First Presbyterian Church in downtown Colorado Springs, which has a membership of almost 4,000 people, voted to officially split them from Presbyterian Church USA and align the church with a newly-formed and more conservative organization.

Update: The outcome of the congregation vote was announced during a 5 p.m. service at the downtown church.

Church leaders said they will leave the Presbyterian Church USA, in favor of a new, more conservative denomination. Nearly 96 percent of the congregation voted in favor of the move. The vote was 1,689 to 80, the church announced.

Read more

One of the largest Presbyterian churches in the country will decide Sunday whether it will split with its main governing body.

First Presbyterian Church in downtown Colorado Springs, which has a membership of almost 4,000 people, will take a vote that could officially split them from Presbyterian Church USA and align the church with a newly-formed and more conservative organization.

That organization, the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians [Editor’s note: As of April 9 the name was changed to Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians], was created with the help of First Presbyterian’s senior pastor, Jim Singleton.

Sunday’s vote will be the culmination of almost a year’s worth of work by church leaders who want to distance themselves from Presbyterian Church USA, which voted in May 2011 to allow openly gay ministers to be ordained. Leaders have said they have several scriptural conflicts with the mainstream church.

“It’s complicated but it’s also quite simple,” said Alison Murray, leader of staff for the church. “We are a faith community in a culture that really doesn’t know how to move to a faith community. We want to move to a denomination that has more to do with remaining a relevant faith community.”

She said the “Lord only knows” how the congregation will vote.

The church seems to be in favor of the split though. In January, the church’s leadership team unanimously voted to leave Presbyterian Church USA and the general church membership also voted overwhelmingly for the move in a straw poll in early March.

For the vote to be valid, 33 percent of the church’s membership has to take part and 80 percent of the votes have to favor the split. The 9:45 a.m. vote is expected to overflow the main worship space and video conferences will be set up in rooms throughout the church building, said Becky Armstrong who helps the church with media relations. The results will be announced at another membership meeting at 5 p.m. Sunday.

Read more: