David D. Colby, resurrection or same gender marriage?

This sermon, “A Reformed Understanding of Marriage” raises so many questions and has so many errors that one must explore and write. It was preached for the Covenant Network of Presbyterians by David D. Colby in Minnesota and is aimed at the vote that is being taken there on the definition of marriage. Colby uses Romans 8:23 as his text and, for me at least, raises questions about the biblical meaning of the believer’s adoption as sons and daughters of God. In fact, the reformed doctrine of salvation is distorted in this sermon, as Colby tries to use the idea of adoption to make a case for same gender marriage.

But first some of the other errors:

1.       Colby tries to use the Bible’s honest telling of humanity’s disregard of God’s original intention for marriage. Quoting an article, “Traditional Marriage: One Man, Many Women, Some Girls, Some Slaves,” by Jay Michaelson, Colby insists that there is no certain definition of marriage in the word of God. However, the Bible does not hold up polygamy as a model, instead there is the beautiful creation story of God providing for and instituting the first marriage, between man and woman. Jesus uses this first union to teach about the covenant of marriage. (Matt. 19: 3-9) And 1 Timothy 3, insists that an ‘overseer’ must be the husband of one wife. The Bible’s standard isn't anything goes, but from the very beginning, “...a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh.”

2.     Colby states that for the Roman Catholic Church, it is the celibate priests who hold the sacred office and those who are married are considered profane. “Marriage and intimacy was and is considered profane, basic.” But this is not true, for the Catholic Church both are sacred; ordination is a sacrament but so is marriage. He then moves to the Reformation teaching that all should be married, that none should be forced to live a celibate life. Colby uses the Reformation teaching to insist that those with same gender attraction should be allowed to marry. But this is simply apples and oranges. Biblically, marriage is between a man and a woman. And same gender sex is sin, not marriage.

3.      Colby states: “The Gospel always comes wrapped in culture and, try as we might, there is no “pure Gospel” that can be separated out with any certainty from the culture in which Jesus was born, the culture of the New Testament writers, our own culture or some combination of the three.” At first sight this seems confusing—but not really. The Incarnation, Jesus, his life, death and resurrection are the pure gospel—and the whole story, the whole text, that surrounds the life, death and resurrection of Jesus becomes the word of God because Jesus wraps the whole story around himself and molds it to his meaning. (The Old Testament is included in that wrapping.)The life of Christ either blesses or judges the culture. It does not matter, Jesus’ culture, the apostles’ culture, our culture. They are all judged or blessed by how Jesus is received or rejected.

4.     Colby adds to his formula, “The good news always comes wrapped in culture” and it falls to us to sort out what is the good news, and what is the culture.” Well, yes, we need to understand what ancient culture was, what they thought and taught—but the good news is that Jesus overcame the culture of his time—he entered it and either changed it or left it to diminish and perish. For instance in 1 Corinthians we see that there were fornicators, idolaters adulterers effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers and swindlers, (the Scripture text lets us know they were sinners no matter what the culture believed), but Christ transformed some of them. They were washed, and sanctified and justified in Christ and in the Holy Spirit. God took a community of unrighteousness and turned them into saints bearing the righteousness of Christ. The good news is that Jesus changed those who received him and he still does. Jesus is Lord over culture not wrapped in it.

And this is a good place to write about adoption. Colby writes:

The apostle Paul writes, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves” (Romans 8:22).  It is as if the gospel is being birthed, Paul writes.  Being birthed and coming into being amidst changing cultural norms and expectations.  And it is our job to sort out what is gospel from what is culture. 

And:

I want you to have, deep in your bones, the belief and instinct that for a church reformed and always reforming according to the Word of God that God’s work is still unfolding.  That the whole creation, as Paul puts it in our reading today, is “groaning in labor pains” while we are awaiting adoption.  Waiting to be embraced in God’s love.  Waiting to be adopted.

Colby is confused about the meaning of adoption in Romans 8. And he is confused about the gospel “being birthed.” And he is confused about what our job is in the midst of changing cultural norms and expectations.

