PRESBYTERY REVIEW COMMITTEE

SUMMARY OF WORK

1. Working from a common set of specific requirements for EPC Presbytery Minutes reflecting the Constitution, the Rules for Assembly, and certain Acts of the Assembly, two members of the Committee read each set of the Minutes from at least 4 of our 16 presbyteries and presented those for concurrence by the entire committee.

2. Members of the committee also reviewed all of the responses from the various presbyteries to those Exceptions cited for their 2021 Minutes to approve the acceptability of those responses.

3. The Committee also reviewed the lists of attendees for all Presbytery Stated Meetings for 2022 to ascertain the level of commitment by all EPC church sessions our Presbyterian form of government as reflected in their engagement in the meetings of their presbytery.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

43-19 That the 43rd General Assembly approve the Exceptions requiring a Response as found in the 2022 minutes of 14 of our 16 Presbyteries.

43-20 That the 43rd General Assembly approve the responses of the Presbyteries to those Exceptions sent to them by the 42nd General Assembly.

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WORK OF THE COMMITTEE

Of necessity, this Committee’s task is compressed into eight weeks between the receipt of certified Minutes for at least three Stated Meetings held during the calendar year 2022 and the publication deadline for the docket of this General Assembly. The review requires at least two members of the Committee to read each set of Minutes submitted by each of the EPC’s 16 presbyteries and then meet online with the Chairman to reach concurrence. This can only be accomplished by having a team of committed Ruling Elders and Teaching Elders with a good understanding of the requirements of the Book of Order, the Rules of Assembly, and the pertinent Acts of Assembly. It also requires a competent and dedicated support staff from the Office of the General Assembly. All of this was ably supported this year by Zenaida Bermudez and Jennifer Goody from the Office of the General Assembly.

This year we found that two of our 16 Presbyteries had no Exceptions, but due in part to the fact that some of the Stated Clerks were relatively inexperienced for various reasons, there were some significant errors. The foundational basis for this annual review is due to the connectional character of our denomination. As Book of Government 16-3 states, “Because all courts of the Church have a mutual connection with one another, the act of each court should be considered representative of the whole Church. Therefore, no one court is separate and distinct from all the other courts. This mutuality and connectivity finds expression in the right of review and control in the ascending order of the courts.” Maintaining an accurate consistency between presbyteries ensures that both a legal and historical record of each presbytery is preserved for the reference and understanding of future generations.

The fact that the 42nd Assembly increased the membership of this committee from 6 to 9 members for this years work is appreciated by all members of the Committee.

The Committee is also pleased to report that the number of EPC churches who didn’t have any representation at any of their presbytery’s Stated Meetings decreased to approximately 40 during 2022 as compared to at least 70 during 2021. Although the number of Stated Meetings that required in-person attendance was increased in 2022 from 2021 for many presbyteries, the non-attendees went from 11% to about 6.5%.

Our final report was reviewed and approved by the entire Committee at a virtual meeting on April 25, 2023.

Click here for the Minutes of the Presbytery Review Committee.

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RECOMMENDATIONS (DETAILED)

RECOMMENDATION 43-19

The Presbytery Review Committee recommends that the 43rd General Assembly approve the following Exceptions requiring a Response as found in the 2022 Minutes of 14 of our 16 Presbyteries.

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

A. No record of annual Session records review. (G.194-A7; Acts of Assembly 07-08.)
B. No record of date and time of ordination/installation of TEs Cepek and Eatough; TEs Shefelton and Hall; TE White; and TE Harris (Meetings 41, 42, 43; 10-10D, p. 736, 41-17D, p. 739, 42-10D and 10J, pp. 759 and 761, 43-19D, p. 797, 44-15D, p. 841). (G.13-1A, G.21-1C.2.b.)
C. TE David Shrader, an Out-of-Bounds Chaplain in the U.S. Air Force, period of time not recorded (Meeting 41-10B, p.735). (G.10-8B2.a.)

