Posted on 08/16/2006 3:11:40 AM PDT by PAR35
The Presbytery of Prospect Hill in Iowa voted Monday night to order that Russ Westbrook, the pastor of Riverside Presbyterian Church in Linn Grove, Iowa, go on immediate administrative leave and that a presbytery administrative commission assume control of the congregation.
The presbytery was responding to a recommendation by the Riverside session to separate from the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a subsequent 74-0 vote by the congregation to endorse the session's recommendation.
The two-hour meeting of the presbytery was called specifically to deal with the convening of an administrative commission. But the agenda was modified – unconstitutionally, Westbrook claims – to include a proposal that Westbrook be immediately deposed and the amendment to place him on administrative leave with no authority to preach, teach or counsel. The deposition resolution was ruled out of order.
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The presbytery has no power to strip Westbrook of his ordination. He was ordained by the Reformed Church in America and remains affiliated with that denomination. By agreement between the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Reformed Church in America, congregations in those bodies are allowed to call ministers from either.
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(Excerpt) Read more at layman.org ...
The congregation has formally asked the presbytery to release "our congregation with all assets and property,
There's the rub, they can never let this happen or in a year or two they will be finished as a group. I hope the folks at this church have done their legal homework.
The actions of the denomination however have so wounded our conscience that no further fellowship with it can be had in Christian conviction.
A church is not a building, a church is not a steeple, a church is not a resting place a church is a people.
It's really all about this. PCUSA doesn't give a flying rip about losing the congregants, just the possibility of losing the assets.
A similar action by a mostly Korean congregation in Hollywood turned ugly last year. Members of the Pacific regional presbytery actually crashed a worship service, interjecting themselves into the service, creating confusion and intimidation. There were photos and videos of the event. Two ministers there were forced to step down.
PCUSA leadership is comprised of leftist radicals. Their tactics are easy to spot. I hope this congregation is successful in it's severance from the arabist koolaid drinkers of PCUSA.
It could affect the budget: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/1684601/posts?page=1
Thanks for the link. I hadn't seen that other thread.
Theologically correct, but some folks would rather put up with apostacy rather than leave the comfort of the building that they have known for a lifetime.
And the cost of having to build or buy new facilities does impact the funds available for mission. So when you let the denomination keep the assets, you have funded thier program at the expense of your own.
On the other hand, there is the witness to the community that comes from walking away from millions of dollars in property for the sake of the gospel.
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