When Paul writes about adoption in verse 23, he is writing about our final and complete redemption, that is the resurrection of our bodies. That is why it is connected to the redemption of creation. “And not only this, [creations pains of childbirth] but we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” This is not a birthing of the gospel—Christ on the cross and in his resurrection provided us with the good news. We are already now the adopted sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ. We are, in suffering, awaiting glory and so is creation.

And it is in that final completeness that there will be no more striving against sin. We struggle now to lay aside our sin and walk more closely with Jesus, in the transformation of creation we will be utterly like him. This is not about the unconditional acceptance of sinners, but the transformation of sinners. And we are not waiting to be embraced in God’s love, because Christ has redeemed us we are embraced in his love. We are adopted as sons and daughters—waiting for the final transformation, the resurrection. F.F. Bruce puts it very well:

If inanimate creation longs blindly for the day of its liberation, the community of the redeemed, who see the glory shining before them, strain forward intelligently for the consummation. For them it is the day when they will be publicly and universally acknowledged as the sons and daughters of God; for them, too, it is the day of resurrection, when the present body of humiliation will be transformed into the likeness of Christ’s glorified body, when the whole human personality will finally experience the benefits of his redemptive work.

This is the hope of the people of God – ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’, as Paul puts it in another letter (Col. 1:27). This hope is an essential element in their salvation; it enables them to accept the trials of the present, so that by patient endurance they may win their lives; it is, along with faith and love, one of the crowning graces of the Christian life.”

These beautiful promises to the Christian rather than having to do with some final acceptance of same gender sex have to do with the final transformation of all kinds of sinners. We are adopted, we will be finally, and completely new at the coming of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and withered grapes

When I returned from a month long trip at the end of July, I was sad to find that my grapes, which had hung in long bunches of tiny green orbs, were still tiny and withered.  In the past the grapevine was huge and covered a patio, which we have since removed. For several summers I would bring in large bunches of grapes spreading them across my kitchen counters and bag them to give to children and friends. Perhaps they did not receive enough water or too much shade from the pecan tree next door. I will never know. God has a vineyard; the metaphor is used of God’s people in both the Old and New Testament. And he knows when something is wrong with his people; he also knows why.

In Isaiah 5, the text, pictures the owner taking great care with his vineyard. He digs up the ground, which is already fertile, and removes the stones. He picks out the “choicest” vine to plant. But it only gives him worthless grapes. Rhetorically the Creator asks what he should do with his vineyard and then he states with anguish his actions.

I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become a trampled ground. I will lay it waste; it will not be pruned or hoed, but briars and thorns will come up. I will charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.” (5b-6)

Now, notice while this is toward Israel, who at the time was a nation, it is directed at a religious body of people, God’s church, the people of Israel. The text today speaks not only to the ancient Israelites; it speaks, not to a nation, but to the church. The text has to do with those people who are in a covenant relationship with Yahweh. And clearly there is a message

here for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Just yesterday, Oct 30^th, the highest court of the denomination ruled on three separate cases that in many ways will devastate all embroiled in the sin and hurt of the PCUSA, in particular the orthodox within the denomination. [1]

Putting it very simply, the General Assembly Permanent Juridical Commission ruled that it was not unconstitutional for ordained leaders to be married to someone of their own gender as long as the ceremony was not performed in a Presbyterian Church or by a Presbyterian teaching elder. They ruled that a presbytery had no right to adopt standards to use for all candidates entering their presbytery or seeking ordination, and they ruled that a presbytery must consider the value of church property, rather than per capita or mission funding, when negotiating with a church that wishes to leave the denomination. All of these decisions are rooted in immorality and greed. Isaiah chapter five speaks very clearly to these issues.

