Compromise, Anyone?

Man, I can’t wait to hear how Churches for Middle East Peace will respond to this bit of news from the Jerusalem Post:

The Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council Thursday passed a law that makes any concessions on Jerusalem illegal. The law, which was approved by first reading, also defines such concessions as a crime of high treason.

Presented by Hamas legislator Ahmed Abu Halbiyeh on behalf of two parliamentary committees – the Judicial Committee and the Committee for Jerusalem Affairs, the law is expected to pass in second and third readings in the coming days.

The PLC session was boycotted by many members of the rival Fatah faction in protest against Hamas’s violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last June. However, many Fatah legislators have made it known that they too support the law, which states that Jerusalem is a Palestinian, Arab and Islamic city and that it is totally forbidden to give up or conduct negotiations about any part of the city. [Emphasis added.]

According to the law, anyone who violates the law would be prosecuted as a traitor.

Of course, “law” is kind of a shaky concept among the Palestinians, whose factions prefer using guns to courts to iron out their differences. Nevertheless, I would very much like to hear a response from those who insist that a divided Jerusalem is the only way to go, and that it is all the Palestinians are asking for.

(Via LGF.)

Sacramento Settles

At its Tuesday meeting, the PCUSA Presbytery of Sacramento overwhelmingly approved proposed terms of dismissal for Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Roseville. Highlights include the following terms for First:

Dismissal: Presbytery shall dismiss FPC, with all property both real and personal, to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Financial Terms: FPC shall make an irrevocable gift to the Presbytery in the sum of One Hundred Sixty Thousand Dollars ($160,000) on the following terms: Twenty
Percent (20%) or Thirty Two Thousand Dollars ($32,000) shall be paid on or before January 31, 2008.  Thereafter, FPC shall pay the remaining sum of One Hundred Twenty Eight Thousand Dollars ($128,000) in seven (7) annual installments payable on or before January 31 of each year beginning with 2009 through and including 2015.  The amount of the annual installments to be paid to the Presbytery by FPC shall be Eighteen Thousand Two Hundred Eighty Five Dollars and Seventy Two Cents ($18,285.72), except for the final year’s payment, which shall be in the amount of Eighteen Thousand Two Hundred Eighty Five Dollars and Sixty Eight Cents ($18,285.68).

Pastor Ordinations: The Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry shall consider the requests of FPC’s pastors to either (1) transfer their ordination to the Evangelical
Presbyterian Church or (2) maintain their ordination with the PC(USA) while laboring outside the jurisdiction of the Presbytery and continuing in validated ministries at FPC.  If an FPC Pastor or Associate Pastor should request alternative number 2, in consideration of the Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry’s approval of the Pastor’s or Associate Pastor’s request to labor outside the jurisdiction, FPC agrees it will not terminate said Pastor or Associate Pastor without cause during the 12-month period immediately following FPC’s dismissal to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The agreements between the parties set forth in this summary are conditioned upon the Committee on Ministry’s approval of such requests.

Effective Date: The effective date of dismissal, if approved, shall be January 1, 2008.

For Fair Oaks:

Financial Terms: FOPC shall make an irrevocable gift to the Presbytery in of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) on the following terms: Twenty Percent (20%) , Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000) shall be paid on or before January 31, 2008.  Thereafter, the remaining Two Hundred Thousand Dollars shall be
paid in nine annual installments on or before January 31 of each year beginning with 2009 through and including 2017.  The amount of each annual payment shall be Twenty Two Thousand Two Hundred Twenty Two Dollars and Twenty Two Cents ($22,222.22), except for the final year’s payment which shall be in the amount of Twenty Two Thousand Two Hundred Twenty Two Dollars and Twenty Three Cents ($22,222.23).

Discounted Early Payment Option:  At the sole option of FOPC’s Session, FOPC may make an irrevocable gift  to Presbytery of Two Hundred Fifty
Thousand Dollars ($250,000) on the following terms: Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000) shall be paid on or before January 31, 2008.  The remaining sum of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars shall be discounted at a rate of Five Percent (5%) for each of the years of anticipated payments under the preceding paragraph in consideration of FOPC making its final payment, in full, within 6 months.  Thus, FOPC shall pay the amount of One Hundred Thirty Thousand Dollars ($130,000) on or before June 30, 2008.  The parties have agreed that the amount of this irrevocable gift shall be discounted to account for the fact that it is being made in full within a six-month period of time, recognizing that the present dollar value of this discounted sum when paid within a six-month period of time is equivalent to the full amount of the irrevocable gift paid over a ten-year period of time.

Pastor Ordinations: The Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry shall consider the requests of FOPC’s pastors to transfer their ordination to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.  The agreements between the parties set forth in this summary are conditioned upon the Committee on Ministry’s approval of such requests.

Kudos to all parties for being able to work this out in an amicable fashion (are you listening, Heartland and Greater Atlanta?). I’ll look forward to seeing the pastors and commissioners from these two churches at next summer’s EPC General Assembly in Bethesda.

(Hat tip: Cal Probasco.)