My dear family in Christ:

As you know, your Session has given a great deal of attention to denominational matters over this last year. Our Presbytery took a very strong stand for historic, biblical truth in a resolution it passed last September. And, when a legal challenge was brought by a minority within the presbytery, that same resolution was upheld in a church court case at the Synod level. I was one of the team that was elected to defend that resolution.

This action and the resulting court decision was the first of its kind in the entire nation. Other presbyteries are following with similar resolutions and court cases. In short, we are encouraged that, in spite of ongoing pressure from a liberal minority within our denomination, our historic, biblical standards as Presbyterians continue to be upheld.

There is other good news as well. There have been significant staff changes in the upper levels of our denomination. For the first time, perhaps ever, evangelicals are well represented in Louisville, our denominational headquarters. Similar changes are occurring in many of our denominational seminaries.

The battle is by no means over. Those who oppose us have not given up. But the Session is encouraged enough by these changes to make the unequivocal statement that we intend to continue as a church within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and wish to focus our energies toward our own mission and future as a congregation.

With that in mind, the Session recently passed the resolution that you will find elsewhere on this web page. As you read it, you will see why we are encouraged. But we are not naive. We have not rescinded our decision to withhold funding from our upper body, the General Assembly. It will take more time for us to ascertain whether or not the General Assembly is working at cross purposes with its constituent members. The meeting of the General Assembly in 2008 will likely be quite revealing.

So, though we continue to have some concerns and to express those concerns through our financial contributions, we are also encouraged enough to state clearly that we feel it is in our best interests to set aside any conversations about schism and to devote our attention, fearlessly, to the ministry that God has set before us.

Please continue to pray for your Session as we embrace this exciting future.

Pastor Mark

A Resolution From The Session of Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church
May 10, 2007

Preamble: The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is in a state of unrest and uncertainty, particularly as regards its ordination standards for ministers, elders or deacons. Although our denomination has, on three different occasions and by ever-increasing margins, upheld the biblical standard of “fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness” as a requirement for ordination, the actions of the 2006 General Assembly raised questions about whether or not these historical constitutional and biblical standards would continue to be upheld.

This uncertainty has been felt in our own church. A recent all-church study indicated a high level of anxiety and uncertainty about these denominational issues, whether or not we are going to withdraw from the denomination and whether or not our property and assets would be at risk of being taken over by the Presbytery of Olympia.

In light of these concerns, the Session of Chapel Hill Church felt it important to make a clear statement about its intent regarding these matters. The following resolution is our attempt to do so:

Whereas the actions of the 2006 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) raised concerns as to whether this denomination would abandon our historical and Biblical ordination standards; and

Whereas the Presbytery of Olympia immediately responded with a resolution that declared its intent to uphold those standards regardless of what might occur in other presbyteries; and

Whereas this resolution is in keeping with every vote that the Presbytery of Olympia has ever taken on this matter; and

Whereas charges were brought against the Presbytery of Olympia by members of the minority who considered that resolution unconstitutional; and

Whereas a Committee of Counsel of three persons was elected to represent the Presbytery of Olympia in this matter before the Synod Permanent Judicial Commission; and

Whereas that Committee of Counsel included our own pastor, Mark Toone; and Whereas the Synod PJC found in favor of the Olympia Presbytery on all counts, the first of 173 presbyteries nationally to have completed such a precedent-setting trial; and

Whereas representatives of the Session of Chapel Hill Church recently met with members of the Council of the Presbytery of Olympia to share their concerns and receive assurances of the continued good will of the Presbytery towards Chapel Hill Church, assurances that were given and accepted; and

Whereas the recent flexibility and creativity of the Presbytery of Olympia’s Committee on Ministry allowed for a smooth and rapid transition of pastoral leadership following the departure of Dr. Stuart Bond; and

Whereas there has been an unprecedented change in leadership at the Louisville office of our denomination with all 17 national program associate directors having been dismissed, being replaced by a group that is more representative of historical orthodoxy, including an openly evangelical Assistant Executive Director; and