Isaiah marks out the practical matters. The Israelites would not listen to the cry for justice or the need for righteousness. The leaders of Judah grabbed up as much property as they could. They added house to house and field to field. They were greedy and denied God’s righteous laws in order to gain what they wanted. God promised them desolation. Houses will stand empty; the harvest will be very small. The leaders of Israel were only interested in parties and drinking. They lifted up and honored immorality. Because of their immorality they will find themselves in exile, both hungry and thirsty.

Isaiah goes on to show how fervent the people were in promoting evil. The text states, “Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, and sin as with cart ropes.”  J. Alec Motyer in his commentary on Isaiah writes of this verse:

Isaiah pictures people harnessed to sin, like animals harnessed to carts. Thus they are voluntary practitioners of a sinful lifestyle but, as such, they are living an animal existence beneath their true dignity as humans, and as victims of sin’s deceit (cf. Eph. 4:23; Heb. 3-13), they are involved in an increasing bondage as the movement from cords to ropes indicates. [2]

And very much like some of the actions during the PCUSA’s General Assembly and the rulings of the GAPJC the Israelites attempt to turn morality up side down.  They “call evil good and good evil.” They “substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. They are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!”  They justify the wicked for a bribe and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right.” Motyer writes of all this:

The moral code has been rewritten. People no longer feel guilty when they depart from what was once considered right. Just as ‘one man’s meat is another’s poison’, so personal taste now rules supreme; if a course of behavior seems bitter or sweet to someone, then that’s what it is.

Everything is reduced to individual reaction and opinion.

This is the context of the orthodox in the PCUSA; they are in the midst of an organization that has lost its way—the PCUSA’s cords are speedily turning into ropes. Using capricious human experience and desire, Presbyterian leadership is turning biblical morality upside down. And any guilt that exists is hidden under layers of disbelief. There is little left to do, the fruits are already withering, but …

Make confession of our sin and the sin of the whole denomination;

Constantly proclaim a Savior who died on a cross for the sins of the world;

Keep lifting up our resurrected Lord;

Continue to strife to live, through the power of the Holy Spirit and the resurrected Christ, a life both of holiness and compassion.

Keep insisting that the Father has called us out of darkness into the light of his Kingdom.

But you beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. (Jude 20-23)

  

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[1]  Mary Naegeli has written two excellent postings on the court’s decisions, GAPJC Decisions Put the Squeeze on Evangelicals & Larson v Los Ranchos: A Case of Presbydoublespeak Paula Kincaid has written for the Presbyterian Layman, GAPJC declares presbyteries must consider property when dismissing congregations and GAPJC pronounces presbytery resolution ‘unconstitutional, and therefore, void.’”. UP-Date-add to this Tightening the screws on conservatives at every conceivable turn by Carmen Fowler LaBerge of the Layman.

[2] J. Alec Motyer, Isaiah: Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, D.J. Wiseman, General Editor (Inter-Varsity Press 1999) 65.

Welcoming the sinner: worshiping communities

My last posting, $1.6M set aside-but is it God's gift or our sin is about Sacramento Presbytery attempting to use money taken from two evangelical churches to finance some of the 1001 worshiping communities the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is working toward. Because of the progressive leadership in my presbytery and progressive outsiders offering friends to fill out applications, there is a strong possibility that the money taken from evangelicals will be used to finance progressive communities.  

It was because of a tweet I read in July during the General Assembly that I begin to understand that the movement to grow new worshiping communities presented a great temptation to those who love all things progressive.

I saw a comment made by Brian Ellison the new executive director of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, an organization which advocates for the ordination of LGBTs and same gender marriage. During the 220 General Assembly, he tweeted, “Am I the only one who sees the opportunity for a link between growing worshiping communities and, oh, welcoming LGBT people?”

But in this posting I want to say a little bit about real worshiping communities. They would not only welcome LGBT people they would welcome all sinners: the greedy, the thief, the murderer, those who sass their parents and those who yell at their children, those who commit adultery and yes those who are attracted to same gender sex. They would welcome them with the truth of God’s holiness, compassion and love.

