Of the options presented to the like-minded pastors group by the flexible governing task force, the preferred one was the overlay presbytery option.

“Presbyteries within presbyteries,” was one of several options discussed at the Fellowship of Presbyterians Gathering, held last week.

Peter Barnes of Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, was the first to speak at a breakout session held Friday.

“We’ve talked a lot about context,” said Barnes. “If you find yourself as an evangelical in a hostile environment then you will deal with this in a different way than an evangelical in a more friendly presbytery.”

Mission Presbytery
Barnes introduced Larry Coulter, senior pastor of Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, which is a union church between Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Presbyterian Church (USA).

Coulter said that the removal of Amendment 10A was not an issue in his church, since it ordains elders and deacons to Cumberland which is more conservative. The congregation’s property is held in trust between the two denominations. “This gives our people a place to stand that is a little bit different,” he said, “so the pressure is off us.”

Coulter said that people need a place to stand when they are in a crisis of conscience. The question being asked, he said is, “How did I become a part of a denomination that has taken a Biblical turn that is not me?”

The presbytery within a presbytery idea – or overlay presbytery – is “an important thing to do for the churches in our presbytery,” he said. “We have gotten further along than we thought we would get.”

Amy Hanschen, a former parish associate with Hyde Park Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, then discussed how the idea of an overlay presbytery began and took root in the presbytery. In January people started wondering about “What happens if 10A passes?” By March, she said ideas started solidifying.

“When the idea of an overlay presbytery came up,” she said, “we all concurred within minutes that would be an option to fully and completely explore.”

Hanschen said that in May, when 10A passed, the group called the presbytery’s executive presbyter and stated clerk, and “we told them that we were examining options because of a crisis of conscience.”

A meeting of like-minded pastors was held in June, and a steering committee was formed. The committee then met with several of the presbytery trustees, council and staff. “They were surprised at all the work we had done. They did not know we were so far along” she said. A second meeting was held in August which included all of the presbytery’s general counsel, all of the trustees and the steering committee.

Hanschen said that the group was even getting support from liberal and progressive pastors in the presbytery: “They wanted to give us a place to stand, as we had allowed them a place to stand for many years prior.”

A presbytery meeting will be held Sept. 17, she said, “for the purpose of listening again.” A presbytery vote on the overlay presbytery is scheduled for the October meeting.

Greater Atlanta Presbytery
Another presbytery that is working with the idea of an overlay presbytery is Greater Atlanta Presbytery. Dr. Marnie Crumpler, executive pastor at Peachtree Presbyterian Church, in Atlanta, Ga., spoke about their efforts.

Crumpler said that in June, a group of like-minded pastors met to discuss their options. “We are not excited about leaving,” she said, and the question was “how to remain faithful and be the church Jesus Christ is calling us to be without leaving.”

All the options that were discussed by the group needed presbytery approval, she said. Crumpler praised the presbytery executive, who she said “did a wonderful job reaching out.”

Two presbytery task forces were formed, she said. The first was a gracious separation task force to determine what gracious separation would look like. It will give a report at the September presbytery meeting. The second task force was on flexible governing.

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