that they will not abide by the constitutional prohibition against ordaining self-affirming, practicing homosexuals. Some openly serve communion to people who are not professed Christians or baptized, as required by the constitution. Huffman forewarned “I have been warned not to say this because charges may be brought for disturbing the peace, but there are those who have been disturbing the peace for decades and have not been held accountable,” he said. Huffman suggested that churches be given a 10-month period to comply with the constitution and if, by January 2003, there is not compliance in spirit and in detail, then he will recommend to his session that it put its per-capita money into an interest-building escrow account. Then in January 2004, if churches still are not complying with the constitution, the funds will be redirected for mission. ‘Fight the good fight’ He said all in his audience held one thing in common – “a deep love for the Presbyterian Church (USA). Everyone of us has had ample opportunities to leave and go elsewhere. We have not. We are here because we love this church. I will stay and fight the good fight, and I will take seriously the words of Jude who calls us to contend for the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints.” He applauded the defeat of Amendment 01-A, but said the debate was “not an issue of human sexuality as much as it is an issue of Biblical authority.” Declaring that the battle is not over, Huffman said there are three areas of concern – first, the undermining of confessional standards; second, that the “majority of our denominational leaders are on the other side. Our surveys prove that, their actions prove it;” and, third, the tendency of the human heart toward sin.

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