According to the Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Massachusetts), the trial to determine who owns the property of Londonderry Presbyterian Church has begun in New Hampshire Superior Court:
The keys to the historic Londonderry Presbyterian Church and about $300,000 in religious relics and valuables are at stake in a civil trial that began yesterday to decide who has title to the church’s property and other legal issues.
A schism at the church stems from a vote Sept. 30, when the majority of members of Londonderry Presbyterian Church agreed to leave the national church and join a conservative evangelical denomination.
Those members later locked other church members out of the Pillsbury Road building, forcing them to hold services elsewhere, and later received a court injunction to keep them out of the building until the case is settled.
As several correspondents of mine from the congregation have pointed out in the past, this is not accurate. Members of the congregation were never “locked out.” The presbytery sought to hold a meeting at the building the first week in October without asking permission, and the session then changed the locks to prevent presbytery officials from coming in. Members of the congregation, however, have been welcome to worship with the majority all along. From what I’ve been able to gather, Deborah Hills of the Layman Online has it right when she writes today:
While Londonderry’s dismissal from the PCUSA has been reported on in the past, the legal response of the governing presbytery has not. Before any official announcement of the church’s desire to disaffiliate from the PCUSA, the Presbytery of Northern New England voted overwhelmingly to form an administrative commission for the Londonderry church. The commission has the power to assume original jurisdiction and seize all real property and financial assets, depending on the outcome of the trial.
In response to the actions of the presbytery, the congregation filed suit and was granted a temporary restraining order to protect the status quo of the church and its assets. The presbytery filed a motion asking for relief from the restraining order. But before hearing the outcome, they mailed letters to the congregation inviting them to a worship service and organizational meeting – apparently to reform a Londonderry Presbyterian Church as part of the PCUSA. The meeting was planned to take place in the Londonderry sanctuary on Sunday afternoon, October 7. “No permission was requested, or given for PNNE to conduct any activities on LPC’s property,” states the timeline on the Londonderry Presbyterian Church web site.
The session changed the locks on the church to prevent a possible confrontation. After 300 people attended the normal worship services that morning, presbytery representatives arrived for the afternoon meeting, in violation of the temporary restraining order. The courts had officially denied relief from the restraining order on October 5.
The Eagle-Tribune’s story continues:
Only one witness, Eric Meyer, president at the time of the schism, took the stand yesterday. Meyer, dressed in a light gray suit, white shirt and dark tie, answered questions from his attorney, Michael Pearman, for approximately two hours.
His testimony is to continue today. Meyer said the congregation’s leaders recommended leaving the national church, even though a straw poll showed the majority wanted to stay. Asked why, Meyer said he and the other elders “were confident God was calling us to make this decision, and he would take care of us.”
I don’t recall having heard about this “straw poll” before, and in any case it strikes me as a lot less important than the actual vote that was taken on September 30, 2007, in which a large majority (the story says 71%) voted to leave PCUSA and join the New Wineskins Transitional Presbytery.
The Rev. Kenneth Glasier, an EPC pastor, was recently called to Londonderry, and preached there for the first time on July 20. Please be praying for him, his family, and both of the Londonderry congregations as the trial goes forward.
(And of course, folks who are involved in the situation are welcome to comment and provide further information, as long as they keep things civil. To this day, my October 9, 2007 item entitled Londonderry Makes the Move is the most viewed of my over 775 posts, as well as the most commented on. This situation obviously provokes heated argument. Be passionate, but be Christian. And if I’ve gotten anything wrong, please let me know, and I’ll correct it in the post text.)
Posted by David Fischler 
