According to a document released by Knox, it was stated during the (EPC Presbytery) meeting and generally accepted that clear Biblical imperatives regarding church leadership no longer apply to today’s church.

On November 21, 2010, Great Lakes Presbytery of the PCA (Michigan and Northwestern Indiana) welcomed its newest congregation into the Presbytery. Knox Presbyterian Church became a charter member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in 1980.

In 2010, Knox severed its thirty year relationship with the EPC and joined the PCA. What led to the change?

The Church began in 1913 when Rev. Alexander Danskin started Fairview Mission on East Jefferson in Detroit. In 1915, the mission was officially organized as Knox Presbyterian Church. The Church continued to grow and went through several buildings and locations.

In 1976, the Church moved to its current location in Harrison Township. Four years later, the Church left the PCUSA and became a charter member of the EPC. The church continued to grow and expand. In 2003, the Church called Pastor Douglas Graham to serve as Senior Pastor of the Church. Graham had earned his M.Div. from Covenant Theological Seminary and moved from St. Louis to Detroit to serve at Knox where he continues to serve presently.

Since its founding nearly a hundred years ago, Knox has sought to stand on that key Reformation principle of Sola Scriptura. During the summer of 2007, the Knox Session began to be aware of potential compromises in this precious doctrine within their denomination.

This came to a head in November 13, 2009 at a Presbytery meeting held at Knox.

According to a document released by Knox, it was stated during the meeting and generally accepted that clear Biblical imperatives regarding church leadership no longer apply to today’s church.

At this point, the leadership and members of Knox began to investigate various options for new church affiliation. According to the document mentioned above, the reasons for joining the PCA were not only a desire to take a stronger stand on the authority of Scripture but also the many advantages available in the PCA.

It states:

This denomination also offered additional blessings such as a significantly larger network of churches, the largest Presbyterian missions agency in the world, resources such as Covenant seminary and college, and a commitment to church planting with over 300 mission churches in the U.S. alone.

On March 7, 2010, the Session recommended to the congregation that they affiliate with the PCA. The congregation concurred by a vote of 224-3. In September, Knox petitioned Great Lakes Presbytery for membership. Following the PCA Book of Church Order, Great Lakes examined Knox’s Session and Teaching Elders and then publicly welcomed Knox at a celebration service on November 21.

Knox Presbyterian Church marks something of a milestone for the PCA in Michigan. In spite of inroads throughout Michigan, the PCA has not made much of a dent in the Detroit Metro area. Knox now becomes the second PCA Church in Detroit. In addition, Knox becomes the largest church in Great Lakes Presbytery with around 500 members.

In spite of the gain for Great Lakes Presbytery, the Presbytery did not solicit or court Knox Presbyterian Church. The Church itself initiated the process of joining the PCA.

“Some might wonder if our presbytery has been recruiting from the EPC. Nothing could be farther from the truth,” noted TE David Sarafolean, Pastor of Christ Covenant Church in Midland, MI in an article on his blog. He went on to note that Knox’s leadership had many contacts in the PCA and that TE Graham even visited Dr. Roy Taylor while Graham was on vacation in Atlanta.

Taylor then put him in contact with Ted Powers, MNA coordinator for the Upper Midwest. According to Sarafolean, “Great Lakes Presbytery was among the last to know of Knox’s intentions.”

Wes White is a Teaching Elder in the PCA and serves as Pastor of New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Spearfish, SD. This article first appeared on Mr. White’s blog and is used with his permission. http://www.weswhite.net/2010/12/founding-epc-church-departs-for-the-pca/ [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]