April 19, 2012

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ of the First Presbyterian Church of Dunellen,

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! On February 20, 2012, the Session of First Presbyterian Church of Dunellen voted to recommend to your congregation and to the presbytery to be dismissed to another Reformed church body. As a result of that decision, the Presbytery of Elizabeth, in accordance with its recently approved Disaffiliation/Dismissal Policy, formed a Presbytery Resolution Team. As you may know, in the Presbyterian/Reformed tradition, we believe that we can best discern the will and mind of Christ in community, as we engage in prayer, study of Scripture and our confessions, and mutual discussion and debate. Thus, any final action for your congregation to be dismissed will require an affirmative action by your congregation and the presbytery. Continue Reading…

Today, all of our church’s members received a letter from the Presbytery of Elizabeth inviting them to a “Congregational Town-Hall Meeting” on Sunday, May 6. There will actually be two meetings: The first at 11:40 am in English, and the second at 3:30 pm in Spanish.

The session strongly encourages all members to attend one of these two meetings, at which the Presbytery Resolution Team will present their perspective on the session’s recommendation that First Presbyterian Church of Dunellen be dismissed from the PC(USA) and join the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. We want our congregation to be fully informed, and we want your voice to be heard.

On Monday, March 26, our session met for the first time with the “Resolution Team” (RT) from Elizabeth Presbyter to discuss our request for dismissal to the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO).

The meeting began with introductions, and a Bible study on Ephesians 4 led by presbytery moderator, Rev. Neal Presa. He explained that the purpose of the RT is to work together with the session and congregation to discern and do God’s will, whatever that may be.

After this, the RT asked each member of session, as well as the members of our Denominational Relations Team who were present, to share why they believe that God is calling First Presbyterian Church of Dunellen out of the PC(USA) and into ECO. This took up the bulk of the meeting, as the RT listened carefully to each of the congregational leaders.

In the near future, the RT will be communicating with members of the congregation, inviting anyone who wishes to share their own thoughts, beliefs, and feelings about the session’s request to be dismissed from the PC(USA). They will provide opportunities to meet with team members face-to-face, and will also invite written comments through a special email address. The session encourages all of our members to take advantage of this opportunity.

On April 30 the RT and session will meet together again to review and plan next steps in the dismissal process. Please continue to keep all of the people involved in prayer.

This afternoon, Sunday, March 25, the session voted unanimously to ask the Presbytery of Elizabeth to dismiss our church to the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO).

ECO is a new reformed denomination, born in January of this year. Pastor Wildrick and Elder Suzanne Geiger were fortunate to be in Orlando for its birth.

In prayerfully considering what we were looking for in a new denominational home, the session agreed that our new denominational home must:

1. be radically committed to the Lord Jesus Christ
2. be Reformed (Presbyterian) in its theology and polity
3. be Evangelical, with a clear set of theological standards or core beliefs shared by all ordained leaders
4. celebrate the ministry of women in ordained ministry
5. be outwardly focused, and passionately committed to evangelism as well as serving those living in the margins of society
6. have a limited, flexible structure that encourages and enables congregations to be innovative in ministry, accountable and encouraging to one another in fulfilling the great commission, and minimizes bureaucratic overhead
7. will provide a comprehensive and affordable health care and retirement plans for our pastors

We believe that we have found just that denomination in ECO!

Is ECO a perfect denomination? Of course not, and if it were it would cease to be perfect once our church joins it. But it is a body of like-minded believers, moving forward in the same directions that we believe God is calling our church. The leadership is humble, passionate, and committed. Not only do we believe that ECO can provide a healthy environment in which we can grow, we believe that we can contribute in a meaningful as we help build ECO into a strong and vibrant denomination.

Please continue praying for our pastors, session and the denominational relations team. Pray also for the members of the presbytery’s Resolution Team. The session’s first meeting with the team is tomorrow, March 26, at 7:30 pm.

One of the key components of the Presbytery of Elizabeth’s process for churches seeking dismissal is appointing a “Resolution Team” from the presbytery. This team will meet with the session and members of the congregation to determine if there is a way to reconcile differences and keep First Presbyterian Church within the PC(USA). Failing that, the Resolution Team will meet with us to negotiate the terms and process for dismissal.

Please pray for our session, Denominational Relations Team, and pastors, as well as for the Resolution Team and our presbytery as we enter this stage of the dismissal process. Pray for wisdom, discernment, patience, understanding, grace, and that we may demonstrate the gospel of Jesus Christ in our meetings together.