PRESBYTERY REVIEW COMMITTEE

SUMMARY OF WORK

1. The committee once again endeavored to provide structure, order, and continuity to the process of reviewing the minutes of each Presbytery. All committee members worked from a common set of specific requirements for EPC Presbytery minutes reflecting the Constitution, the Rules for Assembly, and the Acts of Assembly.

2. The minutes of each of the EPC’s 14 Presbyteries were reviewed by two committee members, with their findings reviewed for consistency by the entire committee.

3. The Committee also reviewed the lists of the attendance for all Presbytery Stated Meetings for 2021 to ascertain the level of commitment by all EPC church sessions to our Presbyterian form of government as reflected in their engagement in the meetings of their Presbytery.

Back to Top

RECOMMENDATIONS

42-25 That the Assembly approve the Exceptions Requiring Responses as found in the 2021 Minutes of all 12 Presbyteries.

42-26 That the Assembly approve the responses of the Presbyteries to those Exceptions sent to them by the 41st General Assembly.

42-27 That the Assembly direct its Nominations Committee to increase the membership of the Presbytery Review Committee from 6 to 9 in time to support the review of the 2022 Presbytery minutes.

Back to Top

WORK OF THE COMMITTEE

As usual, the Presbytery Review Committee compressed its annual task into about six weeks between mid-March and late April. The task is to have at least two committee members review each set of Certified Minutes from the meetings of each Presbytery meeting held in 2022. This can only be accomplished by committed Ruling Elders and Teaching Elders with a good understanding of the requirements of the EPC Book of Order, the Rules for Assembly, and the Acts of the various Assemblies over the years. It also requires a competent and dedicated support staff from the Office of the General Assembly. This year each of the reviewers read the Minutes from at least three meetings held during 2021 by 5 of our 12 Presbyteries. Then both met with the Chairman to blend their findings into a single report. All of this was ably supported by Zenaida Bermudez and Nicole Mullendore from the Office of the General Assembly.

We were somewhat disappointed to find Exceptions to the Book of Order requirements in the Minutes from each of our Presbyteries this year. However, we were more disappointed to find very little change in the number of churches who neglect to have any representatives at any of the three Stated Meetings held in 2021. This past year at least 70 churches across the country fall into this category.

Reflecting on the compressed timeline to accomplish this annual audit, the fact that it always includes the week before Easter, and the additional increase in the number of Presbyteries to be reviewed in 2023, we also decided that we need to request the Nominations Committee to increase the size of the PRC from 6 to 9 members in time to do our work in March of 2023.

Our final report was reviewed and approved at a virtual meeting involving the entire Committee on April 26, 2022.

Click for the Minutes of the Presbytery Review Committee.

Back to Top

RECOMMENDATIONS (DETAILED)

RECOMMENDATION 42-25

Exceptions to the Minutes of the following Presbyteries for 2021:

Alleghenies
The Committee recommends that the Minutes of the Presbytery of the Alleghenies be approved with the following exceptions.

A. Called Meeting of June 3, 2021 was a separate meeting and therefore needs a full list of attendees, no quorum was declared, and the Statement of the reason for the Call in the Minutes. (p.693-696, G.19-5B, G.19-5.)
B. Called Meeting of August 14, 2021, was a separate meeting and therefore needs the Statement of Call in the Minutes. (p.697-706, G.19-5B).
C. Called Meeting of August 14, 2021, did not include approval of the date, time, and Commissions for the two TEs received at that meeting. (p.697-706, G.13-1A, G.21-1C.2.b).
D. TE Joseph Yerger’s date for installation as Pastor of the Mansfield First EPC and the Commission to do so is not recorded. (38th Meeting Minutes 38-12D, p.690, G.13-1A, G.21-1C.2.b).
E. TE Robert Cummings was approved as Transitional Pastor in Washington State as an Out of-bounds call and TE Dean Weaver was approved to an out of-bounds call as the EPC Stated Clerk, yet neither term for those calls were stated. (38th Meeting Minutes, 38-12A, p.689, G.10-8B.2a).

