Thursday, May 31, 2012
Government and Church Interactions
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Super majority of Georgia church leaves PCUSA after presbytery takeover UPDATED
- Silver Creek Presbyterian Church
- Silver Creek. GA
- 136-year-old Georgia church
- Session unanimously requested dismissal from the PCUSA to the EPC. February, 2012
- Moving to EPC - temporary name: New Covenant Fellowship
- Former Silver Creek pastor Jack Foley, who along with the church’s active elders renounced PCUSA jurisdiction on Thursday
- 65 members (77%) left + pastor
- 10-20? members stayed?
- 2010 Statistics: 96 members / 57 worship / $137,025 Contributions
- 2011 Statistics: 94 members / 56 worship
- Cherokee Presbytery
- Presbytery officials are calling a schism
- Presbytery response team, seemed to pre-ordain a schism.
- UPDATE: May 2012 Presbytery Handbook for meeting May 22, shows AC/RT for Silver Creek, Mars Hill, Dalton First
- Feb 28, 2012, Presbytery approved to complete the dissolving of Euharlee Presbyterian Church as requested by the membership
- Handbook Supplement-with RT letters:
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Longview TX, First Presbyterian Church splits from PCUSA
- news Journal Story: First Presbyterian Church of Longview members vote to leave denomination
- News From Grace Presbytery
- Opinion by member of EPC Longview: Bartlett: Can city be blessed by church split?
- 282(76%)-84(23%)-6(1%) (EPC-PCUSA-building)
- Six voting to stay with the property regardless of denomination affiliation
- Session voted, 21-3, to seek dismissal. April 3, 2012
- Grace Presbytery
- Synod of the Sun
- Administrative commission!
- the departing group would have services Sunday in a church at 600 W. Garfield St., a building that once housed First Lutheran Church
- PCUSA (84+6)24% will continue to worship at original building. FPC Longview
Monday, May 21, 2012
FPC Greenville, SC votes to move to ECO
- First Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC
- ~1,500 Congregation voted: 97% to move to ECO
- 3,647 members (14%)
- 1,950 attendance (21%)
- $4,791,259 contributions (19%)
- Foothills Presbytery
- Synod of South Atlantic
- The next presbytery meeting is August 18 at Seneca Presbyterian Church, 9:00 AM.
- Considered "Gracious Dismissal Process" at Feb 2012 meeting - Results?
- 68 churches
- 25,678 members
- 9,302 attendance
- $24,973,095 contributions
Friday, May 18, 2012
5 churches leave PCUSA - Presbytery of Mississippi - UPDATED 3x
Layman Online Story: Dismissal votes shear a third of Mississippi Presbytery’s members
- Presbytery of Mississippi dismissed 5 churches on May 17, 2012
- On April 29, Pascagoula & Ocean Springs voted individually to disaffiliate from the PCUSA
Church, Membership, Worship,Contributions from 2010 PCUSA numbers.
- First Presbyterian Church of Pascagoula - 602/200/$600,000 - EPC
- First Presbyterian Church of Ocean Springs - 507/204/$428,000- EPC
- First Presbyterian Church of Port Gibson - 162/110/$136,000 - ?
Going Inside: Port Gibson’s First Presbyterian: Hand Pointing To Heaven - First Presbyterian Church of Vicksburg - 386/230/$669,000 - ?
- Yokena Presbyterian Church - 33/20/$36,000 - ?
listed in the National Register of Historical Places.
Thanks to the Presbytery for the quick response to my email inquiry.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Longview TX, First Presbyterian Church might split from national group
- First Presbyterian Church of Longview, TX
- Congregation will vote Sunday, May 20, 2012 on request to dismiss - non-binding
- Session voted, 21-3, to seek dismissal. April 3, 2012
- Members: 742, Worship 280 NOTE: Unlike most PCUSA churches, there numbers have increased steadily over the last 10 years. 15% membership and 3% worship
- Found 1874
- (Ed:) Note how the article only tells the story from the pro-gay side. The first comment on the article, I would consider hate speech.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
9 Churches leave PCUSA - UPDATED 4X
Sun Sentinel Story: Local Presbyterians vote on split today.
