The Upper Register

Complaint denied by PCA Standing Judicial Commission

I was so busy this year with other pressing matters that I never blogged on something important that occurred this past March that was personally relevant to my ministry. Let me back up and begin the narrative in 2003 at the point where my trial in the OPC came to a conclusion.

In January 2003, I was found guilty (by a presbytery vote of 17 to 16) of violating my ordination vows by my teaching regarding the ten commandments. I appealed my conviction to the 70th General Assembly of the OPC, aka "the Synod of Dordt" (tongue-in-cheek because that GA was held at Dordt College in the middle of the cornfields in Souix Center, Iowa). On June 30, 2003, after a day-long debate on the floor my appeal was denied, even though the Advisory Committee had recommended with no dissenting votes that my appeal be granted. Since I could not in good conscience change my views, in October of that year I withdrew from the OPC. Technically, I renounced the jurisdiction of the OPC by declaring myself to be (temporarily) independent as provided by the BCO. 

The presbytery did not initially accept my renunciation of the jurisdiction and instead proceeded with the censure of indefinite suspension from the ministry. I went forward and dutifully submitted to having the censure read over me, as hard as it was to do so.

Initially, my intention was to continue serving as the pastor of the majority of the members of Redeemer OPC, where I had been serving as organizing pastor, but within a different denomination. But after much prayer and deliberation with my wife, I decided to take a break from the ministry in order to gain some perspective on what happened and to get some much needed rest after a very stressful ordeal. The sad part was that the mission work that Misty and I had been trying to plant was folded and the people had to find other churches to attend. 

After the presbytery elected a delegation to attempt to dissuade me from my course, and realizing that I wasn't planning to come back to the OPC, a few months later, in February 2004, the presbytery agreed to accept my decision to withdraw and erased my name from the presbytery's roll of ministerial members. This was the key action which I thought was straightforward and clear until it became muddied four years later -- as I'll explain in a moment. But this action of the presbytery was communicated to me in a letter from the clerk with the concluding remark, "May the Lord guide you as you seek new ways in which to labor for Him," and thanking me for my years of service in the ministry in the OPC.

The next month, March 2004, Misty and I became members of New Life Burbank (PCA), along with our two (at the time) non-communicant children. Misty and the children joined by letter of transfer and I joined by reaffirmation of faith. I had to join by reaffirmation of faith because technically, I was not a member of any particular visible church.

For several years, I was content to serve the church that we were now a part of as a layperson. I taught Sunday School on occasion. I went to the Philippines on short-term mission teaching at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Cavite outside of Manila. But I was not eager to jump back into the ministry. In fact, I was pretty sure that the Lord wanted me to take a break from the ministry and instead to work on deepening my own relationship with the Lord and to focus on being a better husband and father.

I was minding my own business when, in March 2007, along with four other men, I was nominated by the church's nominating committee (composed of laypeople) to consider going through a lengthy training process that could lead to standing for election as a ruling elder. I was not expecting this. It was not something I desired, nor did it ever occur to me that the Lord might be calling me to be a ruling elder. I had always thought of myself as a minister, and so if I were ever to consider seeking ordained office, it would be as a minister or teaching elder. But even though it had never crossed my mind to serve as a ruling elder, the congregation had recognized my gifts and wanted me to serve them in this way. This had an extraordinary effect on me, and I found myself desiring to serve the church in a way that I had not imagined.

Later that same year, New Life Burbank's associate pastor (Joel Fick) decided to take a call to be the full-time pastor of an OPC mission work in Gainesville, Florida. The senior pastor at the time (Owen Lee) asked me to consider going through the process of seeking re-ordination as a teaching elder in the PCA in order to succeed Joel Fick as associate pastor. Since my heart was already being opened up to serve the congregation as a ruling elder, I began to think that perhaps the Lord may be calling me to serve New Life as an associate pastor. In December 2007, I submitted my application to come under care of the Pacific Presbytery of the PCA. I explained the situation regarding my trial in the OPC to the Candidates and Credentials Committee. As expected, the C&C committee did their due diligence by contacting my old presbytery, the Presbytery of Southern California (PSC-OPC).

This is when the heretofore clear waters got terribly muddied. I was not privy to the communications that were taking place at this time between the Pacific Presbytery (PP-PCA) and my old presbytery (PSC-OPC). All I know is that in May 2008, the PSC-OPC wrote a letter to the PP-PCA that was terribly misleading, implying that I was still under censure -- which is wild since in the same letter they also acknowledge that I was no longer under their jurisdiction. The letter concludes with the warning to the PP-PCA to consider the ramifications of inter-church relations between the OPC and the PCA. This self-contradictory but highly charged letter was read on the floor of the PP-PCA in a meeting held in executive session, so I was unable to respond or give my perspective. Not surprisingly, the PP-PCA declined to process my application to come under care on that grounds that "Mr. Lee Irons is currently under indefinite suspension as a Teaching Elder" in a fellow NAPARC church.

