Sunday, May 27, 2007

The Church a Little Weaker

World Magazine in its May 19, 2007, issue, reports the following:

Montreat (N.C.) Presbyterian Church, a flagship congregation of the 2.3-million-member Presbyterian Church (USA), won its freedom from the liberal-run denomination. Following hours of contentious debate, the Presbytery of Western North Carolina voted 185-69 to "dismiss" the congregation to the more conservative 75,000-member Evangelical Presbyterian Church. But delegates also voted 174-35 to take over the church's property pending up to six months' further study.

The Montreat church had voted 311-27 last January to leave the PCUSA. Complicating the property matter, the congregation meets in the large chapel of Montreat College, a conservative PCUSA school that sits on the grounds of a PCUSA national conference center. The church owns a separate three-story educational and office building on property held by its trustees. Montreat pastor Richard White contends that under state law, the church owns its property. PCUSA rules say church property is held in trust for the denomination.

The dismissal vote authorized the presbytery to organize a "continuing Montreat Presbyterian Church" from among a small number of dissidents, who would be granted use of 10 percent of the educational building.

4 comments:

sweetpea said...

this message for kellsey :)


your comment regarding Patagonia is being discussed under the "green, green, green," post. you may want to come over and defend yourself. :) love, j

Paul Stokes said...

I've got your back, daughter-in-law!

sweetpea said...

i like the comment you left on my blog, paul. :)

Kellsey said...

Thanks, Paul! I ended up going over there myself per Sweetpea's invitation.

I appreciate you having my back!