Tag: Switzerland

Confessions of Faith of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

 

Westminster Presbyterian Church

As discussed in a prior post, a regular feature of worship services at Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church is a congregational recitation of an Affirmation of Faith.

One of the sources of such affirmations is the collection of creeds and confessions in The Book of Confessions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) [PCUSA]. These documents state the PCUSA’s and individual members’ “faith and bear . . .  witness to God’s grace in Jesus Christ.”  (Book of Order § F-2.01.)

“In these statements the church declares to its members and to the world who and what it is, what it believes, and what it resolves to do. These statements identify the church as a community of people known by its convictions as well as by its actions. They guide the church in its study and interpretation of the Scriptures; they summarize the essence of Reformed Christian tradition; they direct the church in maintaining sound doctrines; they equip the church for its work of proclamation. They serve to strengthen personal commitment and the life and witness of the community of believers.” (Id.)

“These confessional statements are subordinate standards in the church, subject to the authority of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, as the Scriptures bear witness to him.” (Id. § F-2.02.)

Central to the Reformed tradition in these statements “is the affirmation of the majesty,  holiness, and providence of God who in Christ and by the power of the Spirit creates, sustains, rules, and redeems the world in the freedom of sovereign righteousness and love.” (Id. § F-2.05.) The following “other great themes of the Reformed tradition” shine forth in these statements:

  • “The election of the people of God for service as well as for salvation;
  •  Covenant life marked by a disciplined concern for order in the church according to the Word of God;
  • A faithful stewardship that shuns ostentation and seeks proper use of the gifts of God’s creation; and
  • The recognition of the human tendency to idolatry and tyranny, which calls the people of God to work for the transformation of society by seeking justice and living in obedience to the Word of God.” (Id.)

The current Book of Confessions contains the following confessions and statements of faith;

  1. The Nicene Creed, which was adopted by the first ecumenical council in Nicaea (Isnik in today’s Turkey) in 325.
  2. The Apostles’ Creed, which first appeared in a letter from a council in Milan to the Pope in 390, but which had antecedents.
  3. The Scots Confession, which was written in 1560 by six leaders of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland.
  4. The Heidelberg Catechism, which was written by the theological faculty of the University of Heidelberg in 1563 at the request of Frederick III, the Elector of the Palatinate.
  5. The Second Helvetic Confession, which was written in 1561 by Heinrich Bullinger, a Swiss Protestant theologian.
  6. The Westminster Confession of Faith, which was written in 1647 by the Westminster Assembly of the Church of England.
  7. The [Westminster] Shorter Catechism, which also was written in 1647 by the Westminster Assembly of the Church of England,
  8. The [Westminster] Larger Catechism, which also was written in 1647 by the Westminster Assembly of the Church of England,
  9. The Theological Declaration of Barmen, which was written in 1934 by theologian Karl Barth and other leaders of the German Confessing Church who were opposed to Hitler.
  10. The Confession of 1967, which was adopted in 1967 as a modern statement of the faith by one of the churches that merged into the PCUSA.
  11. A Brief Statement of Faith—Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which was adopted in 1983 by the PCUSA.

Moreover, the Book of Confessions is never closed, never completely in the past. Additional confessions can be added although “the process for changing the confessions of the church is deliberately demanding, requiring a high degree of consensus across the church. Yet the church, in obedience to Jesus Christ, is open to the reform of its standards of doctrine. . . . The church affirms  . . . , “The church reformed, always to be reformed according to the Word of God in the power of the Spirit.” (Book of Order § F-2.02.)

The PCUSA currently is considering adding the 1986 Confession of Belhar by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church in South Africa. It emerged as a witness of Christian faith against the sins of racism and focuses on major themes of unity, reconciliation, and justice.

The Confession of Belhar was approved by the General Assembly of the PCUSA in 2010 and recommended to the presbyteries for their vote. Inclusion in the Book of Confessions requires a vote of two-thirds of the presbyteries and a subsequent adoption by another session of the General Assembly. The initial vote on this recommendation failed to obtain the necessary 116 votes of the presbyteries by only eight votes. Therefore, as of now, it has not been included.

For me, these confessions are evidence of God’s interventions into history, which is never finished. They arise in particular historical circumstances and reflect the concerns of those circumstances. They are never complete expositions of God and Christ, who are beyond complete human understanding and declarations. Moreover, most of these confessions are the work of assemblies, like legislatures, and thus include compromises like legislative compromises.

