The Presbytery of San Francisco’s new dismissal policy, approved in September 2009, is about to get its first test.

The 2,000-member Community Presbyterian Church (CPC) in Danville, Calif., has announced it wants to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) and affiliate with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). CPC’s session approved the action at its Feb. 2 meeting, blaming the PCUSA’s denominational theological, moral and political drift. The session’s position statement, in its desire to depart, also claims a tolerance of theological pluralism, conflicted witness to the world and divided loyalties by the PCUSA.

“We grieve that time and again a minority within PCUSA has sought to compromise the authority of Scripture and the uniqueness and Lordship of Christ,” the session said. “The trend we see is disturbing and turns our focus away from our primary mission of proclaiming the ‘Good News’ of the saving Grace of Jesus Christ. … We are now bound only by a governance structure that promotes the celebration of diversity while failing to clearly define and enforce common essential beliefs. In effect, and ironically, the PCUSA has promoted unity only for the issue of theological diversity.”

The statement also acknowledges a mistrust of denominational leadership and that CPC has “lost hope” in affecting change in the PCUSA.

“The passion and energy that has been diverted to an interminable struggle must now be released to create a new denominational alliance for discipleship and mission,” the session statement said. “In the EPC, CPC’s theology will be supported, our commitment to the Presbyterian form of church government and Reformed theology will continue. Changing denominations from one Presbyterian body to another will remove the tension over denominational issues, the distraction from our mission, and the time demands on our pastors required to deal with PCUSA developments.”