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First Presbyterian Church of Quincy and the Presbytery of Great Rivers have reached an agreement that will allow the church an orderly transfer to a different denomination while keeping its building and grounds. First Presbyterian will pay the presbytery $196,000 on Jan. 9, a figure that allows the church to be sole owner of the property and facilities at 1027 S. 24th. The agreement also releases both parties from any future claims, damages or demands. *** First Presbyterian Church also will change its name before March. Part of the agreement with the presbytery allows First Presbyterian to temporarily use that...

A magistrate in Summit County Common Pleas Court has ruled that the property at Hudson Presbyterian Church belongs to the faction of the congregation that voted to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Magistrate John Shoemaker on Friday rejected the argument of the Eastminster Presbytery that all property of the church is held in trust for the denomination as outlined in the PCUSA constitution. - snip - He also said that the presbytery's attorney is filing objections to the magistrate's ruling because it contradicts the denomination's constitution.

One of south Louisiana’s largest Presbyterian churches is splitting with the nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination. Baton Rouge’s First Presbyterian Church announced in an e-mail Sunday that its members had voted 425-61 that morning to end a 25-year association with the Presbyterian Church (USA) -snip- Also, First Presbyterian, a church of about 1,500 members with Sunday attendance of about 700, plans to continue financial support to the presbytery during a five-year transition period.

Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church was dismissed from the Pittsburgh Presbytery yesterday so it could join a more conservative denomination -- the first of what could be several votes over divisive theological and ecclesiastical questions. - snip - According to the settlement between the presbytery and the 400-member church, Beverly Heights will keep its building and land -- together valued at more than $1 million -- and the rights to its name. In exchange, it will pay the presbytery $250,000 over 10 years and forfeit $46,655 in a trust account. - snip -

Two of the largest churches in the Sacramento Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA) are requesting that the presbytery dismiss them to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church in Fair Oaks, Calif., the presbytery's largest congregation with 2,286 members, and First Presbyterian Church in Roseville, Calif., the presbytery's third-largest congregation with 1,143 members, held congregational votes Oct. 14 on seeking dismissal. At Fair Oaks, 1,179 voted to request dismissal and 39 voted to stay in the PCUSA, the church's Web site stated. About 1,700 members were at the worship service that preceded the vote and 1,218 of them...

-snip- A downtown church has taken the unusual step of opening its parking lot to as many as 150 people who sleep on cardboard mats or blankets under the nightly protection of a security guard. Two portable toilets are provided by the church. First Presbyterian Church recently established the "safe haven" because police in this city — known for intolerance of the homeless — have started removing people found sleeping in public places. -snip- "A majority of property crimes in downtown Dallas are caused by the homeless. I'm not saying all homeless commit crimes, but the suspects, arrested persons we...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The Episcopal Church isn't the only mainline Protestant group shaken by open conflict between theological liberals and conservatives. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is facing similar trials, with traditionalist congregations planning to bolt and a conservative denomination preparing to take them in. About 30 of the nearly 11,000 Presbyterian congregations have voted to leave the national church since the denomination's national assembly session in 2006, according to The Layman, a conservative Presbyterian publication that has been tracking the breakaways. Denominational leaders say they could lose an additional 20 congregations as a result of this latest rupture. The...

NOT ALL OF Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's encounters in New York during his recent trip were testy. The Shiite theocrat had what the New York Times called a "warm, even friendly exchange" with 150 church officials at the United Methodist Women's Church Center for the United Nations. One sponsor, the Mennonite Central Committee, called the gathering a "time of dialogue and prayerful reflection among the children of Abraham." A Mennonite official further explained that "mutual respect and graciousness in this conversation blunts the demonization which is part of the current rhetoric of both governments." The meeting is the third between...

SOMERSET — With a growing frustration with the national organizations that oversee them, many congregants at two local churches are considering cutting ties with their national groups and forming a new church. Church leaders at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church and St. Francis-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church said they have been talking with members about the direction of national church groups they are affiliated with. -snip- If both congregations agree, members would split from their denominations and erect a new building in Somerset Township where worshipers would come together as members of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

'Tsunami' Hits Presbyterians; Dramatic Changes Ahead Top officials of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have come to the conclusion that they cannot continue "doing church" the way they have been. Fri, Sep. 21, 2007 Posted: 15:57:06 PM EST Top officials of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have come to the conclusion that they cannot continue "doing church" the way they have been. Churches within the PC(USA), the nation's largest Presbyterian body, have "hit the wall" and "come to the end of the string," seeking new directions amid a growing exodus from the denomination. "It is as if a tsunami of change has...