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

A. Call of TE Charles Reed as Assistant Pastor included in Omnibus Motion with no record of exam, duration (term) of call, primary area of responsibility or position on Westminster Standards (Meeting 01-18.2). (G.12-2-5; G.13-1-7.)
B. Candidate Howard Quach, Westminster position not recorded (Meeting 01-18.1). (G.12-4.)
C. Minutes not signed by the Moderator (Meeting 01). (G.19-5D.)

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

A. No mention of the membership of the dissolved church being transferred to another church or being held by the Presbytery (Meeting 115, p. 956, section 115.16). (G.5-9.)
B. No definite period listed for TE serving Out-of-Bounds (Meeting 115, p. 958, section 115.24). (G.10-8B.2.a.)

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

A. Called Presbytery meeting minutes of June 14 were approved. No minutes of June 14 Called Meeting were submitted for review (Meeting 1, p. 1, section 1.06). (G.19-5D; Rules for Assembly 9-12G.1.)
B. “Parity” report simply listed the count of TEs and REs attending the current meeting. No list of churches invited to send additional REs (Meeting 1, p. 3, section 1.15). (G.19-2A.4b; Acts of Assembly 05-08.)
C. The report stated that a list of churches who had submitted Session Minutes was presented but the list was not included in the Minutes (Meeting 100, p. 638, Stated Clerk Report). (G.19-4A7; Acts of Assembly 07-08.)
D. Date and time were not given for the installation of the Pastor of the newly established Restoration Community Church (Meeting 100, p. 639, first paragraph). (G.13-1A; G.21-1C.2.b.)
E. Change of call to Out-of-Bounds, no term was listed (Meeting 101, p. 665, section 101.59.3C). (G.10-8B.2; Acts of Assembly 05-08.)
F. The calling of an Assistant Pastor did not list the duration of the call (Meeting 101, p. 666, section 101.60); Assistant Pastor Josh Schatzle, no duration of call recorded (Meeting 101.58, p. 665); Assistant Pastor Matt Hartman, no duration of call recorded (Meeting 001.28, p. 7). (G.10-6A.)
G. No record of candidates’ position on Westminster Confession (Meeting 001.28, p. 7). (G.12-4.)
H. Candidate Drew Daniels was ordained by the Presbytery at the meeting. No record of installation plans for others (Meeting 001.29, p. 7). (G.13-1A.)
I. TE Mark Hunt, laboring Out-of-Bounds: No duration of call recorded (Meeting 01.59-3C, p. 665). (G.10-8B.2a.)
J. Candidates Katie Macturk and Noah Austin, no mention of Session endorsement (Meeting 101.57, p. 664). (G.11-2A.)

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

A. Minutes must report the membership of the Presbytery’s Ministerial Committee at its first meeting each year to define for that year that its ratio of Teaching Elders to Ruling Elders meets the requirements of G.21-2 for that Committee (Meeting 124-17, 001274). (G.21-2.)
B. No mention of Circleville commission being dismissed (Meeting 126, p. 1401, section 26.17). (G.21-1 Judicial Committee comments from last year.)
C. No statement of primary responsibilities for renewing an Assistant Pastor (Meeting 136, p. 1423, section 126-36L). (G.10-6.)
D. No statement of primary responsibilities for Associate Pastor that was previously an Assistant Pastor (Meeting 126, p. 1423, section 126-36N). (G.10-6A.)

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. No Quorum declared, even though it is in the Section heading (Meeting 96, p. 96/1, section 96.01; Meeting 97, p. 97/1, section 97.01). (G.19-5C.)
B. No mention of additional RE assigned to churches to maintain a 1:2 TE to RE ratio (Meetings 95, 96, 97). (G.19-2A.4; Acts of Assembly 05-08.3.)
C. No list of specific areas of responsibility for Associate Pastor Carlos Sierra (Meeting 96, p. 10, section 96-10). (G.10-5.)
D. No record of Session minutes being reviewed for each church by name (Meetings 95, 96, 97). (G.19-4A.7; Acts of Assembly 07-08.)

