By a narrow margin, the Presbytery voted yesterday to remand the entire matter concerning Ruling Elder Parker Young to the Session at Pinecrest ARP Church.

At the fall meeting of First Presbytery of the ARP, meeting at Ambassador Presbyterian Church’s in Apex, North Carolina on Tuesday, October 12, a report was presented to the Presbytery by the committee appointed in June to investigate possible charges against Ruling Elder Parker Young, a member of the Erskine College Board involved in a lawsuit filed against the General Synod of the ARP (see http://bit.ly/aqcBrX).

After more than two hours of discussion in Executive Session, the Presbytery voted by a narrow margin to reject the committee’s recommendations and, instead, remand the matter to the Session of Pinecrest (NC) ARP Church. Discussions immediately began among members of the Presbytery who feel this decision was wrong and if any specific action is taken to complain to the Synod, we will report on that.

The Committee reported that they took the following actions in working on this issue:
· They met twice on conference calls and exchanged many emails.
· In addition to the applicable portions of the Bible, they reviewed many documents which gave guidance on their responsibilities, including ARP Manual of Authorities; Calvin’s Commentaries and Institutes; Westminster standards; and, extensively, the record of the secular court where the lawsuit was filed and heard.
· The Chairman and one Committee Member expended much effort to talk with Dr. Young but he would not agree to a meeting.
· Submitted the report to the Presbytery officers prior to the scheduled meeting in an effort to give Dr. Young more opportunity to respond.

The recommendation of the Committee, submitted to the Presbytery on October 12, was to direct the Moderator to appoint a Commission to begin trial procedure on specific charges presented in the committee report. These charges included the sins of disregarding God’s Word and breaking his ordination vows.

The details of the charges will be made available at this location at a later date.

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