CONGREGATION APPEAL

Stratford Evening Post, Volume III, Issue 198, 10 November 1934, Page 8

CONGREGATION APPEAL

Asked for by Presbyterian Churches OVERTURE TO ASSEMBLY Press -Assoeiatini--Oor«yri!iht. Dunedin, November 9. An overture from, the Wanganui Presbytery asked the Presbyterian Assembly to-day that clause 373 of the book of the order be amended to give direct representation, of a congregation in an appeal to the assembly, and that provision be made for the first hearing of the case by a judicial committee which should hear all parties and examine all documents, Mr. W. B. Tennent spoke in support and said the matter really arose out of a special meeting of the Assembly in December last in relation to the dispute in St. Andrew's Church, Palmerston North. This was probably the first case in which "such an appeal was heard, and he held that the system laid down in the book of the Order failed; He did no! desire to reverse the decision of the December meeting,-but he did wish to amend the regulation so as to give the Congregation" involved adequate representation before the Assembly. Too much reliance was laid on how the case was presented and too little on the facts. The Rev. John Paterson , spoke from the point of view of the Presbytery of Wanganui, urging that no minister in such a case as; that of* Palmerston North should be made the prosecutor of his brother. The minister said that in-involv-ed cases a judicial committee of the Assembly should investigate all documents before the meeting of the Assembly. J' It was decided to remit the matter to the Assembly's judicial committee to report to the next Assembly.