The Presbyterian Plumb Line

Presbytery Shares Complaints with National Leadership Team

Responding to a letter of complaint, the EPC National Leadership Team met in Orlando January 14 with representatives of New River Presbytery (NRP) to hear concerns about the “distrust and division” caused by the 44th General Assembly.

The NRP was represented at the meeting by Teaching Elder Rufus Burton, Stated Clerk; Ruling Elder Gordon Miller, chair of the NRP leadership team; and Teaching Elder Ed Pettus, whose Session originated the NRP overture. During the 3-hour meeting, they claimed the NRP overture to exclude homosexuals from church office received “unfair treatment” at General Assembly, and called for repentance and reconciliation from the GA leadership.

In August, NRP sent a letter of complaint to Stated Clerk Dean Weaver that expressed anger and upset at how their overture was treated at General Assembly:

Suppression of dissent and violations of the Constitution, the abuse of Robert’s Rules, and inconsistency of rulings all pointed to a concerted effort to strong arm the assembly toward a predetermined outcome at odds with Scripture, the Confession of Faith, and the express will of the New River Presbytery. The treatment we received from the platform party has sown distrust and division that appear to have been carefully and deliberately cultivated. It is apparent from these actions that the peace, unity, and purity of the church has been deeply marred — to the point that we are seeking a way of restoration in the Spirit of Christ.

During the meeting, representatives of NRP presented a detailed timeline, documenting the prejudicial treatment of the Presbytery’s overture and how it was mishandled by the Stated Clerk, PJC, Moderator, and Parliamentarian at General Assembly. In addition, they described the widespread discontent and distrust of the Stated Clerk and national leadership that resulted from the conduct of the 44th General Assembly.

Passed unanimously by NRP, the overture was blocked from coming to a floor vote as a result of actions by the Permanent Judicial Commission and parliamentary rulings by the Moderator. In place of the NRP overture, commissioners at the 44th General Assembly voted to create an Ad Interim Committee to study the issue. The committee has begun its work and is expected to make a report to General Assembly in June 2025.

Although the meeting was described as respectful, it produced no apology or acceptance of responsibility from the Stated Clerk or National Leadership Team. As of March 4, New River Presbytery had still not received any official response to their complaints from the Office of the General Assembly.

5 responses

  1. Andrew Winter Avatar
    Andrew Winter

    It’s misleading, at best, to claim that the NRP overture was “blocked” from coming to the floor. There were multiple unused avenues that proponents of the overture could have used to force a vote on the floor, which did not happen.

    I’ve asked the Plumbline editors for permission to write an op-ed explaining how the floor debate on the issue unfolded, and I’m waiting to hear back.

    Reply
    1. Gordon A. Miller Avatar
      Gordon A. Miller

      Thank you Andrew for your comments. While “blocked” may imply more than some people appreciate, it was requested that the overture be withdrawn. New River would not do so and attempted best they could to get the overture to the floor. If your criticism is with the overture itself, New River attempted to talk directly to the PMA before filing. This failed miserably. After consulting with the denomination’s parliamentarian and being advised that an overture was the only avenue open to New River if they objected to PMA considering Greg Johnson, the overture was filed. If your objection is with New River’s failure to attempt two or more procedural options that may have been available, it may be that New River’s leadership team was more familiar with pastoral care and theology than they were with procedural maneuvering. As I was the Moderator for New River at the time of General Assembly, I would welcome hearing from you as to the other options you believe were available. It would help all of us to better understand the mistakes you believe New River may have made in its efforts to get the overture to the floor. Iron sharpens iron.

      Reply
      1. Andrew Winter Avatar
        Andrew Winter

        I can’t speak for what happened behind the scenes, obviously. But I do know there were multiple occasions where a substitute motion could have been made on the floor to force a vote on the overture itself.

        I was involved in an effort to approve the overture from Rivers and Lakes on baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The dynamics were very similar, and we made a simple substitute motion to try to approve it. Unfortunately, it failed.

        Reply
  2. clearlymystic8cc64764ac Avatar
    clearlymystic8cc64764ac

    Please do not allow NRP to destroy the EPC with their acceptance of homosexual leanings.

    Reply
    1. Nate Atwood Avatar
      Nate Atwood

      clearlymystic . . . there are so many acronyms thrown around it’s easy to lose track. 🙂 So, for the sake of clarity, the NRP (New River Presbytery) unanimously passed the original overture to forbid same sex attracted individuals from ordination. Perhaps you meant for your sentence above to read, “Please do not allow NLT . . .” I hope this helps. TE Nate Atwood

      Reply

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