Whereas we are encouraged by the trend of these national changes; by the historic and continued faithfulness of the Presbytery of Olympia regarding what we consider to be essential theological tenets and ordination standards; by the position of leadership our Senior Pastor has held and continues to take in both the national and local arenas in the defense of Biblical truth; by the unequivocal support provided by the Synod PJC in affirming our constitutional rights as a presbytery to continue to uphold these standards; and by the warm and intentional efforts on the part of the Presbyter of Olympia to reaffirm its desire to support Chapel Hill in our call to proclaim the gospel of Christ; and

Whereas we view any effort at this time to pull away from our denomination as divisive, painful, premature and, given all of the above an unnecessary break with a Presbytery that has, in fact, been historically and consistently faithful to those issues which we as a session hold to be essential tenets of the Reformed faith;

Therefore be it resolved that we, the Session of Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, intend to continue in our relationship as a member of the Presbytery of Olympia, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), defending the historic faith of the Church that has been entrusted to us and proclaiming the saving gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world.

Signed this day, May 10, 2007, in Gig Harbor, Washington, Washington

My Dear Chapel Hill Family:

Last summer the General Assembly took actions that your session, and thousands of other sessions across the country, felt weakened our biblical and constitutional standards for the ordination of church officers. The decision was that local presbyteries would have the freedom to decide which standards they would uphold for ordination. This appears to open the door for some to reject the standard which calls all officers and pastors to live biblically faithful lives in the realm of sexuality. (If you wish to understand this issue at a deeper level, I invite you to go to http://www.presbycoalition.org/.)

Your session took several months to prayerfully consider this matter in detail including sending some of its members to various conferences across the country. We recently sent a letter to our entire presbytery regarding our decisions and actions and felt that it was an appropriate time to bring you up to speed.

First, the Session felt it important to reaffirm—clearly—our own faith as a church and has done so in a very simple but very clear statement of faith. You may find this elsewhere on our website.

Second, Chapel Hill joined with several other churches last September in proposing a resolution to our own Olympia Presbytery—our regional gathering of fifty churches—which stated, simply, that ALL of the mandates found in the Book of Order would be considered essential tenets of our faith and that we would neither ordain nor install anyone in this presbytery who could not join us in that affirmation. This resolution passed by a two-thirds/one-third margin, a very strong showing.

Unfortunately, a minority within our presbytery brought charges against the presbytery, claiming that this resolution was out of order. The presbytery elected a three-person team that will respond to these charges and, if necessary, take this case to our higher church courts in a trial. I was elected to serve as the only pastoral representative, joining two elder attorneys who have also agreed to serve. We are presently at work in what I assure you will be a vigorous defense of the presbytery’s actions and interests.

Third, the session has decided that it cannot, in good conscience, financially support the General Assembly at this time. It has voted to redirect the General Assembly portion of our “per capita”—an apportionment that is levied on every church—to other local mission and denominational causes in which we believe. We have sent a letter to every session in our presbytery asking that this act of conscience be honored and that our withholding not be “equalized,” i.e., “made up” by the presbytery.

Finally, we continue to study these matters with great interest and will take further action as appropriate.

Advent might be an odd time to share this information with you but it seemed wise to inform you of our actions before the year’s end. And to reassure you that we are joined with thousands of other Presbyterian churches who are vigorously resisting the attempts to water down our traditional, biblical and constitutional standards. You may be proud of your Session for their courageous leadership and you should be praying for all of us as we continue to carry on this battle for truth and purity, even as we confess our own utter brokenness and desperate need for the saving grace of Jesus.

That is what Advent is all about: the breathtaking news that a holy God has broken into this world to save his beloved children who are hell-bent—literally—on their own destruction. This salvation is cause for great celebration.

Bless you, dear friends. Thanks for your support, prayers and love.

Pastor Mark