A Statement from the Board of Elders

A Statement from the Board of Elders on Decoupling from FEBC:

On 25 January 2008 (see http://www.lifebpc.com/ourstand/stmtrelations.htm ) the Board of Elders had made a statement declaring that: "Life BP Church will request FEBC to give an undertaking that they will not promote the VPP doctrine in our premises; otherwise we will have to ask the college to vacate the premises. Please pray that the Lord will grant us an amicable resolution in the coming months."

On 28 January 2008 we requested the College to give the abovementioned undertaking by 15 February 2008 and stated: "…In the event that the College is not prepared to give us the said undertaking, we regret that the continued use of our Premises would be unedifying to our members and we would require the College to vacate and deliver vacant possession of the Premises to the Church by 30 June 2008. The parsonage will remain available to Rev (Dr) Timothy Tow, the founding Pastor."

On 12 February 2008 the College responded by claiming that the properties at 9 and 9A Gilstead Road are owned by both Life BPC and FEBC and proposing that "a mediatorial meeting be convened between Life BPC and FEBC so that an amicable solution could be arrived at to the satisfaction of both parties…"

On 1 March 2008 we wrote to reject this claim of co-ownership, and replied that the conciliatory meeting cannot take place unless the College rightfully recognizes that the Church has sole legal ownership of the premises. As the deadline for giving the written undertaking had passed, the College had clearly rejected our attempt to accommodate them. We therefore sent a letter requesting the College to vacate the premises by 30 June 2008.

On 16 June 2008, the College sent a letter in which they stated that they are intent on staying put on the premises. In that letter, they misapplied "The inexorable law of filial piety and of ancient landmarks" against the Church (see the preceding article, Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth for a proper perspective based on Scripture).

The College also made plans to continue its promotion of the VPP heresy in our Church premises. The registration form for its night classes for July to November 2008 includes the following in the course synopsis: "...The importance of studying the Westminster Standards cannot be emphasised enough. Of the utmost importance is the fundamental doctrine of the Holy Scriptures which forms the basis for every other doctrine of the Christian Faith. Learn about the Verbal Plenary Inspiration and Verbal Plenary Preservation of the Holy Scriptures of which the Westminster Confession of Faith has much to say."

In view of the above, Life B-P Church will decouple from FEBC and commence action to recover possession of the part of the Church Premises used by the College. As of 1 July 2008 FEBC ceased to have our permission to remain on or use the Church premises.

—The Board of Elders of Life B-P Church, 6th July 2008