In the new Reformed body presbyteries will include no more than 25 churches and the “presbytery will be all about support of local churches. … We want small lean presbyteries that are not strangled by a budget but work carefully to build up one another.”

During a breakout session at the Fellowship of Presbyterians (FOP) Gathering, Jim Singleton and Mark Patterson discussed what the organization’s New Reformed Body might look like, and the possible benefits of the idea.

Singleton is pastor of First Presbyterian, Colorado Springs, Colo., and Patterson is pastor of Community Presbyterian Church in Ventura, Calif. A new Reformed body was one of the options being proposed by the steering committee to those gathered for discussion. It is the FOP’s intention to launch the NRB at another national event, Jan. 12-14 in Orlando, Fla.

Singleton said that for “some congregations to keep body and soul together, the only way to survive is to get completely out … others wonder can we be near, next, under ,around. It’s the theology of prepositions.”

He discussed three different ways congregations can be a part of the Fellowship’s new Reformed body:

1. Dismissed into the NRB. The first option, he said, is the most radical and can only take place once the Fellowship becomes a constituted body at the January meeting. Once the Fellowship is recognized as a place to which PCUSA presbyteries can dismiss congregations, a congregation can start the process with their presbytery to be dismissed entirely into the new Reformed body. “You will get freedom which is difficult to get with other options,” said Singleton. The “newness” is very appealing, he said, but also very complicated, because “when you start something new there are always unintended consequences.”

Singleton said that “it cannot be predicted with 100 percent certainty that this is how it will look.” This option does mean a “withdraw of relationship from PCUSA,” he said and that means negotiating the property issues. He said there are efforts underway to put forth language for a national gracious dismissal policy, but “if it would pass at General Assembly, we don’t know.” Presbyteries have great latitude now on property issues and some presbyteries are what Singleton called “hardened. … It would be better if we get a national standard for gracious dismissal but that may not happen.”

2. Union church. The PCUSA’s new Form of Government (nFOG), which went into effect on July 10, allows congregations to choose to become a “union church,” creating the possibility that a congregation can join the new Reformed body and still be a member of the PCUSA. Singleton said that in Texas there are a couple dozen union churches of the PCUSA and Cumberland Presbyterian Church. “That means you are living in two worlds,” he said. “In all of those cases those congregations have to work out which polity is practiced locally.”

Congregations that choose this option will not have to go through the property issues, he said, “but it also means you have no control over property … but you are living your life under the new Reformed body. It can work.” Union churches also will not have to end their relationships with the PCUSA’s Board of Pensions. Singleton said that this option is “possible right now under our current nFOG polity assuming the new Reformed body is the kind of entity the PCUSA could dismiss congregations to.” He said that PCUSA leadership are not making any promises on any options. “They are watching. It is all incumbent on tone,” he said.

3. Affiliate membership. This option is not possible yet, but it is an option that the PCUSA’s Stated Clerk Grady Parsons is encouraging. The idea comes from an individual’s ability to be an affiliate member in one church, while maintaining membership in another.

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