Layman Story: with more details
Layman Online Story: Tropical Florida presbytery agrees to dismiss nine churches
- Presbytery of Tropical Florida.(57 local churches)
- more than 3,800 of the 13,425 people will leave (28%)
- Faith Presbyterian, Pembroke Pines: (Members/Worship:51/30/$233,173) - EPC - $17,615 + $7,393
- Memorial Presbyterian Church (broken link), West Palm Beach: (462/198/$534,519) - ECO - $28,170 + $5,000
- All Villages, Port St Lucie West: (2008: 184/94/$153,553)- ECO - $12,300 + $1,000
- Grace Community (was FPC?), Boca Raton: (1,050/422/$875,000)- ECO - $82,000 + $27,00
- Kirk of the Keys, Marathon: (72/138/$169,000)- ECO - $6,762 + $1,000
- Palm City PC, Palm City: (544/280/$984,252)- ECO - $46,856 + $3,000
- Indian River, Ft Pierce: (2004: 663/427/$766,375)- ECO - $59,250 + $12,000 + $75,000 (lot)
- FPC, North Palm Beach: (1731/741/$1,917,153)- ECO - $105,359 + $20,000
- FPC, Miami Springs: (73/69/$151,560)- ECO - $0
Members/Worship/Contributions+The amounts they have to pay to get out of PCUSA
NOTE: Missing Church: Central PC, Miami (Kendall)(394/227) from old list on Layman
(Ed.) The paper did not list all 9, I will update from the Presbytery document even it was not very accurate with church names or cities, compared to PCUSA official documentation. Hopefully, I guessed what that meant.
This Presbytery keeps its minutes encrypted! Are they ashamed of their meetings?
Carmen Fowler, executive director of the national Presbyterian Lay Committee:
- "About 200 churches have left since 2007"
- "They see the handwriting on the wall, They can let [congregations] leave with the possibility of a reunion, or they burn their bridges."
Monday, May 14, 2012
Congregation's final service small in numbers but not love
- 140-year-old church, organized in 1872
- Festus, MO, 11,602 at the 2010 census
- Twin City Christian Church began holding services in the community room.
- The younger and more contemporary congregation will take over the rest of the church
- First Presbyterian will be assimilated into Grace Presbyterian, just over a mile away in Crystal City.
- Crystal City and its neighbor Festus are often collectively known as the "Twin Cities"
Sunday, May 13, 2012
An acurate Analysis of why PCUSA is breaking up.
As Nathaniel Campbell noted in his comment on the Colorado Springs article, the press frequently conflates the disputes within the mainline denominations into a single issue — homosexuality.
"there are deeper but acknowledged issues here over hermeneutics and the evangelical insistence on privileging (often exclusionarily) a literal reading of Scripture.""In my estimation, at least, that is the major “ghost” behind a lot of mainstream/evangelical friction. While on the surface level it manifests as doctrinal disputes, I think it is at root a problem over how to read and understand Scripture."
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) plans more job cuts
- 14 current workers will see their jobs cut
- 17 vacant positions being eliminated.
- Eighteen new jobs will be created, for a net loss of 13.
- $87 million originally budgeted for 2012
- $82 million for 2013
- $78 million for 2014?
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The West Hollywood PC to leave PCUSA for more liberal United Church of Church
- The West Hollywood Presbyterian Church
- Los Angeles
- Presbytery of the Pacific
- voted on Tuesday to let the 99-year-old parish keep property
- "gracious-dismissal" policy
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Caldwell Presbyterian churches to consolidate
- First Presbyterian Church
- 1050 Members / 300 Worship
- Renamed: First Presbyterian Church at Caldwell – West Caldwell Campus
- 55 Members / 25 Worship
- 1.3 miles apart
Maumee Valley Presbytery not following its own dismissal rules
- First Presbyterian Church
- Tecumseh, Mich
- 440-members
- Maumee Valley Presbytery
- Remedial complaint filed by Tecumseh FPC
- the Synod of the Covenant Permanent Judicial Commission.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Presbylaw temporary site.
Tracking the PC USA troubles.
Other Presbylaw Pages
Other Websites Covering Property
Layman Online: | |
Legal Resource Databank | |
Chart: Churches leaving the PCUSA | |
Archives on property issues within the PCUSA | |
PCUSA: Legal Strategy #1 | |
PCUSA: Presbyteries Process #2 | |
PCUSA: Secret Document #3 |
Voting on PCUSA Admendments: Sources
Presbylaw temporary site.
