The pastor of Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church (BHPC) has been suspended from his office, and the church elders (session) have been admonished to repent and cooperate with the requests of the presbytery.
Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church / Photo via Google
The Pittsburgh-area church is a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) denomination and has been seeking to dissolve its affiliation and exit the denomination for over a year.
The church and presbytery have been at loggerheads over several issues, not the least of which is the roll of voting members entitled to participate in an exit vote.
The Presbytery of the Alleghenies brought charges against Pastor Nate Devlin and the elders of BHPC, the trial of which began in November. The judicial commission encouraged BHPC and the presbytery to attempt mediation.
However, the two parties could not reach a resolution about the membership rolls, and the prosecutor urged that the trial resume on January 11, which it did.
According to the presbytery’s judicial commission, Devlin was “convicted by sufficient proof of the sins of contempt and immorality” and suspended from his office as teaching elder until he demonstrates repentance, including publicly acknowledging his “wrongdoing” and removing posts and other communications that “disparage” fellow teaching and ruling elders.
Devlin’s suspension began Tuesday (Jan 14).
“It is unprecedented that a presbytery would try a pastor and the entire church session,” Devlin told MinistryWatch. He said he felt compelled to see the trial through and “bear witness to the truth.”
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In their closing statement at the trial, Devlin and the BHPC session said, “[W]e have consistently acted in good faith, driven by a deep love for our church, and we are not guilty of the charges against us.”
About charges that Devlin and BHPC have disparaged others, they said, “This is an attempt to suppress dissent and protect an image of respectability, and the perception of decency, rather than faithfulness to Scripture. This is a developing pattern that, regrettably, we have seen within the EPC at large.”
Despite his formal suspension, Devlin says he feels released to continue his ministry now that the trial is over. He told his congregation on Sunday he would see them next week to preach on the passage found in Isaiah 35.
The BHPC session was admonished by the presbytery judicial commission to “repent of the contempt” they are alleged to have shown toward the presbytery and EPC. The elders were also directed to provide session minutes to the presbytery and cooperate in a financial review.
These are demands the presbytery has been making for several months. BHPC has offered the audit committee’s report of the church finances, but has not provided copies of the minutes because it claims some of the minutes’ contents are protected by attorney-client privilege.
If the church does not show its intent to comply with these directions within seven days, the church prosecutor, Dr. Sean Brubaker, recommended that the admonishment be “elevated immediately to an indefinite suspension [of the session.]”
Rev. Sean Hall, chair of the presbytery’s judicial commission, told MinistryWatch in answer to a question about enforcing the sanctions, “My assumption is that any elder in the church who faces formal admonishment or discipline would take the time to heed that warning, spending time in self-reflection on how their fellow elders have found them to be out of step with Scripture. Our goal in any disciplinary procedure is as much to restore the sinner as it is to maintain the honor of God.”
“However,” he added, “in cases of persistent and unrepentant rebellion, our polity directs that ‘When a milder sanction fails to reclaim the offender, it may become the duty of the court to proceed to the administration of a more severe sanction.’”
In an email to the congregation after the trial on Saturday, Andy Lucas, clerk of the BHPC session, wrote, “[W]e want to reassure you that your Session continues to be in dialogue with our attorneys… We feel confident in the plan we have developed to safeguard the well-being of our congregation in the weeks and months to come as well as far into the future. We have already filed a complaint with the General Assembly regarding the trial.”
Devlin told MinistryWatch that according to the Book of Church Order, the complaint about the trial filed with the EPC General Assembly should stay the sanctions that were applied by the presbytery.
Hall confirmed that in an email to MinistryWatch. “When a complaint is properly filed regarding a judgment made in a disciplinary action, rather than an appeal under D.13, notice of filing of the complaint shall have the effect of suspending the judgment of the lower court until the case has been finally decided in the higher court,” he wrote.
The complaint asserts that the trial was procedurally improper and should not be upheld, arguing that parties have been treated according to different standards by the presbytery.
As relief, the church asks for the EPC permanent judicial commission to direct the Presbytery of the Alleghenies to allow the BHPC exit vote to proceed with the rolls established by the church session.
If that is not a possible outcome, the church asked for a new trial in the New Rivers Presbytery.
Over 100 members of the BHPC congregation have also filed a complaint with the EPC about the actions of the presbytery in preventing the congregation from finishing the exit process.
“We are grieved by the nature of the conflict with the [Presbytery of the Alleghenies], and wish to lawfully and peacefully be dismissed into independence so we can realign with a different Reformed body,” the complaint states.
The EPC has not yet responded to the congregational complaint.
Hall also reiterated the presbytery’s hope that matters resolve peacefully. “[W]e pray for the peace, healing, and reconciliation within the Beverly Heights Church, and it is our hope that God would be glorified as we take actions to honor Christ’s name,” he said.
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