In view of these events, the session decided that the best course of action was to drop the idea of calling me as an associate pastor and instead to continue with the original plan of becoming a ruling elder. This whole time the training of the ruling elder candidates had continued. The four ruling elder candidates, including myself, were interviewed by the session in June 2008 and approved to be set before the congregation for election. We were elected in July 2008, and ordained and installed in September 2008.

When the PP-PCA learned that I had been ordained as a ruling elder a few months after they had rejected my application to come under care with the goal of becoming a teaching elder, the presbytery erected a committee in January 2009 to determine whether there were any constitutional irregularities in the session's action. The study committee reported in May 2009 its finding that the session of New Life Burbank had not acted contrary to the constitution of the PCA, but suggesting that it would have been wise for the session to have communicated with the PSC-OPC first. There was also a minority report signed by one member of the committee arguing that the session did err in ordaining me as a ruling elder.

On May 2, 2009, the PP-PCA adopted the majority report. But the presbytery also enjoined the session of New Life Burbank to contact the PSC-OPC to pursue rapprochement and clarification. Rather than waiting to see how the communication between the session of New Life Burbank and the PSC-OPC would go, on May 14, 2009, several men filed a complaint against the PP-PCA for concluding that there were no constitutional errors or irregularities in my ordination as a ruling elder. 

In August 2009, the session of New Life, as instructed by the presbytery, wrote a letter to the PSC-OPC explaining why in its view I was available as a candidate for ordination as a ruling elder in the PCA. In September 2009, the complaint was denied by the PP-PCA, and the complaint was appealed to the Standing Judicial Commission.

Meanwhile, the PSC-OPC received the letter from the session and at its February 2010 meeting (at which I was present) my old presbytery responded with a brief but decisive letter that undid its harmful letter of May 2008 and finally unmuddied the waters. While hoping that I might still reconsider my views which led to the parting of ways, they acknowledged the PCA's "right to evaluate the doctrine of Mr. Irons and to duly call him to ordained service." I am grateful to the Clerk, Rev. Mike Pasarilla, for drafting this letter and putting it forward for the presbytery's consideration. For more on the events that transpired that day, see this blog post.

Finally, in March 2011, the PCA's Standing Judicial Commission denied the complaint with no dissenting votes. In its reasoning and opinion, the SJC wrote:

"We find that the Session of NLB had the appropriate jurisdiction to make a determination of whether Irons should stand for election to the Office of Ruling Elder. The PSC voted to accept Irons's renunciation of its jurisdiction on February 7, 2004. Upon PSC's taking this action, Irons ceased to be a member of the PSC and was no longer subject to its jurisdiction. He was free to join with any other Church, and in fact he did so when he was received into the membership of NLB. As a member in good standing of NLB, Irons was eligible for nomination and election to the Office of Ruling Elder just as any other male member in good standing of NLB."

After all of the misleading things that have been said about my case, those were extremely gratifying words to read.

I want to personally thank the following teaching elders for advocating on my behalf in the Pacific Presbytery over the past several years:  Owen Lee, Bob Bjerkaas, Charles Sy, and Geoff Shaw. And I also want to thank my fellow ruling elders on the session of New Life Burbank. Thank you, brothers.

Clarification of My Status with the OPC - A Personal Note

As many of you know, in 2002 and 2003, Misty and I went through a very difficult ordeal in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church over a doctrinal difference concerning the ten commandments. I was brought up on charges and there was a lengthy trial that spanned a period of about a year and a half. I was found guilty by the Presbytery of Southern California by a vote of 17 to 16, and my subsequent appeal to the General Assembly was denied, even though the Advisory Committee had unanimously recommended (with one abstention) that my appeal be sustained. Realizing that I had no further recourse, in October of 2003, after much prayer and reflection, I decided to peaceably withdraw from the OPC and seek a new denominational affiliation. In February, 2004, the Presbytery accepted my decision to renounce the jurisdiction of the OPC and erased my name from its roll under the provision of the Book of Discipline for cases without full process. In March, 2004, Misty and I were received as members of New Life Burbank (PCA).

