Grace Presbyterian Church in Houston soon may be voting on departure from the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The Presbytery Discernment Team (PDT) for Grace recommended that the session call a meeting of the congregation to vote on requesting dismissal from the PCUSA to affiliate with ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians.
The PDT report was presented to the Grace congregation on April 13 and indicated that “a congregational vote would, regardless of outcome, offer the best opportunity for reconciliation among members and for renewed focus on the mission of Jesus Christ.”
Hardie Morgan, executive director for Ministry Support at Grace, indicated that the session is meeting to discern the next step in the process. Action on the matter is expected this week.
“We’re not rushing anything,” Morgan said. “We’re taking it very methodically.”
The session vote to call for a congregational meeting on joining ECO is slated for April 22, and ECO Synod Executive Dana Allin is scheduled to be the guest speaker at the April 28 session meeting.
Next up in the process would be a town hall meeting with the elder and staff panel on May 4, a town hall meeting with the ECO and PCUSA panel on May 18 and a possible congregational vote regarding dismissal on June 1. The town hall meetings still need approval by Grace’s current 28-member session, which also has to provide a recommendation for the vote on dismissal.
The Grace congregation voted Oct. 20, 2013, by a margin of 552-64, to enter into the discernment process of the New Covenant Presbytery’s Gracious Reconciliation and Dismissal Procedure. The PDT that made the recommendation for dismissal was comprised of four members from Grace designated by the session, four members appointed by the presbytery and a neutral facilitator agreed upon by team members. The team met 12 times from Dec. 8, 2013, until the submission of its report.
Grace is one of the largest PCUSA churches in Texas with 2,631 members and is 22nd in the nation, according to 2012 PCUSA cumulative statistics. Memorial Drive (4,417 members) and First Presbyterian Church of Houston (3,567 members) also are members of New Covenant Presbytery and rank seventh and 11th, respectively, in membership size for the entire denomination.
The recommendation for Grace Presbyterian Church to pursue dismissal to ECO comes less than two months after another Houston congregation fell shy of the necessary number of votes needed to join the newest Presbyterian denomination.
First Presbyterian Church-Houston fell 36 votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed to align with ECO, which formed in January 2012. The reported result, which has not been verified, showed a 1,085-596 margin in favor of leaving, but 1,121 yes votes were needed to reach the presbytery’s required threshold.
Three churches from New Covenant Presbytery have left the PCUSA for ECO in the last two years. Advent Presbyterian Church in Spring, West Isle Presbyterian Church in Galveston and First Presbyterian Church of Kingwood all have been dismissed by the presbytery. FPC-Kingwood is the largest of those with a membership of more than 1,600.
Additionally, Memorial Presbyterian Church in San Augustine and First Presbyterian Church of Lake Jackson have been dismissed to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), and Heritage Presbyterian Church has left to join the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC).
Windwood Presbyterian Church in Spring is engaged in protracted litigation with the presbytery over property, and it is anticipated the church also will seek a new denominational home.
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It might be beneficial for the congregational vote to be held on June 22 instead of June 1. Members of the congregation would then have the results from the General Assembly in Detroit to possibly give additional clarity to guide their decision.
In addition, First Presbyterian Church in Freeport, TX has been dismissed to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Providence Church in Nederland, TX has been dismissed to ECO.
please note that Heritage Presbyterian Church did not leave the denomination. Many of its members plus the entire staff and all of the ministers renounced their jurisdiction and left the denomination in 2008. However, Heritage Presbyterian Church is still a member of PCUSA and will remain so.