In its report, the presbytery’s resolution team wrote, “Team members have worked actively with the Denominational Relations Committee and session of First Presbyterian Church to reach an agreement regarding the sharing of personal property and assets of the congregation to provide for the continuing ministry of the congregation to be dismissed and the congregation which will remain. The team has also provided pastoral care to the continuing congregation. The team is delighted to be able to report that a settlement agreement has been reached.”

The 3,951 member church was dismissed from the PCUSA and into the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) on June 5 by Central Florida Presbytery. The church was received into the EPC the same day.

On Sunday, the EPC Stated Clerk, Dr. Jeff Jeremiah, will attend FPCO’s worship to welcome the congregation into its new denomination. According to an announcementon the church website, the worship service will be a time to “rejoice and give thanks to the Lord for His gracious provision in delivering us, unified and expectant, into this next chapter of our church’s life.”

The announcement read, “Our session and staff rejoice in this holy moment, the next step in the long and faithful history of First Presbyterian Church, Orlando. We are humbled by God’s faithfulness to us over these many months, and we are grateful for the unified voice of this body as our church has stood for the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of His Word.”

According to the dismissal agreement with the presbytery, FPCO will make a single lump-sum payment of $900,000 to the presbytery for the use of the continuing congregation – those wishing to remain in the PCUSA – within 20 days of the presbytery’s vote to dismiss the congregation.

The agreement will go into effect Sept. 3: the date that the 90-day period for appealing the presbytery’s decision to dismiss the congregation ends.

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