Central South
The committee recommends that the minutes of the Presbytery of the Central South be approved with the following exceptions.

A. Two TEs removed from Roll and moved another to the Associate roll, all without explanation. (12/?/112.10-3c, G.14.3 or 14.4).

East
The Committee recommends that the Minutes of the Presbytery of the East be approved with the following exceptions.

A. Judicial Commission: no mention that they were “dismissed.” (121.19, p.001, 201, G.21-1C).

Florida and the Caribbean
The Committee recommends that the Minutes of the Presbytery of Florida and the Caribbean be approved with the following exceptions.

A. There was no annual review of sessional records of each church by name. (92nd, 93rd, 94th meetings. G.19-4A7, Acts of Assembly 07-8).
B. The Out-of-Bounds Call for TE Hammans did not include specific Terms of Call. (93rd Meeting Minutes 93.04, p.4, G.10-8B2a).

Great Plains
The Committee recommends that the Minutes of the Presbytery of the Great Plains be approved with the following exceptions.

A. No record of the Disparity Correction to meet the required ratio of TEs to REs for this Presbytery is recorded in the Minutes of any of the 2021 Stated Meetings. (22nd Meeting, 23rd Meeting, 24th Meeting, G.19-2A.4b, Acts of Assembly 05-08).
B. TEs approved for Assistant Pastors: at the 22nd Meeting, Shano Raranje, Ben Marquez, Ryan Randolph was not assigned an area of responsibility nor a length of term. 
C. Out-of-Bounds Calls did not specify Terms of Call for: TE Claude Douglas Overall, TE Abiud Lope, Commissioned Pastor Alma Lope, TE Nathan Edwards. (22nd Meeting Minutes 06E5, p.526, 24th Meeting Minutes 24.05, p.562, G.10-8B.2a).
D. No list of churches who submitted their Session Minutes for review by the Presbytery. 22nd Meeting, 23rd Meeting, 24th Meeting. (Rules for Assembly IX 9-12G.16, Acts of Assembly 07-08.1).

Mid-America
The Committee recommends that the Minutes of the Presbytery of Mid-America be approved with the following exceptions.

A. Out-of-Bounds calls for TE Daryl Madi as Director of Administration and Pastor to Concord Solutions and later as Chaplain at the Aberdeen Heights Retirement Community, in neither case declared a length of term specified for the Calls. (90th Meeting, p.1315, Minute 90.07, 91st Meeting, p.1330, Minute 91.03, G.10-8B.2.a).
B. No record of the election and/or installation of the Moderator and Stated Clerk. 89th, 90th, and 91st Meetings. (G.19-3A.1).

Mid-Atlantic
The Committee recommends that the Minutes of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic be approved with the following exceptions.

A. No stated time period for Out-of-Bounds Calls to: TE Michael Kruger, Andy Koesters, TE Daniel Sonnenberg, TE Wes Vander, and TE Brian Martin (97th Meeting Minutes 97.20, p.574 and 575, 98th Meeting Minutes 98.27, p.588, 99th Meeting, p.604 and p.605, G.10-8B.2a).
B. Exam of EPC Transfer TE Daniel Sonnenberg and Exam of Reformed Transfer TE Jennifer Cooper did not state if they had any Exceptions to the Westminster Standards (98th Meeting Minutes 98.27, p.588, G.12-4, Acts of Assembly 03-04).
C. Membership of the Ministerial Committee was not reported to the Presbytery to verify that there were equal number of TEs and REs. (97th Meeting, G.21-2).
D. No start time was recorded for 99th Meeting. (99th Meeting, G.19-5A).

Midwest
The Committee recommends that the Minutes of the Midwest Presbytery be approved with the following exceptions.

