(Post Gazette) Both sides in the case of a Washington County church that obtained a temporary restraining order against Washington Presbytery have agreed to work out ground rules that will enable them to negotiate further about when and how Peters Creek Presbyterian Church can leave the Presbyterian Church (USA). Read more...
Because the “Trust Clause” of the PC(USA)’s constitution gives the local Presbytery the right to a church’s property should the congregation decide to leave the denomination, expect more fights like this one. One such fight in Ohio now has the state’s Attorney General involved. The story….
2 comments:
The sad part of the Peters Creek Story is that Washington Presbytery, declaring that it "did not want to use property as a hostage," and taking 1 Corinthians 6:1-7 seriously about "Christians not going to court," was feverishly developing a plan (coming up for approval in July) to let churches leave with property, without penalty, without going to court ... after an appropriate time of mutual discussion (at least 4 months) to make sure minority voices were heard. Peters Creek, not wanting to wait that long, at the end of April called for a June 10 vote to leave, then took out a restraining order against the Presbytery when it responded the only way it could (according to the PCUSA "Book of Order" -- to which Peters Creek had formerly subscribed).
Thanks for the additional interesting information. In the Beaver-Butler Presbytery, we are also discussing a procedure to insure that all voices are heard.
Paul’s admonition is especially applicable in these situations.
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