New year, new life
Washington church celebrates dismissal from PCUSA
The Layman, January 5, 2012
A Central Washington church is celebrating the new year with a new name after successfully leaving the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Saddlerock Evangelical Presbyterian Church, formerly First Presbyterian Church of Wenatchee, joined the ranks of a growing number of disaffected churches fleeing the PCUSA and joining the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC).
“We could not be more thrilled,” Saddlerock Senior Pastor Pat McElroy said, adding that “legal paperwork, transfer of our insurance, changes in by-laws and articles of incorporation to reflect our new name” had been scheduled to be done by Dec. 31, 2011 and that the church now faces 2012 as a member of the EPC.
Saddlerock is among a growing member of former PCUSA churches that have left the denomination due to theological differences.
Most departing churches have cited last year’s approval of Amendment 10A and the passage of the new Form of Government (nFOG) as symptoms of a more serious underlying problem in the denomination: the authority of Scripture.
Amendment 10A deleted the explicit “fidelity/chastity” requirement from the ordination standard, and now allows the PCUSA to ordain of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people as deacons, elders and pastors. The new Form of Government has raised concerns of a more “top-down” PCUSA bureaucracy.
Saddlerock’s journey began four years ago when the church informed the Presbytery of Central Washington that it would seek discernment about its future relationship with the PCUSA.
After the 2008 General Assembly, the congregation “began a process of education regarding the issues in the denomination,” McElroy said.
“It began as a call for earnest prayer and discernment and progressed with literature distribution in early 2009; then leadership and congregational forums in the fall of 2009 through the spring of 2010,” he added.
A straw poll among congregants in April 2010 showed that 94 percent of members wanted to seek dismissal.
In May, Central Washington named an administrative commission which met with the congregation up until June 2011 and recommended the church be dismissed.
Church leaders began the process of negotiation with Central Washington as well as talking with EPC officials.
In September, the church and presbytery reached an agreement and, according to McElroy, the church agreed unanimously to the following motion [reprinted in part below]:
- “That we give $175,000 as a mission/church development gift to [the Presbytery of Central Washington];
- “That we give $47,892 for three years of presbytery per capita;
- “That we give up to $5,000 in reimbursable expenses from the [administrative commission];
- “That we incur all costs associated with the legal transfer of our property, assets, and corporation;
- “To concur with the requests of the Rev. Patrick McElroy and the Rev. Paul Pankey [the church’s associate pastor] continue in their current pastoral positions and to have their ordination credentials transferred in good standing from the Presbytery of Central Washington of the [PCUSA] to the Presbytery of the Pacific of [EPC], a recognized Reformed body in relationship with the PCUSA;
- “That all records of the First Presbyterian Church of Wenatchee PCUSA and its predecessors be converted into microfiche at First Presbyterian’s expense for the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia.”
The congregation also voted to petition membership with the EPC and the Central Washington approved Saddlerock’s request for dismissal on Oct. 22. The church was installed into the EPC on Nov. 20.
Also in October, McElroy and Pankey were recommended to be examined for ordination by the EPC’s Presbytery of the Pacific.
As Saddlerock faces a new day with a new denomination, McElroy said the church is excited about “moving forward with God’s mission for us in the Wenatchee Valley and the world.”
According to PCUSA Research Services, the church recorded 507 members in 2010 and brought in $795,557 in offerings.