A. Requires Presbytery to prepare a list of Churches with the number of eligible RE commissioners plus any additional commissioners to bring them into parity with the 2:1 TE/RE ratio. The minutes do not reflect that such a parity list was posted in the minutes and approved by the presbytery each year. (172/10/14 – 172/11/17, G.19-2A.4b – 04.4, Acts of Assembly 05-08).
B. The Book of Order calls for the following criteria to be considered during the examination for ordination: candidates’ degree and the duration the candidate was under care. The candidate is to present a sermon and take written exams, none of these actions were noted in the minutes for and of the ordination candidates. (172/7/07, 173/8/07, 174/8/07, called/6/1-05).
C. The Book of Order calls for the following criteria to be considered during the examination for bringing candidates under care: Did not include church membership duration, no indication in minutes that exam question was actually asked or answered, no charges were noted. (172/7/07, 173/7/07, 174/8/07, G.11-2C).
D. The Minutes must report the membership of the Presbytery’s Ministerial Committee at the first meeting of the year. Such notation was not noted in the Minutes. (172, G.21-2).
E. There is no mention that the Call of the Assistant Pastor is for a definite time period and is renewable. (Called meeting 07-13-21, G.10-6).

Pacific Northwest
The Committee recommends that the Minutes of the Presbytery of the Pacific Northwest be approved with the following exceptions.

A. Requires Presbytery to prepare a list of Churches with the number of eligible RE commissioners plus any additional commissioners to bring them into parity with the 2:1 TE/RE ratio. The Minutes do not reflect that such a parity list was posted in the Minutes and approved by the Presbytery each year. (10/6/20-05, G.19-2A.4b-04.4).

Rivers and Lakes
The Committee recommends that the Minutes of the Presbytery of the Rivers and Lakes be approved with the following exceptions.

A. A candidate for TE must seek Session endorsement at the local church where candidate had membership for at least 6 months. Minutes did not note length of membership. (31/528/31.09C, G.11-2A).
B. Call as an Associate Pastor needs a statement of primary tasks. (33/545/33.04#5, G.10-5-6).
C. Must present the full Ministerial Committee to validate the requirement for the TE/RE ratio to be 1:1. (33rd meeting, p.557, G.21-2).

Southeast
The Committee recommends that the Minutes of the Presbytery of the Southeast be approved with the following exceptions.

A. No assigned Advisor for Candidate Hannah Sikes Andresdes or for Candidate Alan Hawkins. (12/6/112-10, 113/103/113-11, G.11-2E).
B. No duration of Call or primary duties for Assistant Pastor Ken Chivers, Assistant Pastor James Latham, or Assistant Pastor Paul Manuel. (112/7/112-2 #1, 114/131 & 134/114-26 #2 & #3, G.10-5-6).
C. No Duration of Call shown for TE John Marcere as Out-of-Bounds. (114th meeting, 114-26 #2, G.10-8B.2a).
D. Minutes shall report that the meeting was opened and closed with prayer. Opening prayer was not noted in Minutes 112, 113, 114; closing prayer was not noted in Minutes 113, 114. (112/1/112-01, 113/97/113-01, 114/113/114-01, G.16-1A).

West
The Committee recommends that the Minutes of the West Presbytery be approved with the following exceptions.

