The letter suggests that it would have been better if the presbytery leaders had responded to dismissal requests “with a clear word when they had a chance to say no. For example: ‘we are sorry you are unhappy. But we believe we are all better together. Please reconsider. But if you don’t, please know that our church constitution has a trust clause that forbids any part of the church, including its congregations, from taking property that is held in trust for the whole denomination. Both our Book of Order and the recent unanimous ruling of the Oregon Supreme Court forbid the actions that dissident churches are requesting.”

In at least two Presbyterian Church (USA) presbyteries open letters are circulating asking that no more churches be dismissed from the denomination.

The Layman Online has copies of open letters sent to churches in both Cascades and Los Ranchos presbyteries.

The Cascades letter, written by First Presbyterian Church, Cottage Grove, Ore., wishes the presbytery would respond to churches requesting to be dismissed from the PCUSA by saying “if you must leave, either make a fair offer to purchase the property or simply leave the keys in the mailbox on your way out.”

The Los Ranchos letter, written by several pastors in the presbytery, states that “we feel conscience bound to object to the further dismissal of church property.”

“I call this ‘the doors are closing and will not reopen’ strategy,” said Carmen Fowler LaBerge, president of the Presbyterian Lay Committee.  “People have been asking ‘how long’ they had to get out, I think these letters suggest that some have waited too long.”

LaBerge went on to clarify, “I am not advocating that anyone nor any congregation leave the PCUSA. I am making an observation about the climate in which departures and dismissals are taking place. That climate has been growing increasing hostile and less gracious since 2007 when we really began to see large numbers of congregations begin to seek realignment from the PCUSA to other denominations in the Presbyterian and Reformed family of denominations.”

The letter to Cascades Presbytery opens by expressing the session’s deep concern for the direction of the presbytery, and then speaks of the congregations who have “expressed their disagreements with policies adopted by the elected members of our presbytery and by the elected commissioners to General Assembly. They express their disagreements by asking to withdraw their membership from the PCUSA and to affiliate with other denominations that claim to be part of Reformed Tradition. These congregations invariably ask the presbytery to let them depart and to take all of the church’s property with them.”

All of it happens, according to the letter, through the presbytery’s use of a “policy misnamed ‘Gracious Dismissal.’”

“By framing the policy in such terms, those who advocate this approach to handling conflict continue to mystify the issue by suggesting that opponents of such schismatic efforts are somehow less gracious than those who support them,” the letter states.

The letter alleges that there is “reason to believe that there is a group of maverick pastors, inevitably schooled in non-Presbyterian seminaries, who are behind the orchestration of these efforts. They then recruit some elders who take the lead in the separation process so the pastors don’t have to take any personal responsibility for their actions.”

The letter suggests that it would have been better if the presbytery leaders had responded to dismissal requests “with a clear word when they had a chance to say no. For example: ‘we are sorry you are unhappy. But we believe we are all better together. Please reconsider. But if you don’t, please know that our church constitution has a trust clause that forbids any part of the church, including its congregations, from taking property that is held in trust for the whole denomination. Both our Book of Order and the recent unanimous ruling of the Oregon Supreme Court forbid the actions that dissident churches are requesting.”

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