Churches mentioned in this story include: Central, Kendall, FL; Faith, Pembroke Pines, FL; First, North Palm Beach, FL; Grace Community, Boca Raton, FL; Kirk of the Keys, Marathon, FL; Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg, VA; Third, Richmond, VA.

As the Christmas holiday approaches, an increasing number of Presbyterian churches have one thing at the top of their wish list – a gracious departure from the Presbyterian Church (USA).

At least two churches in Virginia and five in Florida have added their names to the growing roster of disaffected congregations fleeing the PCUSA due to sweeping changes in the beleaguered denomination’s constitution.

According to session and presbytery documents, several congregations have either reached agreements with their presbyteries to be dismissed from the PCUSA, or are in the process of dismissal or disaffiliation.

Most of the churches leaving the PCUSA have cited the recent approval of Amendment 10A and the passage of the new Form of Government (nFOG) as symptoms of a more serious underlying problem in the denomination: the authority of Scripture.

Amendment 10A deleted the explicit “fidelity/chastity” requirement from the ordination standard, and now allows the PCUSA to ordain of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people as deacons, elders and pastors. The new Form of Government has raised concerns of a more “top-down” PCUSA bureaucracy.

“Besides the specific contention over morality and doctrinal issues, there is a growing sense of weariness by people within the denomination,” said the Rev. Alan Hager, pastor of Spotsylvania Presbyterian Church (Fredericksburg, Va.).

In October, the church voted to seek dismissal from the Presbytery of the James to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), a popular transition for many departing congregations.

“This is not simply a matter of growing tired of contending for Biblical truth,” Hager said in a letter to the church. “Rather, the weariness that has prompted people and congregations to depart is the feeling of not being able to have a fair debate and process to handle the challenges that every denomination and body of believers will face.”

In Virginia…
Spotsylvania is one of two congregations in the Presbytery of the James that have recently requested dismissal, giving the presbytery a chance to test out its recently approved policy on the issue of departure. Amendment 10A proved to be a hotly contested measure for James. The 113-church presbytery failed to pass the amendment in October by a vote of 152-152-3, failing to attract a majority in an even split.

After a year-long review by a designated study group, the presbytery passed a policy detailing the process for handling gracious dismissals in 2010.

According to Hager, the policy includes “an overall process for the format and sequence of meetings that need to occur as a congregation deliberates about leaving and then negotiates a departure.” He added that there are no “predetermined figures or formulas for financial arrangements that might be imposed on departing churches.”

According to the policy document, the process will include the following:

· “The presbytery, in this process of negotiating issues of conscience and property with the congregation, will seek to reflect the presbytery’s primary concern for the ongoing mission and vitality of Christian witness in the area impacted by ministry of that congregation.

· “In this regard the presbytery has an abiding interest in and responsibility for the location and facilities of the member churches, since they are an expression of the missions of the larger church.

· “Even so, the presbytery will recognize that ‘the church’ in a particular area is not its building or financial assets, but the members of the congregation.

· The presbytery will be mindful both of congregation members who, for reasons of conscience, desire that their congregation be dismissed to another denomination, and also those congregation members who wish to remain within the [PCUSA].”

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