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1. Provide funds to the Office of General Assembly for the purpose of sharing the cost of legal fees defending our Constitution against the New Wineskins Non-geographic Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and a group which has joined that denomination.

2. From these funds, reimburse the Presbytery of Northern New England for half of all of its remaining legal costs up to a maximum of $185,000.

[3. That the Office of the General Assembly establish and promote an Extra Commitment Opportunity (ECO) account that will be the source of this support and welcomes contributions from the whole church.]

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

On this Item, the General Assembly Procedures Committee, acted as follows:

Approve

[Counted Vote - Committee]

Affirmative:	37
Negative:	5
Abstaining:	3

RECOMMENDATION

That the 218th General Assembly (2008) do the following:

2. From these funds, reimburse the Presbytery of Northern New England for half of all of its remaining legal costs up to a maximum of $185,000.

RATIONALE

We are in the civil court defending freedom of religion, the right of the PC(USA) and any other denomination to organize and govern itself according to its beliefs. The precedent set in the decision in this case could have serious and far-reaching effects.

The Book of Order, G-1.0400, reads as follows:

4. The Historic Principles of Church Government

The radical principles of Presbyterian church government and discipline are:

That the several different congregations of believers, taken collectively, constitute one Church of Christ, called emphatically the Church; that a larger part of the Church, or a representation of it, should govern a smaller, or determine matters of controversy which arise therein; that, in like manner, a representation of the whole should govern and determine in regard to every part, and to all the parts united: that is, that a majority shall govern; and consequently that appeals may be carried from lower to higher governing bodies, till they be finally decided by the collected wisdom and united voice of the whole Church. For these principles and this procedure, the example of the apostles and the practice of the primitive Church are considered as authority. [The text of this section was adopted in 1797 by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. In this quotation the word “radical” is used in its primary meaning of “fundamental and basic,” and the word “appeals” is used in a general sense rather than with reference to a case involved in judicial process.]

The PC(USA) holds that the Church is an organic unity of which its synods, presbyteries, and local congregations are integral parts.

On September 15, 2007, the Presbytery of Northern New England recognized a problem in the Londonderry Presbyterian Church of Londonderry New Hampshire, in that the session had called a congregational meeting and recommended that the congregation vote to disaffiliate with the PC(USA). In response to this action, the presbytery elected an administrative commission to work with the session and congregation for resolution.

On September 27, 2007, the session of the Londonderry PC(USA) filed suit against the presbytery, obtaining a court order prohibiting the administrative commission from taking any action, prohibiting the presbytery from exercising any oversight in the selection of their pastor, prohibiting the presbytery from exerting any control over the property of the congregation, and prohibiting any minister or elder or representative of the presbytery from entering onto the church property.

On September 30, 2007, the Londonderry Presbyterian Church voted in a congregational meeting to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to join the New Wineskins Non-Geographic Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The session immediately brought a civil law suit against the Presbytery of Northern New England and obtained a civil injunction to prevent the presbytery from settling this matter within the framework of our Constitution, or even entering the property.

The continuing congregation (those who did not vote to leave) is now about 200 members strong and is meeting in another location with 80 to more than 125 attending worship each Sunday. The newly constituted session of the continuing PC(USA) congregation has brought a civil suit against the dissidents to reclaim its property that was illegally taken.

These two lawsuits have been joined into one trial with the presbytery covering all legal costs. So far, we have incurred more than $226,000 in legal costs. We estimate another $150,000 by the end of this year. These legal costs are running much higher than the $80,000 in the presbytery’s 2008 budget.

The Presbytery of Northern New England consists of 3,837 members in 31 churches and 3 ethnic fellowships. Most of the churches are small rural churches with an average membership of 124 and over half with less than 100 members. The presbytery’s budgeted income for 2008 is $347,925. The additional legal costs for 2008 may increase presbytery expenditures by more than 50 percent over its budget. Many of the churches are already struggling to pay their per capita of $35.25 and any significant increase is not possible.