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

A. TE Ken Ferguson: Assistant Pastor position requires call to be for a definite period of time, none shown (Meeting 25.07-2, pp. 575, 576). (G.10-6A.)
B. TE Josh Weeks: Call as Associate Pastor approved but does not stipulate areas of responsibility as required (Meeting 26.03-B.4, p. 582). (G.10-5.)
C. TE Timothy Janiszewski: No duration (term) of call specified as required for an Out-of-Bounds call (Meeting 25.07-1, p. 575). (G.10-8.B2a.)
D. TE Christopher Lemmon: No duration (term) of call specified as required for an Out-of-Bounds call (Meeting 27.04-1, p. 601). (G.10-8.B2a.)

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

A. No mention that Congregation of Faith Vietnamese Mission Church voted to dissolve (Meeting 23, p. 93, section 23.22.1). (G.5-9.)
B. No mention of how the property of Faith Vietnamese Mission Church was disposed of (Meeting 23, p. 93, section 23.22.1). (G.5-9.)

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

A. Terms of call must state length of term for an Assistant Pastor (Meeting 94.11, p. 1392, section 94.1). (G.10-5; G.10-6.)

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

A. Item 6: Although “All members of Grace Chapel who wish to do so will have their membership transferred to Ward Church” the Minutes did not include the statement that all others’ membership would be held by the Presbytery until they requested transfer (Meeting 175, pp. 12, 13, section 175-18). (G.5-9.)
B. The report on an Executive Session included the fact that Motions were made and passed and are available in the Stated Clerk’s Office. There is no provision in the EPC Constitution for maintaining a second (“secret”) set of Minutes. While discussions may be had in Executive Session, motions must be made in the open session. A person’s identity may be protected if need be by referring to him or her as TE “X” or RE “B” (Meeting 177, p. 14, section 09). (G.2-4A.)

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

A. Listed 14 churches whose Session Minutes were due to be reviewed and recorded, and that 8 had been reviewed but didn’t say which 8 (Meeting 14, p. 274, section 14-8).
B. There was a vermal (?) report of “Session Minutes reviewed to date” and a list of churches scheduled to be reviewed in October, but no list of churches that had been reviewed. Minutes must list the churches by name that have had their Session Minutes reviewed (Meeting 15, p. 8, section 15-1). (G.19-4A7; Acts of Assembly 07-08.1.)

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

A. Lacking the list of commissioners and date for installation for Candidate Wright (Meeting 13, p. 158, section 13-10). (G.13-1A; G.21-1C.2.b.)

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

A. Terms of Call for assistant did not specify period of time (Meeting 117, pp. 189-190, section 117-18.9; pp. 191-192, section 117-18.10). (G.10-5; G.10-6.)
B. No advisor for Candidate Long is named (Meeting 115, p. 124). (G.11-2E.)
C. Length and boundaries of call for Commissioned Pastors Hawkins and Hodges are not given (Meeting 116, pp. 152-153 and 153-154). (G.9-11A.)

