The session of First Presbyterian Church of Fort Collins – the second largest congregation in the Plains and Peaks Presbytery behind First Presbyterian Church of Boulder – withdrew its request for dismissal on Jan. 13, ending a 13-month journey that started out as a means of discerning where God might be leading them.

Six months after deciding to seek dismissal from the Presbyterian Church (USA), the session of a Colorado church has withdrawn the request.

The session of First Presbyterian Church of Fort Collins – the second largest congregation in the Plains and Peaks Presbytery behind First Presbyterian Church of Boulder – withdrew its request for dismissal on Jan. 13, ending a 13-month journey that started out as a means of discerning where God might be leading them.

In its report to the Plains and Peaks Presbytery, the Administrative Commission (AC) indicated the vote of the Fort Collins session to withdraw its request for dismissal to be an important step in light of survey results that revealed more than 60 percent of those responding were not in favor of the decision to seek dismissal from the PCUSA.

“We said from the beginning we were looking for a high bar, about 70-95 percent of the congregation wanting to be dismissed,” Fort Collins Pastor Rich McDermott said. “At 60-40 (percent) against departure, we weren’t close to the high bar we were looking for,”

According to an August 2012 story by The Christian Post, leadership at the church with approximately 1,000 members pointed to “irreconcilable spiritual differences” as the major reason for seeking dismissal.

According to documents from the church web site, the session indicated it found itself in “deep disagreement with the direction of the PCUSA away from its traditional standards on who Jesus is, the authority of Scripture, the guidance of our confessions, and the nature of the life to which Jesus and the Scriptures call us.”

Like many churches in the denomination, Fort Collins’ leadership called into question the decision of the 219th General Assembly to allow presbyteries to decide to ordain non-celibate homosexuals to church positions. Amendment 10A deleted the explicit “fidelity/chastity” requirement from the constitutional ordination standard, and now allows the PCUSA to ordain gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people as deacons, elders and pastors.  Also of concern was the PCUSA’s stance on the definition of marriage as well as whether or not the church should own its property rather than having it held in trust by the PCUSA.

In response to concerns regarding actions of the PCUSA, Fort Collins formed a Denominational Discernment Task Force (DDTF) in December 2011. After much fact finding, prayerful consideration and numerous meetings, the DDTF presented its recommendation for dismissal to the session in the summer of 2012.

The Fort Collins session voted – by a 14-2 majority – on July 23, 2012, to seek dismissal from the PCUSA.

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