Cherokee Presbytery claims 9,650 members. Following dissolutions and dismissals currently underway, that figure would drop to 8,276 – not counting whatever membership loss occurs from the Dalton and Silver Creek split. Eleven churches have not contributed per capita so far this year.

A beleaguered Georgia presbytery has lost five churches this year and managed to keep two established congregations despite both churches losing most of their members to another Reformed body.

At its August 28 meeting, Cherokee Presbytery approved a plan that will allow a super-majority of current members of First Presbyterian Church of Dalton to form a new congregation with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) and retain property rights as well as one of two trust funds.

The price tag? A payment of $3.2 million to the estimated 50 members who will remain in the Presbyterian Church (USA) as well as distributions from another trust. The minority membership will also keep the First Presbyterian name.

The presbytery also heard from an administrative commission that presided over a split of Silver Creek Presbyterian Church in which two-thirds of the 136-year-old church left to form an EPC congregation in May. Silver Creek will remain in the presbytery and retain its name and property but will continue with a much smaller membership.

Cherokee also approved the creation of administrative commissions to dissolve two churches – Summerville and Sixes – and noted that an earlier dissolution of Euharlee Presbyterian Church had been made official by the state.

The meeting also saw the dismissal of a 350-member congregation – Mars Hill Presbyterian Church of Acworth.

Perhaps most damaging to the financially strapped presbytery was the recent transfer of its second-largest church.

In July, the PCUSA’s 220th General Assembly approved the transfer of six Korean churches to Atlantic Korean-American Presbytery, a non-geographic body. The transfer included Bethany Presbyterian Church of Marietta, Ga. – a growing congregation with approximately 700 in attendance.

Cherokee’s losses represent a growing trend among PCUSA congregations. Many disaffected churches have cited the 2011 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: variant views of the authority of Scripture.

Amendment 10A deleted the explicit “fidelity/chastity” requirement from the constitutional 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 (nFOG) has raised concerns that the PCUSA may become more hierarchical and less connectional as well as becoming more universalistic in theology.

Cherokee voted down both proposals – 49-62 on 10A and 17-69 on nFOG.

With the conclusion of the 220th General Assembly, congregations have found new reasons to seek a fresh denominational home after the body failed to grant relief of conscience from mandatory participation in the Board of Pensions new plan to add same-sex partners to the PCUSA health plan.

For Cherokee Presbytery, the growing exodus means shrinking coffers and red ink. According to the presbytery’s semi-annual budget report (page 42), Cherokee was operating at a loss of -$35,646 as of July 31.

Back to Dalton

Rapid changes began for First Presbyterian Church of Dalton (FPCD) in May when the session of the 573-member congregation voted to seek separation from the PCUSA and join the EPC. Cherokee Presbytery quickly convened a response team which met with the church’s pastoral staff and members.

According to the response team’s report to the presbytery (page 12), the group identified 50 people in a meeting of those who wished to remain in the PCUSA. The team claimed that, in at least one listening session, around 35-percent of 90-100 people in attendance opposed dismissal.

The team concluded from this that “a viable group of members desire to continue as a PCUSA church.”

On July 12, the response team reported to Cherokee’s coordinating team (an equivalent to a presbytery council) that “FPCD should not be dismissed and should continue as a PCUSA congregation.” However, the team also stated that “two churches could be created (one being a continuation of FPCD and the other being a new EPC congregation) which could each provide an important Christian witness in the Dalton area.”

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