There can be no lasting communities, small or large, growing in maturity and knowledge, without the pure word of God being proclaimed to the people who come. It doesn't matter what the music and programs are like—it matters that the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is proclaimed.

It matters that the Christians who are a part of the communities know only Christ and him crucified. The cross must be the center. Not as a mere model of self sacrifice, but as God’s ultimate act in the midst of a lost and broken world. Jesus died for our sins, therefore we worship. Jesus rose from the dead therefore we praise God. Christ forgives and transforms our lives therefore we reach out to those in need.

A redeemed people are a gathered people who worship. And because of their redemption, and their worship, the Holy Spirit working through them begins to draw others to Jesus. 

$1.6M set aside-but is it God's gift or our sin

What comes to mind when you read a twitter post by a well known progressive Presbyterian author asking if any Presbytery has funds available for starting new church developments and you see a progressive pastor, in your presbytery, who advocated for LGBT ordination, answering her with, “Sacramento approved grant process last week. Applications ready in 2-3 months. $1.6M set aside.” She tells him she knows a few people who would be interested. He tells her and others where to look for applications, and you know where most of that money came from.

The money mostly came from two vibrant evangelical churches, Fair Oaks Presbyterian and First Presbyterian Church ofRoseville [1]that were punished with unreasonable charges in order to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) with their property. When I argued many months ago in presbytery that at least half the money, which was nearly 2 million, should be returned to the churches, the main argument against that was the need to help members who didn't want to leave. 

But in a Presbytery Report Attachment C - Report of the Congregational Care Committee it is stated that “The Committee determined there was not the climate or the interest among those who remained part of the PC (USA) or who were presently unaffiliated to create the core needed for a traditional new church development process to be pursued in these particular geographic areas.” So now the money will be used for the new 1001 worshiping communities for the PC (USA.)

My thought here is that some may not want to be a part of a new community that is funded by money forced from those who themselves have flourishing ministries that both feed the poor and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. How can that which was forced from brothers and sisters in Christ be of any use to God? It isn't stealing from Peter to pay Paul; it is stealing from Christ to feed our own arrogance. And the use of this money in this way is harmful, not to the two churches who are now Evangelical Presbyterian Churches, but to the PC (U.S.A.) churches who use the money.

God does give gifts. As James puts it:

Do not be deceived my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation of shifting shadow.” (1:16-17)

Douglas J. Moo in his commentary on James points out that the two verses quoted above refer to God’s creative power and the difference between his unchanging nature and the changing nature of his creation. God’s gifts come from his unchanging nature; they are not founded in our troubled and sinful brokenness. They are not pulled from troubled situations. God will build his church in truth, unity, love and purity. But none of those attributes entails the use of monies that are not ours to take. Instead we should be waiting on the gifts that are given by God alone.

[1]Now Centerpoint Community Church.

About Israel, about defense, about fairness

Recently a letter signed by 15 mainline American church leaders asked Congress “to make U.S. military aid to Israel contingent upon its government’s ‘compliance with applicable U.S. laws and policies.’ The troubling part of the letter was the insinuation that Israel was the main perpetrator of all unrest in the area. While those who signed the letter admitted they had witnessed the pain of the Israelis caused by “the horror and loss of life from rocket attacks from Gaza and past suicide bombings” and the “sense of insecurity and fear” such attacks had caused Israeli society, they nonetheless failed to make a true distinction between Israel’s national defense needs and human rights violations.

More importantly, although involved in such political matters, both Presbyterian leadership and members are not being provided with enough information. All of those advising and informing are totally aligned with one side rather than both the Palestinian and Israeli sides.

On the morning of October the 23rd, I read on the news site, Algemeiner that a barrage of rockets hit Southern Israel the night before and the Israeli Air force had responded by bombing militants in Gaza. The article Barrage of Gaza Rockets Slams Southern Israel, IAF Responds also stated that an IDF office had been injured by a roadside bomb. Perhaps more importantly, in another report, a man carrying eight pipe bombs was stopped at a checkpoint in Northern Jerusalem. The article Terror Suspect Nabbed with 8 Bombs in North Jerusalem stated that the bombs “were fully assembled.”

