I made a decision a while back to not worry about posting the updates and details of the several and on-going cases where churches are leaving the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (PC(USA)), particularly those associated with the New Wineskins Association of Churches (NWAC) and particularly those moving to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC).  The reasons for my not covering them in detail are many:  Others, particularly the blog PresbyLaw and the Layman Online, are already doing a good job keeping all of us up-to-date on the details.  Also, while each case is different, many can be grouped in the different categories of “leaving with property,” “leaving with property after a settlement with the presbytery,” “leaving without property,” and those that are still in the process tied up in either church processes or civil litigation.  So, not to deny the significance of any individual church, from a process point of view I was afraid that blogging the individual cases would start to sound repetitive.  Finally, it looked like posting updates on the 60-100 churches that are going through this would consume a good portion of my blogging time that I would rather target to a broader range of polity issues.

Having said that, I do want to comment on the current high-profile case since it has a number of interesting distinctives.

At a congregational meeting yesterday the members of Memorial Park Presbyterian Church in Allison Park, PA, voted by a margin of 664-25 to leave the PC(USA).  Among the distinctives of Memorial Park are that it is the largest church in Pittsburgh Presbytery with over 1650 members and the senior pastor, the Rev. Dr. D. Dean Weaver, is the co-moderator of the New Wineskins Association of Churches.  But the most distinctive thing that brought them to the vote yesterday was the way in which this journey unfolded.

The first vote was on June 3, 2007, when the congregation voted 951-93 to request dismissal from the PC(USA) to the EPC. ( church press release)  Memorial Park then began negotiating with the Pittsburgh Presbytery to be dismissed.  It should surprise none of us that the negotiations were basically about money, at least if the latest information is accurate.  According to a letter the church sent out on January 3, 2008, the church and the presbytery were far apart on offers and request, and no progress had been made in several months.  The church then initiated legal action to secure the property (“quiet title claim”) in the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. ( Pittsburgh Post-Gazett Article)  Following the court filing the Presbytery’s Administrative Commission appears to have tried to invoke “original jurisdiction” and take control of the church, including the instruction that the congregational meeting yesterday be canceled.  The church requested from the Common Pleas Court, and got, an injunction against the presbytery so that the meeting could procede.  The Presbytery agreed not to further contest the injunction as long as the church did not transfer the property yet.  At the meeting the congregation voted 664-25 to dissolve all ties to the PC(USA) and affiliate with the EPC.  ( Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Article about the new developments)  Following the court filing the Presbytery also sent a letter out to members of the Presbytery.

That is where the case sits at this moment, but this is far from over.  Because the congregation now considers itself a member of the EPC, or at least not a member of the PC(USA), the Administrative Commission should have no further power or authority.  The Presbytery emphasizes that the church did not follow the process for departure and was never released, therefore it is still a PC(USA) congregation.  As you can probably guess, Judge Judith L. Friedman of the Court of Common Pleas will probably have the next, but certainly not the last, say on this.  Court arguments will resume tomorrow.