The Task Force and the Session have been completely faithful throughout and all of our efforts have been reasonable and in good faith. Our offer of financial support was very generous and we will not be forced into an untenable position. We will do everything possible to protect the future of this church as well as our heritage and our property!

Report from Elder Kevin Taylor Regarding Dismissal Delay (Sunday, March 4)

I have the privilege of serving this church on the Denominational Relations Task Force. I am here this morning to update you on the Gracious Dismissal process.

After the overwhelming 90.5% vote to request dismissal to the Evangelical Presbytery Church on January 29th, a small group of members led by Guy Neff, Warren Foley and Mary Solik have indicated they wish to remain in the PCUSA. They wish to start a new church in the downtown area separate and distinct from the two existing Central Florida Presbytery churches already providing downtown ministry (Park Lake Presbyterian Church and Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church). This group also wishes to have the name First Presbyterian Church of Orlando, PCUSA and has referred to themselves as “the remnant” and “the continuing church.” They have been meeting at Park Lake Presbyterian Church for a few weeks and have about 40 attendees.

In the Gracious Dismissal policy, the departing church and the Resolution Team are directed to negotiate terms for provision of pastoral care and ministry to the members of the congregation who voted to remain in the PCUSA. Since the congregational vote, we have been in these negotiations to establish a plan of care for those members, primarily this “the remnant” group.

The majority of these negotiations took place in two mediation sessions governed by confidentiality. Release of any information connected with the mediation could have negative legal consequences. Therefore, we have been unable to communicate any details or the progress of the negotiations. As you know from announcements last Sunday, the mediation unfortunately ended in impasse.

Last Tuesday, in response to a request from the Resolution Team, the Session approved an offer of ongoing support to the Presbytery to be used as they see fit, including supporting the establishment of a new “remnant” church. The details of this offer and part of the rationale behind it are available on the Presbytery’s website www.cfpresbytery.org, but the general numbers were $122,000 per year for five years for a total of $610,000. Upon receipt of the offer, the Resolution Team communicated to our pastoral staff and the task force that it was fair and reasonable, and as a result, they would unanimously support dismissal of First Church Presbyterian Church, Orlando, to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church with our property. They provided a written recommendation to that effect which you can read on their website as well.

Pursuant to the Gracious Dismissal policy, a vote on our dismissal was to be held at the next Presbytery meeting following our January 29 vote. Yesterday (March 3), the Central Florida Presbytery held that meeting. Eight commissioners from our Session along with about 35 other leaders in our church attended. While we knew “the remnant” would be given voice to object to our dismissal in the face of our $610,000 offer, we fully expected complete and unanimous support from the Resolution team and a positive and final outcome. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

Several members of “the remnant” group objected to our dismissal indicating our offer was not enough and even suggested that we should not be allowed to carry our name forward. Also, despite agreeing to support a vote for dismissal during negotiations with the Task Force, Executive Presbyter Paige McRight, also a member of the Resolution Team, spoke in favor of deferral.

Obviously, our commissioners spoke in favor of immediate dismissal, pointing to the tremendously clear message sent on Jan. 29 and the fact that continued discord only serves to chill the true ministry of the church on both sides. With a heavy heart I must report that the Presbytery voted to defer their vote until June 5th.

Despite this delay, please rest assured we are still moving forward AND in the right direction! We remain confident we will be dismissed to the EPC with our property in June. We were encouraged by conversations with some of the non-First Presbyterian Church commissioners who voted in favor of deferral. Admittedly, some were opposed to our dismissal or thought the financial offer was insufficient. However, the general impression was that our vote was deferred to review the details of the Resolution Team’s recommendation as well as our offer as they were both released only days before the Presbytery meeting.

Our hearts continue to bleed for “the remnant.” We still pray for reconciliation and are committed to ministering to the needs of every member of this church regardless of their vote. The Task Force and the Session have been completely faithful throughout and all of our efforts have been reasonable and in good faith. Our offer of financial support was very generous and we will not be forced into an untenable position. We will do everything possible to protect the future of this church as well as our heritage and our property! We will continue to follow the letter of the law in the Gracious Dismissal process, but will not be manipulated.

Please pray for our church as we boldly forge ahead standing firm in our defense of the authority of Scripture and Lordship of Christ alone. This was a set back – but only a setback. Yesterday we may have been deferred, but we will not be deterred!

Kevin Taylor is an Elder at FPCO. This article first appeared on the church website and is used with permission. [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]