Published: March 31, 2008 11:47 pm      

Presbyterian congregation gets to keep property

SOMERSET — Leaders and the laity of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church knew when they voted overwhelmingly in December to leave the Presbyterian Church USA that the fallout could be ugly. Other churches have tried, only to face long and bitter battles over property.

“Our concerns were that we might be denied or it might be acrimonious,” said the Rev. Keith Fink, pastor of the Somerset congregation.

Instead, regional leaders voted Saturday to grant the church’s request to dismiss the congregation with all its property.

“I think this is a good, healthy example of how a presbytery and a congregation could handle this in the best, most God-honoring way,” Fink said.

The church now is a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church – which leaders say is a better match to the local congregation’s more conservative beliefs. Preachings and teachings will not be altered, Fink added. “On a local level, nothing really changes.”

This has happened in two other instances only, said Douglas Holben, executive presbyter at Redstone Presbytery, which includes all of Somerset and Cambria counties.

The decision followed discussion, debate and prayers, he added.

“We are moving ahead, even though it is not what we anticipated,” he said.

Church delegates and pastors voted 48 to 41 in favor of approving St. Paul’s request on Saturday after more than an hour of discussion, Holben said.

Thirteen representatives from the local church attended the meeting at Derry Presbyterian Church in Westmoreland County.

Lincoln Van Sickel, an elected leader at St. Paul’s, said the vote was an answer to prayer.

“This was the most God-honoring decision, with feelings of goodwill on both sides,” he said.

Church delegates were invited to come forward for a time of prayer after the decision, he added.

“They prayed with us and sent us on our way,” Van Sickel said. “It was a very uplifting experience.”

In December, church members had voted in 173-10 to ask to leave the national denomination.

In another survey of the congregants, Van Sickel said only two members said they would be willing to stay and carry on the church as a member of the national organization.

And more important decisions are ahead.

Church members have considered building a new building or expanding the current one. There also have been talks of joining with the Somerset Anglican Fellowship, formerly part of St. Francis-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church. Members there expressed many of the same frustrations of being part of a national flock that does not align with their personal beliefs.

“Those decisions have yet to be made,” Van Sickel said. “But now we are free to move forward.”