The intent of both those who fired the rockets and the person, who attempted to enter Israel, with bombs, was to maim, frighten and kill innocent people. The checkpoint and the guards at the checkpoint undoubtedly saved hundreds of lives. While checkpoints can be misused, they are meant to save the lives of both Israeli and Arab citizens. They are a part of Israel’s national defense. The next morning, the 24th, up to eighty rockets had been fired into Israel. Part of Israel’s defense against the rockets is funded by military aid from the United States.

This is a complex problem that mainline denominational leaders, as Christians, cannot solve except by peaceful exhortation and love toward both the Palestinians and the Israelis. Since there are human rights violations on both sides, Christian leaders are not fostering peace when they ask the United States Government to take action against the Israelis but not the Palestinians.

  

Too many times leadership in the PC (U.S.A) sees Israel’s defensive actions as acts of aggression. And they close their eyes and hearts to such actions taken by Hamas and other terrorists from Gaza. If the checkpoint mentioned in the one news article had not existed hundreds of people in Israel would be dead. Of course Israel has committed acts that are also reprehensible but they are not the only actors in the Middle East and they certainly are not the worst. Strangely enough, in PNS’ article, about the letter to Congress, they link to the 2011 State Department country report on human rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories, which begins:

Terrorist groups routinely fired rockets and mortars into Israel during the year. There were 924 terrorist attacks against citizens, both from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which included the firing of 388 rockets and 247 mortar shells from the Gaza Strip into Israel (compared with a total of 235 in 2010).  In total 25 persons were killed and 119 were injured in these attacks.  For example, on April 7, an antitank missile fired from the Gaza Strip hit a school bus in southern Israel, killing one student.  On August 18, a Sinai-based group of gunmen crossed the Egyptian border into the country and killed eight citizens near the city of Eilat.

 Most mainline denominational leaders pass over that without real comprehension of its seriousness. Connected to the human rights report is a report about religious rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories. While there is a great deal to read and problems on all sides under the “Occupied Territories” is this summary of the Palestinian Authority, Israel and Hamas:

 Religious freedom in various parts of the Occupied Territories falls under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israel, or Hamas (in the Gaza Strip). The laws and policies of the PA and Israel protect religious freedom, and in practice the two governments generally respected these rights. Neither the PA nor Israel demonstrated a trend toward improvement or deterioration in respect for and protection of the right to religious freedom. The “de facto” Hamas authorities in Gaza restricted religious freedom, and the regime’s level of respect for religious freedom in law and in practice remained problematic during the year.

There are also outside problems, antisemitism that feeds into the mix. Recently a leader and founder of the Free Gaza movement, Greta Berlin, tweeted such an anti-Semitic diatribe, (Her statement: Jews controlled the concentration camps of Nazi Germany), that even one contributor to  Mondoweiss, Bekah Wolf, chastised her pointing out that the Facebook site she administrated was truly anti-Semitic. These are real issues that never turn up in Presbyterian news, and therefore Presbyterian leaders like Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons who signed the letter never consider that there might be a great deal of one sidedness occurring in their decisions.

Ignorance has lead many down the wrong path. Both the PNS and the news links provided by the Israel/Palestine Mission Network leave PCUSA members and leaders without any clues at all about Israel’s real needs or concerns. The reader will find nothing about the pipe bombs at a checkpoint, or the antisemitism of the founder of the Free Gaza Movement on either news site or ministry site despite the fact that Presbyterian leaders and mission workers are heavily involved in issues that affect both Palestinians and Israelis.