Announcement Policy
If you have comments, corrections, or updates to this website please email me: PRESBYLAW webmaster or leave a comment.
If you wish to make a church announcement of a vote or lawsuit, I will need to verify. You either need to send it via a email that I can publicly verify belongs to the church, or point to a website with a news story, or official church website. Contacting the layman may be a better route.
LINKS
Type | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
FEED | PCUSA List Feed | Atom Feed of Blog Posts |
PRESBYLAW webmaster | Comments, corrections, updates | |
NEWS | PRESBYWEB: Viewpoint | PCUSA Property Trust History Disputed By Jeffrey C. Francis |
Memorial Park on Seperation | Bulletin Insert for May 6th | |
Web | Kirk's Legal Docs (pdfs) | Kirk Of The Hills, Tulsa, OK |
PCUSA Articles of Incorporation | Churches can't be a member of the PCUSA according to its own articles of incorporation | |
Legal Strategy #1 | PC(USA)'s Legal Strategy for churches wanting to leave | |
Presbyteries Process #2 | PC(USA)'s Process for churches wanting to leave | |
Doc | Secret Document #3 | News about a third secret document |
Process | Administrative Review Process from the Synod of the Northeast | |
Presbytery Of New Covenant | Process For Addressing Churches Seeking To Withdraw From PC(USA) | |
Wabash Valley Presbytery | Separatist Task Force | |
Doc | PC(USA): Constitutional Musings: Note 12 | Responding Pastorally to Troubled Churches |
Doc | PC(USA): Advisory Opinions: Note 02 | Dissent and Defiance |
Doc | PC(USA): Advisory Opinions: Note 03 | Administrative Commission |
PC(USA): Advisory Opinions: Note 11 | Church Property | |
Doc | PC(USA): Advisory Opinions: Note 17 | Schism |
Doc | PC(USA): Advisory Opinions: Note 19 | Implementing the Trust Clause for the Unity of the Church |
Web | Presbyterian Outlook | Statement about resources prepared by the Constitutional Services Department and the Office of Legal Services at the General Assembly level of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) |
Web | Stated Clerk, GAC chief urge churches not to defect from PC(USA) | We are better together in Christ's Unity |
Type | Name | Description |
PC(USA) News Service
Presbyterian Google News
IRD Presbyterian News
The Christian Post
Denominations
Denomination Name | Parent | Location | Size | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. - UPCUSA(N) | PUSA & UPCNA | New York City | 8,909/2,342,441 | 1958-1983 |
Presbyterian Church in United States (Confederate) - PCUS(S) | Presbyterian Church in United States | Atlanta, Ga. | 4,250/814,931 | 1861-1983 |
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) PC(U.S.A) | UPCUSA(N) & PCUS(S) | Louisville, Kentucky | 11,596/3,122,213 | June 10, 1983 |
Evangelical Presbyterian Church EPC | UPCUSA(N) & PCUS(S) | Livonia, MI | 67/19,000 (1982) | 1980/1981 |
Presbyterian Church of America PCA | PCUS(S) | Lawrenceville, GA | 260/41,232 | May 18, 1973 |
Orthodox Presbyterian Church | Presbyterian U.S.A. | Willow Grove, PA | 300/20,417 | 1936 |
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church | Associate Presbytery/Reformed Presbytery | Greenville, SC | 250/40,392 | 1782 |
Links
LINKS
Type | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
News | Crosswalk | The Intersection of Faith and Life |
News | Church Report | National business news magazine |
News | PC(USA) News | Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) News Service |
News | Save Hollywood Pres | Links to news about PC(USA) Troubles |
News | The Layman Online | THE News Source about PC(USA) |
News | Layman - property | The Layman - Property Issues Archive |
Blog | Reformed Pastor | EPC Pastor - Church Planter |
Blog | Full Court Presby | Pastor Lance's Blog to his Congregation about PUP etc. |
Blog | Classical Presbyterian | Blogging for the Reformed Resistance in the PC(USA) |
Blog | Anderson Speak | Commentary on Faith, Christianity, and the PCUSA by Noel K. Anderson |