Four years later, in 2008, with the session’s encouragement and support, I applied to come under care as a candidate for the ministry in the PCA. The Pacific Presbytery (PP-PCA) contacted the Presbytery of Southern California (PSC-OPC) and inquired as to the status of my case. On May 2, 2008, the PSC-OPC wrote a letter to the PP-PCA that seemed to imply that my censure in the OPC was ongoing, or at least that is how the PP-PCA initially interpreted it. As a result, the PP-PCA rejected my application to come under care and encouraged me to seek reconciliation so as to have the censure resolved (mistakenly assuming it was ongoing).

Since I was unable to pursue re-ordination as a teaching elder in the PCA, I was instead nominated by the congregation and ordained as a ruling elder in September, 2008.

A few months later, when the PP-PCA heard that I had been ordained as a ruling elder, they erected a committee to see if there were any irregularities. The committee concluded that the session of New Life did not violate the constitution of the PCA to ordain me as a ruling elder, although it would have been wise if New Life had communicated with the PSC-OPC first. In May, 2009, the PP-PCA adopted the recommendations of the committee. This was a relief, but there was one loose end. The presbytery asked the session of New Life to write to the PSC-OPC to clarify its 2008 communication.

On August 3, 2009, the session did so. The PSC-OPC received NLB's letter and began drafting a response. This past January, I learned that my former presbytery had a draft of a letter that they were going to vote on in February. Now up to this point, I was so angry with the way Misty and I had been treated, if someone had asked me if I would ever be willing to go and meet with my old presbytery, I would have said, No way. The negative emotions would have been too much for me. But the Lord rather unexpectedly put in my heart a desire to go and meet with the brothers in the OPC. I can’t tell you how or why, but God took away my fear and drained away the negative emotions.

I’m so glad I decided to go. I think just showing up and shaking their hands broke the ice and humanized me in their eyes. And God in his grace did what seemed like a miracle. It was largely due to the leadership of the man who had been the prosecutor in my case. He and I hold different positions on the Law, but he graciously reached out to me by email a few days ahead of time. During the debate on the floor, he made a crucial speech that helped the presbytery change course. The presbytery indefinitely tabled the letter that had been drafted and adopted a new letter on the spot which essentially said that it would have been best if the session of New Life had communicated with the OPC before ordaining me as a ruling elder; nevertheless, they acknowledged the PCA’s right to evaluate my doctrine and to duly call me to ordained service. This letter passed overwhelmingly with only a handful of negative votes.

After the vote was over, I was given an opportunity to address the presbytery. I thanked the men for their action. I told them that even though what I went through in 2002-3 was very painful, both for me and for them, I believe the Lord used it for my spiritual growth. Being an ordained minister and engaging in theological debates had become something of an idol for me. And because the ministry had become an idol, I neglected my relationships with my wife and children. But the Lord abruptly took that idol away from me for my own good. In my stripped down condition, I have been able to focus on just being a better Christian, a better husband to Misty, and a better father to my children. I have learned to be more patient, more longsuffering, and more humble.

Afterward, many men came up to me and thanked me for what I said, including some of the men who had been opposed to me back then. It was moving to shake their hands and even hug some of them. Later that night, I cried for about 10 minutes, so thankful for the Lord’s goodness to a sinner like me.

I was filled with two seemingly contradictory emotions. On the one hand, I was overjoyed at the prospect that after all these years, I might be free to pursue re-ordination as a teaching elder. On the other hand, I was overwhelmed with a sense of my profound sinfulness and unworthiness. I felt like Peter when Jesus told him to put out into the deep and let down his nets for a catch. Peter said, “Master, we have toiled all night and took nothing!” Nevertheless, he did as Jesus said, and he took such a large catch of fish that the nets were breaking and the boats were almost sinking. When Peter realized what happened he fell down at Jesus’ feet and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Sometimes the Lord’s goodness makes you aware of how sinful you are, of how unworthy you are of his goodness and grace. For my part, like Peter, my sinfulness was my unbelief. I went into the meeting with little expectation that the presbytery would do the right thing. I had demonized the presbytery in my mind and had assumed that they were implacably opposed to me. It turned out that they wanted to move on and get some closure, just as much as I did. I know that we still disagree theologically, but I think we have come to a point of saying that we can agree to disagree and move forward as better servants of Christ.

One of the things I am keenly aware of is the importance of the body of Christ in helping us when we are hurting. I'm so thankful for the love, prayers, and support of the congregation of New Life Burbank. When we left the OPC it was like being pushed off a cliff. But congregation’s acceptance of Misty and me over the years softened the landing and helped us heal.