 

Silver Bullion and Underground Homes

Girard Henderson was an interesting client of the New York City law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore (CS&M), where I was an associate attorney, 1966-70.[1]

His grandfather was a Sandy Hook ship pilot who piloted ships into the City’s harbor and who managed to save a significant amount of money. Henderson’s father invested the inheritance from the grandfather in a New York City warehouse that burned to the ground, and there was a long delay in obtaining payment by an insurance company. As a result, the father went to work as a bookkeeper for the California Perfume Company (CPC) in Suffern, New York and became one of its substantial shareholders.

After Henderson’s father’s death, his mother inherited the CPC stock, and in 1935 she contributed those shares to a newly formed personal holding company, Alexander Dawson, Inc. (ADI) in exchange for all of ADI’s stock. Later, presumably after his mother’s death and after a buyout of his brother, Henderson became the sole owner of ADI.

Prior to 1955, however, he gave 27% of the ADI common stock (and some ADI preferred stock) to his then wife, Theodora Henderson, while Mr. Henderson maintained his personal control of ADI. In 1955 Girard and Theodora separated and later were divorced.

In 1967 Theodora formed her own holding company, Theodora Holding Corporation (THC), and she contributed her ADI common stock to THC in exchange for all of its stock.

In the meantime, in 1939, CPC changed its name to Avon Products, and in 1964 Avon’s stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange and became a very successful stock with rising prices.

As of September 1968, ADI’s net worth was $150 million with Avon stock comprising 75% of its assets. The other 25%, pursuant to a diversification policy, was invested in other stocks and several small companies.

World's Fair, New York City

One such company was the Underground World Home Corporation that promoted such homes as safe places in the event of a nuclear attack by the USSR. It  had a demonstration home at the 1964 New York City’s World Fair. Henderson also had his own underground home in the Rocky Mountains near Denver; its underground swimming pool had a mural of the New York City skyline on the east wall and one of the San Francisco skyline on the opposite wall. As of September 1968, ADI also had invested $14 million in silver bullion and Swiss francs that were stored in a vault under the airport in Zurich, Switzerland.

 

Court of Chancery, Wilmington, DE

In or about September 1968 THC commenced a stockholders derivative lawsuit against ADI, Henderson and another corporate officer. The complaint alleged mismanagement regarding these non-Avon investments and corporate contributions to the Alexander Dawson, Inc. Foundation. As ADI was a Delaware corporation, the case was filed in the Court of Chancery in Wilmington.

The case went to trial in 1969. It was the first trial in which I participated. I was “second chair” to Cravath partner, Jack Hupper. I handled the exhibits and other papers and did not say one word on the record. But at least I was in court observing the trial and seeing how it was done.

In September 1969 the court issued its decision. It noted that after trial the plaintiff had withdrawn its claims regarding silver bullion and other ADI investments made at Henderson’s direction, including the Underground World Home Corporation. Instead the plaintiff after trial had limited itself to claims regarding ADI’s purchase and sale of a seat on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the ADI charitable contributions to the Foundation. The court upheld the validity of the charitable contributions, but concluded that Henderson had used corporate funds for his personal benefit with respect to the NYSE seat and, therefore, had to account to ADI for any profit on the sale of the seat and on brokerage commissions.

I do not remember any of the substantive or procedural details of the trial, but I do remember that just before trial Henderson broke a leg in a New York City taxi accident. When he testified at trial, the broken leg in a cast had to be elevated on a makeshift pedestal.

I also recall that before trial Henderson had to delay a trip from the West Coast to New York City to meet with Mr. Hupper and me because he was hosting a special dinner with Rudy Vallée, a famous crooner in the 1920s through the 1940s.

Silver bullion

Nor can I forget that Henderson and ADI kept some of their records in an informal office in a small house in a New York City suburb on the west side of the Hudson River. One day I drove there over the George Washington Bridge to find relevant documents. I was surprised to find a  bar of silver bullion at the back of one  of the file drawers.

[1] This account is based on memory and Theodora Holding Corp. v. Henderson, 257 A.2d 398 (Del Ct. Ch. 1969). See also Post: Lawyering on Wall Street (April 14, 2011).