Flashback (2015): Standing Judicial Commission Cites Northwest GA Presbytery for “Important Delinquency”

The action was a result of a complaint by a Midway ruling elder against the Midway Session…

A Midway ruling elder inadvertently brought an important delinquency of the Northwest GA Presbytery to the attention of the Standing Judicial Commission by way of an out-of-order complaint he filed against the NWGP.

This triggered the higher court review. An excerpt from the SJC decision is quoted below:

However, the SJC finds that the correspondence from RE Jackson to NWGP dated January 10, 2013, and from RE Jackson to Midway Presbyterian Church Session dated October 15, 2012, (collectively, the “Correspondence”), qualifies as a credible report alleging an important delinquency (BCO 40-5) with respect to a court next below NWGP, the Session of Midway Presbyterian Church. NWGP failed to respond to that credible report. The SJC takes note of that important delinquency, and accepts jurisdiction with respect to the matter (RAO 17-2).

The court alleged to have offended, NWGP, has appeared before the SJC in writing (8/7/2013, email from Greg King, Stated Clerk, Northwest Georgia Presbytery). In that email he acknowledged that NWGP failed to consider the above-cited BCO 40-5 communication from RE Warren Jackson, alleging an important delinquency on the part of the Session of Midway Presbyterian Church. The Clerk has apologized to Mr. Jackson and to the Presbytery for the oversight.

The matter was remitted to the NWGP to be disposed in a constitutional manner.

The entire report, filed under case number 2013-08, can be read in the Minutes of the Forty-Third General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (2015), beginning on page 568.