A great article on battling same sex attraction

Prodigal Magazine offers one of the more helpful articles on battling same gender attraction. The article, “On Homosexuality: it’s OK to Fight,” written by the person experiencing the battle, Christy McFerren, is filled with integrity, truthfulness and good moral models. Even the comment section, which is very long, is helpful. McFerren starts her article:

It was 1994. I was 15 years old when the epiphany hit me that times were changing and I was eventually going to have a socially acceptable problem.
This sudden awareness started the clock on a grueling battle for my sexuality. I was conscious of the fact that I was different from the other girls at the age of five, and I had lived silently through ten years of gender confusion and attraction to women by age fifteen. I wanted desperately to be “over it” by the time it was going to be acceptable, even normal, to be gay. 

Further into the article, under the sub-title “Homosexuality is not a tender enemy,” McFerren writes of the help she experienced from the Christian community:

But, I’m thankful for the affliction because it made a warrior and a lover of me.For my entire twenty-three year search, I was never alone. When I made the decision to reach for help, people loved me. They prayed, listened, cried, and held me. They believed the best was coming and waited tirelessly for the seeds of life to bear fruit in my soul. By patient love they demonstrated my Father’s heart. The best of them never violated my will, created forceful situations, made rules for me to follow, rushed me to conclusions, or prescribed remedies. They gave me no reason to mistrust God by their own leadership styles. They didn't make my sin any bigger than theirs. They didn't freak out when I fell. They just spoke truth, and waited with me until I could see God. Because that’s the promise for the pure in heart. They see God.

McFerren writes of the process that God and the Christian community worked in her heart, and it is a good lesson for all of us sinners:

 There was never a pinnacle moment when I knew, “I’m not gay anymore. I feel different.” My liberation was unceremonious. Freedom matured in me through a process, from the seeds of truth that God planted and people watered along the way. It wasn't one decision I made not to be gay, there were many. Like Proverbs 4:18 says, “… the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.”

This is so very good—please read it all, even the comments: On Homosexuality: it’s OK to Fight

Hat Tip-The Manhattan Declaration

Our Story/Nuestra Historia: The Experience of Three Hispanic Churches in the Texas Rio Grande Valley in Leaving the PCUSA by Renouncing Its Jurisdiction

Pastor Rev. Hector Reynoso of Genesis Presbyterian Church has graciously ( a gift to me) asked me if I would post the history of the three historical Hispanic churches, who, after leaving the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), became a part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Their history is fascinating, and their faithfulness inspiring. I am happy to do so. 

Our Story/Nuestra Historia:

The Experience of Three Hispanic Churches in the Texas Rio Grande Valley

in Leaving the PCUSA by Renouncing Its Jurisdiction

In early 2012, the congregations of three Hispanic churches in the Texas Rio Grande Valley held meetings to vote on whether to disaffiliate from the Presbyterian Church (USA). Throughout the years the congregations had been deeply concerned about the direction the denomination had taken; believing it had long ago departed from sound Christian Reformed Doctrine.  Finally, the recent constitutional changes in the PCUSA simply confirmed for them this departure; thus, the churches disaffiliated from the denomination.

Iglesia Presbiteriana Getsemani of San Benito, located in San Benito, Texas; El Principe de Paz Presbyterian Church, located in Mercedes, Texas, and San Pablo Presbyterian Church, located in Brownsville, Texas were organized approximately 100 years ago by the Presbyterian Church of Mexico and predated the PCUSA by more than 70 years.   When the Mexican revolution began in 1910, travel became dangerous and expensive.   A meeting was held in 1918 and a decision was made to transfer these churches to membership in the Presbyterian Church (US).  

A presbytery known as the Texas Mexican, or Tex-Mex Presbytery was started in 1908 for the Mexican churches.   At one point this presbytery had approximately 80 preaching points and about 50 organized churches.  They met independently and held their meetings and worship services in Spanish.  In the mid 1950’s, the Texas-Mexican presbytery was dissolved and the member churches were incorporated into the South Texas Presbytery [Presbyterian Church US].    