Blog | Bayou Christian | Bill Crawford, Pastor First Presbyterian Church of Thiboduax |
Blog | blog 137 | Pastor Dave Moody, Trinity United Presbyterian Church, Sparta, IL. |
Blog | Truth in Love Network | A group of Presbyterian elders who are concerned with the direction of the PC(USA). |
Blog | Mark D. Roberts | Professor & Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, CA |
Blog | Institute on Religion and Democracy | 25 years of working to reform the social and political witness of American churches |
Blog | The Berkley Blog | James D. Berkley, Director of Presbyterian Action |
Blog | Tom's Thoughts | Tom Gray, Co-Pastor, Kirk of the Hills, Tulsa, OK |
Web | Stand to Reason | Christian Ambassadors for defense for classical Christianity |
Web | Presbyterian Forum | Working for reformation through overt political action |
Web | Wiki:Presbyterian | Wikipedia's Presbyterian Overview |
Web | Kirk Of The Hills, Tulsa, OK | Church in Tulsa, OK - Fighting for its Property. |
Web | Kirk's Legal Docs (pdfs) | Kirk Of The Hills, Tulsa, OK |
Web | Kirk Docs (text) | Kirk Of The Hills docs, Converted to text |
Legal Strategy #1 | PC(USA)'s Legal Strategy for churches wanting to leave | |
Presbyteries Process #2 | PC(USA)'s Process for churches wanting to leave | |
Doc | Secret Document #3 | News about a third secret document |
Pic | Presby Chart 1 | Chart showing the history of breakups and mergers (standard) |
Web | Presby Chart 2 | Presbyterian Church History-Lesson 13-An Overview of Contemporary American Presbyterianism |
Web | Presby Chart 3 (text) | History of the Presbyterian Church (USA) |
Web | Presby Chart 4 | Denomination Family Trees (Interactive) |
Web | Presby Chart 5 | ARPC Denomination Family Tree |
Web | Maps of Religions | List of Many Maps of 2000 Census Data on Religion |
Pic | Map: County | Map of Denominations by County |
Pic | Map: Presbyterian | Map of Presbyterian's as percentage of Population |
Web | ARDA | Association of Religion Data Archives |
PPT | Report on PUP | New Wineskin's Report on PUP |
Report on PUP | New Wineskin's Report on PUP | |
Book of Order | Official PDF Copy of Book of Order for PC(USA) | |
Book of Confessions | Official PDF Copy of Book of Confessions for PC(USA) | |
Web | Advisory Opinions | PC(USA) Stated Clerk Advisory Opinions (not binding, nor authoritative) |
Web | PC(USA) Constitutional Musings | Office of Constitutional Services - Unofficial Thoughts |
Web | PC(USA) Amicus Curiae Briefs | Stated Clerk & AC on Litigation - Friend of the Court Briefs |
Web | GAPJC PC(USA) | PC(USA) General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission Decisions |
Web | Pension Board PC(USA) | PC(USA) Board of Pensions |
Web | Foundation PC(USA) | Presbyterian Foundation, New Covenant Trust and New Covenant Mutual Funds |
Web | PC(USA) BOO Annotated | PC(USA) Book of Order - Annotated |
Web | Presbyterian Coalition | Working for a Revitalized Church |
Web | Confessing Church Movement | 1,314/434,697 |
Web | New Wineskins | New Wineskins Association of Churches(2001) |
Type | Name | Description |
Usage: This information, including formatting/html,..., may be used by other sites, without limit. In Fact, I hope somebody would take over, with more time on their hands.
Blog Archive
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2012
(125)
-
▼
May
(14)
- Government and Church Interactions
- Super majority of Georgia church leaves PCUSA afte...
- Longview TX, First Presbyterian Church splits from...
- FPC Greenville, SC votes to move to ECO
- 5 churches leave PCUSA - Presbytery of Mississippi...
- Longview TX, First Presbyterian Church might split...
- 9 Churches leave PCUSA - UPDATED 4X
- Congregation's final service small in numbers but ...
- An acurate Analysis of why PCUSA is breaking up.
- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) plans more job cuts
- The West Hollywood PC to leave PCUSA for more libe...
- Caldwell Presbyterian churches to consolidate
- Maumee Valley Presbytery not following its own dis...
- Layman's list of churches leaving
-
▼
May
(14)