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

A. No list of TEs attending, excused or unexcused (Meeting 125, p. 1). Minutes shall list the names of each Teaching Elder member of the Presbytery and note that person’s attendance as present, excused, or unexcused. (Acts of Assembly 00-11.)
B. No list of RE commissioners attending (Meeting 125, p. 1, section 125.4). Minutes shall list the names of all Ruling Elders serving as Commissioners for each Church. Minutes shall also list all visiting Teaching Elders and Ruling Elders who have been enrolled as corresponding members with the privilege of the floor. (Acts of Assembly 03-04.4.)
C. No record of Associate Members and their attendance at the meeting (Meeting 125, p. 1, section 125.4). Presbytery Minutes shall record the roll of Associate Members and their attendance at meetings. (Acts of Assembly 16-25.)
D. No notation of advisors appointed for candidates Chad Johnson and John MacCarthy noted (Meeting 125, p. 3, section 125.11.II); Advisor assigned to candidate (G.11-2E); Presbyteries must follow the provision of G.11-2E, namely that the advisor of a candidate coming under care should not ordinarily be the candidate’s Pastor. (Acts of Assembly 06-08.)
E. Notation of TEs, REs, and the rest present; however, no notation of excused or unexcused absences for TEs not present (Meeting 126 p. 4, section 126.20). Minutes shall list the names of each Teaching Elder member of the Presbytery and note that person’s attendance as present, excused, or unexcused. (Acts of Assembly 00-11.)
F. No notation of exceptions or no exceptions to WCF noted or approved for Mr. Hubbard (Meeting 126, p. 6, section 126.7). Minutes must report that the examination of all Teaching Elders for ordination and/or installation shall include an approval of that person’s position with respect to the Westminster Standards—either with no stated exceptions or an acceptance of any stated exception(s). These exception(s) are not recorded in the Minutes (G.12-4). When a minister or candidate takes no exceptions to the Westminster standards, Presbytery Minutes must state that fact. (G.12-4; Acts of Assembly 03-04.)
G. Membership of the Ministerial Committee is not shown to verify that the TE/RE ratio for that Committee is 50/50 (Meeting 125, February 2022). (G.12-21.)
H. Summary of each Descending Overture is not included (Meeting 125.8, February 2022, p. 2). (G.19-4C2; Acts of Assembly 07-08.)
I. 2022 budget was approved, but not included in the Minutes (Meeting 125.15, p. 5). (Rules for Assembly IX.9-12.G.16.)
J. A list of TEs absent either excused or unexcused is not included (Meeting 126.6.B, May 2022, p. 5). (Acts of Assembly 00-11.)
K. Inadequate examination description for TE Rohrbach (Meeting 126.10, May 2022, p. 7). (G.12-3.)
L. The content of the examination of Candidate Pent was not included in the Minutes (Meeting 127.9A, October 2022, p. 6). (G.12-2B.)
M. The content of the examination of TE Smith was not included in the Minutes. (Meeting 127.11A, October 2022, p. 8). (G.12-2B.)
N. The content of the examination of TE Smith was not included in the Minutes (Meeting 127.11A, October 2022, p. 8). (G.12-2B.)
O. The content of the examination of RE Pettus was not included in the Minutes (Meeting 127.11B, October 2022, pp. 8-9). (G.11-A.)
P. No review of Session Minutes is shown by Church (Meetings 125, 126, 127). (G.19-4A.7; Acts of Assembly 07-08.)
Q. Parity List for 2022 not shown in the Minutes (Meetings 125, 126, 127). (G.19-2A.4b.)
R. No starting time recorded (Meetings 125, 127). (G.19-5A.)
S. No starting time recorded (Meetings 125, 127). (G.19-5A.)

RECOMMENDATION 43-20

The Presbytery Review Committee recommends that the 43rd General Assembly approve the responses of the Presbyteries to those Exceptions sent to them by the 42nd General Assembly.

Rationale: The Presbytery Review Committee recommends the approval of the responses to the Exceptions cited by the 42nd General Assembly for the following Presbyteries: Alleghenies, Central South, East, Florida and the Caribbean, Great Plains, Gulf South, Mid-America, Midwest, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, Rivers and Lakes, Southeast. The approval for the Presbytery of the West is conditional upon their response to a letter from the Committee and the Chief Parliamentarian regarding the limitation of the duration of calls to Teaching Elders working out-of-bounds.

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COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Jane Bodden
RE, Presbytery of Florida and the Caribbean

Keith Hopkins
RE, Presbytery of the Pacific Northwest

George King
RE, Presbytery of the Gulf South

Jason Steele
TE, Presbytery of the Midwest

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MEETING DATES

March 2, 2023: Video Conference
March 21, 2023 (subcommittee): Video Conference
March 23, 2023 (subcommittee): Video Conference
March 28, 2023 (subcommittee): Video Conference
March 30, 2023 (subcommittee): Video Conference
April 4, 2023 (subcommittee): Video Conference
April 6, 2023 (subcommittee): Video Conference
April 11, 2023 (subcommittee): Video Conference
April 13, 2023 (subcommittee): Video Conference
April 25, 2023: Video Conference

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Bengelink, Chairman
June 2023

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