…under the current draft, the New Reformed Body would also resemble the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) more than the older breakaway groups. For example, the new body would uphold the same 11 confessions of faith, ranging from ancient to modern times, that the larger denomination does. And it would state support for the ordination of women.

Presbyterian conservatives are drafting plans for a new denomination as an alternative to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), citing liberal trends over sexuality and theology in the Louisville-based denomination.

The “New Reformed Body” — the working title for the as-yet-unnamed group — would also be an alternative to the existing conservative Presbyterian denominations that broke with the main denomination in previous decades.

Those denominations have attracted dozens of congregations that have already left the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Seventy-eight congregations were officially recorded as leaving between 2007 and 2010 — amid the crescendo of debate over these controversies — and others have been moving to the exits.

The New Reformed Body is slated for discussion at a conference Jan. 18-20 in Orlando, Fla. Also under discussion will be the creation of a separate network for congregations that want to stay in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) while dissenting from some of its liberal stances.

It’s too early to say how many congregations might joint a new denomination. But the Orlando gathering is expected to draw representatives from more than 700 congregations, said an organizer, the Rev. Paul Detterman of Louisville, administrative assistant to the group Fellowship of Presbyterians.

That’s equal to about 7 percent of the denomination’s total congregations.

“This is not an anti-PCUSA thing,” Detterman said. “It’s simply that the PCUSA has gone a direction we can’t go. We are working on regrouping and rediscovering our core theological identity and our core theological tradition.”

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), after decades of debate, voted in 2011 to allow the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians as ministers, elders and deacons.

Supporters have hailed that measure as a long-overdue matter of justice. But opponents have described it as culminating years of liberal moves not only on sexuality but also on theological questions such as the authority of the Bible.

Several churches have voted to leave the denomination in recent months — including such flagships as the 3,500-member First Presbyterian of Orlando.

The conference will discuss two sets of draft documents.

One is the outline of polity, or church government, for the new denomination.

The other is a statement of consensus on traditional theological confessions of faith.