Complaint Filed Against
Presbytery of the Alleghenies

By Editorial Board, Presbyterian Plumb Line

Claiming that their overture was improperly handled by the Presbytery of the Alleghenies (POA), New Albany Presbyterian Church (NAPC) in Columbus, Ohio, has filed a formal complaint which has been sent to the Permanent Judicial Commission.

The complaint, filed by four NAPC Ruling Elders, followed the November 15 meeting of the POA, during which commissioners voted 52-31 to reject a “first reading” of an amendment to Book of Government 9-3 that had been submitted by the NAPC Session.

The amendment states in part that “persons eligible for church office shall conform in heart, mind, and conduct to God’s design for human sexuality, embracing with gratitude the calling of either chastity in singleness or fidelity within marriage between one man and one woman.” 

The complainants cited the following irregularities in the handling of the NAPC overture:

1. POA’s use of “first readings” and “second readings” for overtures to the General Assembly is out of order and out of accord with the Constitution of the EPC and the Bylaws of the Presbytery of the Alleghenies.
2. The “gentleman’s agreement” in 44-43 violates the constitutional rights of presbyteries and local church Sessions to overture the General Assembly and is therefore unconstitutional and not binding on presbyteries.

The so-called gentleman’s agreement was included in a motion approved by the 44th General Assembly that created the Ad Interim Committee on Same-Sex Attraction. The language in that motion stated that it was the “opinion and wish” of the General Assembly that no action be taken on the issue of same sex attraction until the Ad-Interim Committee presented its report in 2026. The question is whether such an agreement violated the constitutional right of churches to present overtures.

The complainants asked the Permanent Judicial Commission for an expedited hearing on their complaint. One of the specific reliefs requested is that the Presbytery of the Alleghenies be ordered to present the NAPC overture for a vote at its February 14, 2026, meeting.

After NAPC pastor David Milroy presented the overture to Alleghenies, presbytery leadership notified him that it had consulted EPC Parliamentarian Bob Garment for guidance on how Alleghenies should respond. Although Garment found that the overture was “not out of order,” he claimed it was “out of accord with both the spirit of 44-43 and also the timing of the Ad-Interim Committee on Same Sex Attraction’s (AIC on SSA) work.”

Alleghenies Stated Clerk Dana Opp added, “Many of the members not only of (the) Leadership Team but also the Presbytery of the Alleghenies were at the 44th General Assembly and voted in the affirmative for recommendation 44-43.”

In the commissioner’s packet for the November 15 presbytery meeting, the “Dear EPC Family” email from David Strunk and Victor Jones was inserted before the text of the NAPC overture. That “Dear EPC Family” correspondence included the “gentleman’s agreement” as a rationale for presbyteries to take no action on SSA before the 46th General Assembly.

Before the vote was taken on the NAPC overture, presbytery leadership read a prepared statement that cited the guidance of the EPC Parliamentarian, as well as a section of the “Dear EPC Family” email that cited the “gentleman’s agreement.” The proposed overture was then moved and seconded. The vote to include the overture on the presbytery’s docket for a “first reading” was defeated 52-31. 

“The overture our session brought to the floor of presbytery is a helpful and important one for our denomination,” said Milroy. “With only a few months left, the Ad-Interim Committee has not provided a definitive answer to the question of Same Sex Attraction. Their proposed documents do not bring clarity. The overture is an attempt to remedy this situation. There will be different opinions about this matter which should be debated. What should not happen is that we fail to debate this issue.”