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| Documents of Sebastian case |
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Resolution by the Session of First Presbyterian Church, Sebastian, Florida that became the reason for the complaint |
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Complaint Norman F. Blessing v. Session of First Presbyterian Church of Sebastian (USA) |
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Amended Answer to the complaint, by the Sebastian session |
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Response to Amended Answer by the complainant |
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Brief in opposition to the response of Norman F. Blessing |
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Order by the PJC of the Central Florida Presbytery to rescind the resolution |
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Letter of protest against the decision, signed by many in Central Florida Presbytery |
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February 15, 2002
Confessing Church taken to court over confession
Session asked to recant key provisions |
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First Presbyterian Church of Sebastian, Fla., has been taken to church court for having declared itself a Confessing Church – and has been asked by the court to recant key provisions in its confessing resolution.
The session has refused.
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February 19, 2002
Son of powerful Presbyterian tackles Confessing Church in court |
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John Coventry Smith Jr., whose father once was described as one of the four most powerful men in the Presbyterian Church (USA), is a member of the committee of counsel that will present its case against a Sebastian, Fla., session that is accused of wrongly adopting a Confessing Church resolution. |
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February 21, 2002
Confessing Church accused of 'contumacy' for not recanting its confession |
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Prosecutors in a church court trial have accused the session of a Florida congregation of "contumacy" because it has not recanted a Confessing Church resolution that, they say, is unconstitutional and divisive and violates its members' and officers' freedom of conscience.
After a previous hearing, the court sent the Sebastian session a letter "requesting" – the exact word used in the commission's letter – that it recant key provisions of its Confessing Church resolution. Alan Pickering, a Florida minister who was a member of the prosecuting team, interpreted the court's request as a mandate.
Related: Motion to have presbytery court moderator step aside is denied
Also: Complainant seeks to elevate Book of Order over confessions |
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February 25, 2002
Florida church ordered to rescind their confession |
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"...The Permanent Judicial Commission of Central Florida Presbytery orders the Session of First Presbyterian Church of Sebastian to rescind their confession of May 22, 2001...."
Full text of this letter |
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March 1, 2002
Decision in Sebastian case: a serious distortion
Viewpoint of Winfield Casey Jones |
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"...this decision, if sustained, is a judicial overreaching that could easily lead us into uncharted waters which will threaten the peace, unity, and purity of the PCUSA more than any other event or movement ever could..." |
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Letters |
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February 27, 2002 Four of the letters to Presbyweb are about Sebastian |
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February 28, 2002 more letters |
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March 2, 2002 more letters |
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March 4, 2002 more letters |
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March 5 letter by Robert von Oeyen. |
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March 6 Paul Ogne writes about protests by many in Central Florida Presbytery against the PJC ruling in the case against Sebastian Presbyterian Church, and misunderstandings about what the PJC did and did not say.
Click here for the protest letter
More letters, responding to a March 5 letter from Robert von Oeyen |
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etc |
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March 6, 2002
PNS on Sebastian case - revised version
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"The PJC issued no written decision, but in a letter dated Feb. 20 said it had unanimously sustained all but one of Norman Blessing's complaints. On that issue - his objection to being excluded from a session meeting - the Rev. Dale Heaton, of Titusville, FL, moderator of the PJC, said no ruling was necessary because it has long been "taken for granted" that a session member may not be excluded from a session meeting." |
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March 8, 2002
The Presbyterian Outlook on the Sebastian case |
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"The Sebastian case, as it's being called, has quickly turned into a firestorm — inciting passion and rhetoric, causing people to read all kinds of implications into what's happened there."
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April 4, 2002
Prayer vigil scheduled in Sebastian church case
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A group of people from Confessing Churches across the nation has scheduled a prayer vigil in support of a church in Sebastian, Fla., the session of which was ordered by a church court to rescind the entirety of its Confessing Church resolution. |
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