After the dissolution of the Tex-Mex presbytery, one by one, the Hispanic churches began closing down.   The total number of Spanish speaking Presbyterian churches in South Texas went from approximately 80 preaching points and 50 organized congregations in the 1950’s to about a dozen congregations in 2011.  The Presbyterian Church (US) and later the PCUSA provided financial support to some of the churches in the form of loans and grants.  Iglesia Presbiteriana Getsemani of San Benito received loans for its land and building prior to the mid-1960s; all loans were paid back timely and with interest.  In recent years El Principe de Paz received grants averaging $26,000 per year.

Throughout their existence, the three churches, located along the border with Mexico, have served in some of the most financially disadvantaged counties of the United States and have struggled financially; they have also remained relatively small.  At the beginning of 2012, Iglesia Presbiteriana Getsemani had approximately 78 members; El Principe de Paz had 55 members; and San Pablo had approximately 20 members.  Iglesia Presbiteriana Getsemani and El Principe de Paz each had full-time pastors; San Pablo PC was served by a visiting pastor. 

In March 2011, Mission Presbytery voted by a narrow margin to adopt what was now known as amendment “10-A,” which allowed congregations to ordain practicing homosexuals to the office of teaching elder and ruling elder; a couple of months later 10-A was approved by the whole denomination.  The sessions of all three Rio Grande Valley churches responded by calling congregational meetings to vote on whether to disaffiliate from the PCUSA.  Their reason was clearly stated:  They believed sexual relations should be “only between a man and a woman and only in marriage.”   They believed “the institution of Marriage to be between one man and one woman” and “refused to accept any other definition of marriage aside from the one given to us by God in the Bible.”  They saw this change to the PCUSA constitution as a clear violation of Scriptures and the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 

In early 2012, the congregations voted to leave the denomination.  The votes were as follows: 

- Iglesia Presbiteriana Getsemani of San Benito had 78 members on its rolls.  Of those, 45 members attended the annual congregational meeting on January 29, 2012.   40 members voted to leave the denomination; 5 voted to stay.

- El Principe de Paz had 55 members on its rolls.  Of those, 42 members attended the congregational meeting, held on January 29, 2012.  40 members voted to leave the denomination; 2 voted to stay. 

-San Pablo Presbyterian Church held its congregational meeting February 5, 2012.  Of the 17 members attending, 10 voted to leave the denomination; 6 voted to stay, and one abstained.

Thus, for the three churches, of the 104 members attending the congregational meetings, only 13 voted to remain in the denomination.  The departing members left without church property.  

The 3 congregations had serious concerns with the dismissal policy of their presbytery as presented in the June 2011 meeting and later ratified in October 2011.  Therefore they chose not to go by that route.  Thus, the churches elected to renounce the jurisdiction of the denomination.  They sent a letter to Mission Presbytery on February 10, 2012, declaring that they were “no longer under the jurisdiction of the PCUSA.”  They added that they understood “that the property clause in the Book of Order of the PCUSA makes us hold in trust our property, where we worship and serve, for the PCUSA.”   It was the churches’ desire to keep the properties but they were willing to turn everything over in a peaceful manner.  They appealed to Mission Presbytery’s:

 

sense of mercy and implore of you to dig deep within your hearts, and allow us to keep our properties, our assets and bank accounts.  We are not rich churches, we do not have a high income, we do not have big bank accounts, and we are all located in low income neighborhoods in two of the poorest counties of the United States.  So we kindly implore for the sake of the extension of God’s kingdom that you will let us go with the little that we have; so that we may continue to let His light shine in our respective neighborhoods.

This appeal was not acknowledged. 

On February 13, 2012, just three days after the letter from the churches, Mission Presbytery sent letters to the pastors of the churches instructing them to retrieve their books and personal items and turn in their church keys “[n]o later than Friday, February 16, 2012.”  When the pastors left the buildings, all those who voted to leave the PCUSA left as well. 