Those who use the Bible to deny equal rights to gays and lesbians are misusing and distorting Scripture, the Rev. Jack Rogers believes. Rogers, the former moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), will speak Friday and Saturday in Lincoln about the need to end discrimination against homosexuals, both in church and throughout American society. It’s part of a Midwest lecture tour based on Rogers’ book “Jesus, the Bible and Homosexuality: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church” (Westminster John Knox Press, $17.95), which was published in March 2006. Rogers, who has been on the faculty of Fuller and San Francisco theological...

In a case that potentially may affect many California congregations – including some in the Presbyterian Church (USA) – that seek to be declared the owners of their church properties, the state's Supreme Court unanimously has agreed to review a lower court's ruling regarding property issues. The Sept. 12 decision came in response to a petition by three Episcopal congregations – St. James Anglican Church in Newport Beach, All Saints' Church in Long Beach and St. David's Anglican Church in North Hollywood – that sought the review in an effort to overturn a July ruling by Division Three of the...

Peters Creek Presbyterian Church voted 273-86 yesterday to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA ) for the more theologically conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The vote -- which included two abstentions -- represented more than half the church's full membership of 595 and just over 75 percent of the 361 ballots cast. Those percentages would meet the standard that Washington Presbytery set in July to consider allowing churches that want to move to the other denomination to do so along with their property. But because Peters Creek initiated its move before that plan was adopted, the presbytery is not required to consider...

SAN FRANCISCO - A Presbyterian minister has received the lightest possible punishment after being found guilty of violating church law by officiating at the weddings of two lesbian couples. A regional judicial committee of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ruled that the actions by the Reverend Jane Spahr of San Rafael, California, were at odds with the denomination's constitution. But the court gave Spahr the mildest penalty it could -- a rebuke -- which amounts to a warning not to do it again. She could have been removed from ministry. Spahr, who came out as a lesbian three decades ago, is...

San Francisco (AP) -- A veteran Presbyterian minister was found guilty of violating church law for officiating the weddings of two lesbian couples, the minister's defense team said Friday. A regional judicial committee of the Presbyterian Church (USA) ruled 6-2 that while the Rev. Jane Spahr of San Rafael "acted with conscience and conviction," her actions were still at odds with the church's constitution, her defense team said in a statement.

A goodwill trip became a near-death experience for 10 Highland Park Presbyterian Church members ambushed and robbed in a Kenyan jungle this month. Some of the members, who visited a small village northeast of Nairobi, were beaten by four men armed with rifles and a machete as they threatened: "We will kill somebody tonight." -snip- Church members hoped to work with engineers on an irrigation project that would save villagers an eight-mile trek each way for water. They also brought items such as Bibles and school and medical supplies for the villagers.

The Rev. Dave Peterson got tired of watching members of his denomination vanish. In 40 years, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) lost half its membership, dwindling from 4.2 million to 2.1 million. "It's amazing to me that we have paid so little attention to that drastic statistic," said Peterson, senior pastor of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church of Houston. In an effort to stop the bleeding, Peterson has joined half a dozen other clergy to plan the second Presbyterian Global Fellowship Annual Conference next week in Houston. Organizers expect 800 people to attend, and although the focus is on the Presbyterian Church,...

Would Jesus Eat at McDonald's? Saturday 11th Aug 2007 by David Paulin The intellectual elite of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have in recent years joined ranks with the radical left. Its members vilify Israel, apologize for Islamic terrorists, and cheer on the Palestinian cause. Now, these Presbyterians have another villain: the Big Mac. America’s most famous hamburger is emblematic of the dark underbelly of globalization, according to David Hadley Jensen, an associate professor of something called “constructive theology” at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas. On top of that, McDonald’s and its iconic burger are even at odds with...

The Israeli/Palestinian conflict continues to be played out on the world stage of politics in a theater of highly charged emotions influencing public opinion. In the latest act the world has suddenly realized that western civilization is now fighting the same murders and suicide bombers that Israel has been fighting during this 60 year drama. Names like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Huzballah, Islamic Brotherhood, once only associated with the Arab/Israeli conflict, are now identified by intelligence services worldwide as terrorist organizations operating in the West. Their goal is to destroy our world in an Islamic Jihad, forcing those who survive to...

An Indiana church that was granted its request to be dismissed from the Presbyterian Church (USA) late last year is now being sued by the Presbytery of Ohio Valley and the Synod of Lincoln Trails over the church's property. Olivet Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Evansville is one of two defendants in the lawsuit, which was filed July 2 in Vanderburgh County Circuit Court in Evansville. The other defendant is the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, which the Olivet congregation joined after leaving the PCUSA. ... 6. Require "an accounting of the accounts for … funds received by the defendants before and after...