For a small, mostly rural, presbytery these legal costs are extremely difficult to handle. The result of this civil lawsuit will set a precedent for our entire denomination and all of us will benefit or suffer from the consequences. Our connectional system of government compels us to work together in our mission. It is unfortunate that part of our mission is to deal with such distasteful affairs as defending our constitution and our freedom of religion in civil courts.

We have received small contributions from General Assembly and synod to help with our costs. Additionally, a law firm in New York has been made available to assist our attorneys. We are very grateful for this assistance, and we realize that neither General Assembly nor synod has the budgeted funds to provide any additional assistance.

We must be careful that we do not lose the civil lawsuit and set legal precedent endangering our Constitution, simply because we cannot afford to put up the best defense.

Thus, we ask that funds be provided to share costs in this matter. The $185,000 represents approximately half of the estimated legal costs of $376,000.

The Reverend Thomas Woodward, Presbytery of Northern New England

Elder Ingrid Cyros, Presbytery of Northern New England

FINANCIAL IMPLICATION

(2008): $0 ; (2009): $2,000,000 ; (2010): $0

COMMENT

Comment on Item 03-21. From the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA).

The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly does not concur in the relief requested by this resolution.

The strategy of inviting secular judges to interject with presbyteries doing constitutional and pastoral work with disaffected congregations is eloquently described in this commissioner resolution. The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) expresses it appreciation to the Presbytery of Northern New England for its care of the loyal continuing congregation in Londonderry and its faithful defense of this important constitutional principal. The COGA notes that an additional thirty-nine presbyteries face, or have faced, similar challenges. The spiritual, emotional, and financial costs faced by our presbyteries in dealing with such painful situations is extraordinary. The whole church owes all those presbyteries, including Northern New England, gratitude for their faithfulness.

The Stated Clerk has also made his staff, as well as the PC(USA) general counsel, available to these presbyteries in advising them how to navigate between their church constitutional responsibilities and secular legal interventions into their lives. Virtually all of those presbyteries have taken advantage of this resource.

The 202nd General Assembly (1990) adopted actions that permit the Stated Clerk to assist presbyteries with up to 50 percent of the direct legal costs, that is, the hours and costs of services and fees billed by attorneys or courts. Unfortunately, our present annual budget for this assistance is only $50,000 intended to cover all ongoing cases. Recognizing that a single legal dispute might easily exceed that amount, the Stated Clerk has negotiated with faithful Presbyterian attorneys so that the church may become their firm’s pro bono client. The Stated Clerk has made that resource available to presbyteries facing secular lawsuits. Most of those thirty-nine presbyteries, including Northern New England, have gratefully accepted such assistance. The Stated Clerk has provided the Presbytery of Northern New England $20,000 in defending this civil lawsuit. The Stated Clerk has in hand requests for additional funds from this presbytery.

Finally, Section IV.B.2.b. of the Organization for Mission gives the Stated Clerk responsibility and authority to “participate in legal proceedings in civil and criminal courts.” Recently the Stated Clerk, upon the advice of the Advisory Committee on Litigation, has joined a number of amicus (friend of the court) briefs in support of the Episcopal Church in America and its current overwhelming conflict with local congregations seeking to leave its communion.

The approval of the resolution as presented would seriously burden our present resources and certainly increase per capita costs.

The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly:

1. urges the 218th General Assembly (2008) to be in prayer for its presbyteries facing these difficult challenges;

2. commends the Stated Clerk to continue to provide legal and advisory services and support;

3. urges the presbyteries to continue their faithfulness; and

4. in response to this resolution, COGA urges the assembly to approve the Advisory Committee on the Constitution’s recommendations (Item 07-13) regarding the Evangelical Presbyterian Church’s New Wineskin’s transitional presbytery to give presbytery an additional tool for use in such situations.