Because these were family churches and poor churches, members had made some of the pews, tables, communion paraments, banners and other items for use in worship.  Others had donated refrigerators and other equipment.  Since the majority had voted to leave, some members thought they could take items with them.  Members who remained in the PCUSA became alarmed and reported to Mission Presbytery that items were disappearing.  Mission Presbytery representatives started sending multiple e-mails, text messages and phone calls  to the pastors and elders asking where items-- folding chairs, portable communion sets, old computers, a push lawn mower—were located.  The pastors along with their respective sessions contacted the members and told them that all items had to be returned.    The reports to presbytery were based on personal—and sometimes faulty—memory.  Some items had long since disappeared or had been discarded.  Other items had never been stored at the churches. Alarmed by continuing allegations that property was being misappropriated, the churches sought legal counsel.   Over the course of the next four months, the departing pastors, sessions and members began the tedious process of accounting for all church property.  All items were accounted for. 

The former Pastor Tom Johnson and the departing members of Iglesia Presbiteriana Getsemani of San Benito vacated the church buildings and organized a new church under the auspices of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (“EPC”).  They rented space in other places and finally in another church.   They turned over more than $118,000 in funds, including a $3,000 scholarship fund for high school students, a $500 children’s fund and a memorial fund.  They also named the new congregation San Benito Presbyterian Church.  

The former members of San Pablo Presbyterian Church, the smallest of the three churches, vacated the church buildings and also formed a new church under the auspices of the EPC.   They turned over almost $14,000 in funds to the Presbytery.   Perhaps more difficult, they also turned over a Bible given to the church by the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico.  The congregation now meets as Jesus Reigns Presbyterian Church. 

The former pastor, Rev. Hector Reynoso, and the departing members of El Principe de Paz also vacated the church buildings and a vacant lot adjacent to a shopping mall, believed to have significant value.  They transferred approximately $8,500 in funds.  El Principe de Paz also owned a cemetery adjacent to the Catholic Cemetery.  They began meeting in another church and also organized under the EPC and now meet as Genesis Presbyterian Church.

Despite walking away from church buildings, bank accounts, cemeteries (where loved ones are buried), historic Bibles, communion paraments, pews and over 100 years of memories, the congregations have largely remained intact and have continued the work of the church in their respective communities.   Jesus Reigns Presbyterian Church was able to operate its largest vacation Bible school program ever with the help of volunteers from Hope Presbyterian Church in San Antonio.   Attendance at all three churches is holding strong, especially in San Benito which averages more than 100 per Sunday. 

When the pastors and members left the PCUSA, they told Mission Presbytery:

[i]f you decide that it is important for you to keep our building and our finances please know that we stand ready to hand everything over to you.  Our convictions have led us to make a stand for Christ and the faith of the church, not the properties…We are grateful to God and you for all the years in the PCUSA and the friendships that have been forged; nevertheless our convictions have grown deeper and stronger and we sadly, yet with conviction, say that we can no longer remain part of it.  We pray for the PCUSA to walk with Christ according to His Word for the glory of God the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Standing for Jesus….

Praising the One and Only omnipotent and Sovereign God who has existed eternally as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and rejoicing in the midst of trials and tribulations, the three congregations are grateful for their new home in the EPC, where they have now graduated from “transitional members” to “full members,” and wish God’s blessings upon the PCUSA and their former presbytery.

The congregations have a renewed energy and commitment toward their vision of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ in their respective communities.  They are working with youth and children, holding home bible studies using the shorter catechism (Westminster), hosting churches doing missionary work, holding community Bible studies and elder leadership classes.  The churches are grateful to have meeting places yet they hope to someday worship and serve the Lord in facilities of their own. 

If you are interested in partnering with these churches as they continue their ministries and spreading the Gospel to those in the Rio Grande Valley, you can send tax deductible contributions to the following:

San Benito Presbyterian Church

PO Box 444

San Benito, TX  78586

Genesis Presbyterian Church

P. O. Box 1422

Mercedes, Texas 78570

Jesus Reigns Presbyterian Church

PO Box 3071

Brownsville, TX  78523

For more information you may write to Rev. Hector Reynoso at hectorreynoso@sbcglobal.net or Rev. Tom Johnson at tomjohnson07@gmail.com