A. Votes taken on Descending Overtures must include a summary of the Overture and the votes taken. Such information was not included in the Minutes. (122/?/122-6, G.19-4C2, Acts of Assembly 07-08).
B. Minutes on examination of called Pastor of Advent Presbyterian Church do not indicate: if candidate met education or exam requirements, if candidate had been under care, or if candidate preached a sermon. It is unknown if the candidate is coming from another denomination, another EPC Presbytery, from the Presbytery of the West, or from Advent Presbyterian Church. (122/?/122-8, G.11-2C).
C. Three candidates were examined to be received under care. Minutes did not reflect that the candidates were given a charge or assigned an advisor. (122/?/122-12, G.11-2E).
D. Minutes shall report that meetings are opened and closed in prayer. Minutes reflect the meeting was began with worship and no mention was made of a closing prayer. (122/?/122.2-122.13, G.16-1A).
E. Minutes on examination of a called minister at Aspen Grove Church Planting Network do not indicate if candidate met education or exam requirements, or if the candidate is coming from another denomination. (123/3/123-11, G.12-2B, G.12-2C, G.12-3, G.12-3C).
F. Candidate was examined to be received under care. Minutes did not reflect that the candidate was endorsed by Session, given a charge, or assigned an advisor. (123/2/123-10, G.11-2E).
G. Minutes shall report that meetings are opened and closed in prayer. No mention was made of an opening or closing prayer. (123/1, 123/4, 123:1-123-15, 124/7/124.15, G.16-1A).
H. Motion for TE Hoffelmeyer’s examination did not include reference of change from an EPC Presbytery to another, and no reference to exceptions with Westminster standards. (124/3/124-11A, G.12-2B, G.12-2C, G.12-3, G.12-3C).
I. Motions for the examination of three candidates from other denominations did not reference the transfer from another denomination. (124/4-6/124:11B, 124:12B, 124:12C, G.12-3).
J. Candidate was examined to be received under care. Minutes did not reflect that he was given a charge or assigned an advisor. (124/6/124:13, G.11-2E).
K. Specific duties for Assistant and Associate Pastors are not stated for their Call. (122nd Meeting, 123rd Meeting, G.10-07, 06).
L. Specific duration of Call for Assistant Pastors or Out-of-Bounds Calls are not stated. (122nd Meeting, 123rd Meeting. G.10-8B.2a).
M. Inadequate examination description for TE Marc Ragusin and for TE Stager. (124th Meeting Minutes 124.13, Minutes 124.14A, G.12-3).
N. Out-of-Bounds duration of call not defined. (124th Meeting Minutes 124.2A, G.10-8B.2a).
O. No duration of call or specific tasks were stated for Associate Pastor Yount. (124th Meeting Minutes 124:12B, G.10-07, 06, G.10-8B.2a).
P. No record of a position regarding the Westminster Standards for TE Rick Shaeffer. (124th Meeting Minutes 124:12C, G.12-4, Acts of Assembly 03-04).
Q. No record of approval of the examinee’s position on the Westminster Standards. (124th Meeting Minutes 11A, G.12-4, Acts of Assembly 03-04).
R. Parity List for 2021 not shown in the Minutes. (122nd Meeting, 123rd Meeting, 124th Meeting, G.19-2A.4b).
S. Responses to the Minutes review for the 40th General Assembly are not shown as reviewed by the Presbytery. (123rd Meeting, 124th Meeting).
T. Membership of the Ministerial Committee is not shown to verify the TE/RE ratio for that Committee is 1:1. (122nd Meeting, G.12-21).

RECOMMENDATION 42-26

The Committee has reviewed and approved the responses to the Exceptions cited by the 41st General Assembly from the following Presbyteries: Alleghenies, Florida and the Caribbean, Great Plains, Gulf South, Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and West.

The Committee apologizes to the Presbytery of the Pacific Southwest for mistakenly reading their 2020 Minutes and therefore citing them for an Exception for that year. In fact, Pacific Southwest had no exceptions in 2020.

RECOMMENDATION 42-27

Reflecting on the compressed timeline to accomplish this annual audit, the fact that it always includes the week before Easter, and the additional increase in the number of Presbyteries to be reviewed in 2023 from 14 to 16, we need to request the Nominations Committee to increase the size of the PRC from 6 to 9 members in time to do our work in March of 2023. It should also be pointed out that the last time the size of the Committee was increased there were less than 12 Presbyteries to review.

Back to Top

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Jane Bodden
RE, Presbytery of Florida and the Caribbean

George King
RE, Presbytery of the Gulf South

Jason Steele
TE, Presbytery of the Midwest

Back to Top

MEETING DATES

March 4, 2022: Video Conference
March 15, 2022 (subcommittee): Video Conference
March 17, 2022 (subcommittee): Video Conference
March 24, 2022 (subcommittee): Video Conference
March 29, 2022 (subcommittee): Video Conference
March 31, 2022 (subcommittee): Video Conference
April 1, 2022 (subcommittee): Video Conference
April 5, 2022 (subcommittee): Video Conference
April 7, 2022 (subcommittee): Video Conference
April 26, 2022: Video Conference

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Bengelink, Chairman
April 2022

Back to Top