RPCNA Synod met last week, and during the week the GLG presbytery met. There have been a lot going on since last years' verdicts:
Immanuel RPC:
IRPC voted to leave the RPCNA. This was rejected at presbytery's last meeting. The Constitution allows for two paths toward exit - transfer to another denomination and dissolution. The underlying issue was what happened to the IRPC church building that was held in trust by the Presbytery.
Since that meeting, IRPC voted again to leave vs. transfer, so apparently GLG Presbytery decided that dissolution was the chosen path. I doubt IRPC will be able to keep their building at this point.
Former IRPC Elders (Keith Magill, Ben Larson, David Carr):
These men pled guilty of their charges, were suspended from their offices for a year, and an oversight committee was assigned to bring reconciliation and restoration. Apparently, these men, as part of the IRPC church rebellion, declared that they were "unable to work with the committee".
Synod voted to depose these men from their office. They are no longer ordained officers in the RPCNA.
Jared Olivetti:
Jared also stopped working with his committee, and rejected his discipline (suspension from communion) by accepting communion late last year at IRPC. Synod voted to excommunicate Jared.
IRPC Elders who served communion to Jared:
Another complaint came because IRPC's session voted to serve communion to Jared. These men were rebuked at the Presbytery level. A complaint against this action (that it was not sufficient discipline against clear insubordination) was sustained by Synod.
IRPC Next Steps:
A reliable source told me that IRPC voted to leave and reorganize under the name "Redeeming Grace" (why, oh why, do abusive churches seem so attracted to the word grace??!!) with former pastor James Faris as the moderator of their session. I'm wondering if their goal is to split the friendly churches off of the RPCNA to form a new denomination.
Just to recap, Jared's relative raped a bunch of kids. The church leadership circled the wagons around Jared while pretending that he had been recused from oversight of the situation. The leadership then downplayed the rapes as "normal teenage hormones" - re-victimizing the victims, failed to report the crimes to the authorities, and subsequently refused any counsel from presbytery. The leadership's complete disregard for what was right led to a huge expose in the Indy Star and disgrace for IRPC, the presbytery and denomination. Now they want to recast the church as "grace" - the opposite of what they displayed to the victims and their families. Instead, it's always about what the leadership wants for themselves, not for their congregation. It's a doubling down on the abuse. Not only will they abuse the victims, but when those in leadership face accountability, they demand grace, or else walk away. How brainwashed do you need to be to stick with a church that obviously cares only about protecting its leaders?
