Northminster Presbyterian Church can lay claim to a couple of “firsts.”

The 600-member congregation is the first church from Illinois to become a member of ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians and the first to be dismissed to the new denomination from the Presbytery of Great Rivers.

Both “firsts” for Northminster came to pass during the Oct. 8, 2013, presbytery meeting when the congregation was dismissed from the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Founded in 1969 as a merger of two smaller churches, Northminster is located in Peoria, about three hours southwest of Chicago in central Illinois.

 

Deciding what to do

The Rev. Mike Shirey, who has been the associate pastor for Northminster since 2000 and has served as moderator of the session since former senior pastor Doug Hucke left for a church in Albuquerque, N.M., in March 2012, said the process to leave the PCUSA took some two years to complete.

“We took our time … in good Presbyterian fashion,” Shirey said. “Obviously, things had been brewing (in the PCUSA) for quite some time and reached the point we had to figure out what was going on and what we would do. We were not angry. We were sad and disappointed we had to make this move to preserve our focus as a congregation.”

To determine what to do, the church formed a task force to study denominational issues.

“Our main issue was a sense that the denomination was losing its Biblical foundation,” Shirey explained. “There was more concern with lobbying for social justice than supporting missionaries in the field. We felt we no longer belonged in the PCUSA. It no longer reflected what we consider our core values.”

Shirey listed those values as Biblical authority, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, salvation through Christ alone and emphasis on reaching out to the world with the Gospel in word and deed.

“We believe the Bible and what it says should be the sole authority for life and faith,” Shirey said.

 

Deciding where to go

Shirey indicated that the Presbytery of Great Rivers adopted a gracious dismissal policy early in 2011, and after careful study of the document, Northminster entered the discernment phase from November 2011 to March 2012 when the session opted to continue on with the dismissal process.

“We had to decide if we left where we would go,” Shirey said, adding, “Pretty quick into the process we knew that was going to be ECO. We followed (the gracious dismissal policy) to the letter. We covenanted as a church to do it right and gave the presbytery every opportunity to talk to our people. We made every effort to have them included and be as transparent as possible.”

Shirey pointed out that ECO has a solid core doctrine that aligns with the Northminster theology, which was a drawing card for selecting the newly-formed denomination as its new affiliation.

“We’re tired of arguing. We know what we believe and why we believe it,” Shirey said. “With ECO, we feel like we’re coming home. There is a newness and a chance to be part of something exciting and vibrant. That is inviting to us. We are excited about the new possibilities of living out our faith, focusing on what we’re headed toward rather than what we’re leaving. This is more about uniting with ECO than leaving the PCUSA.”

 

Determining agreeable terms

After working through the process, a resolution team from the presbytery reached settlement terms with the Northminster session that the congregation agreed to on Oct. 6 by an overwhelming majority. The motion to approve the agreement passed by a 206-24 vote (90 percent).

Northminster agreed to make a cash payment of $114,603, within 30 days of the dismissal date, to the presbytery to be dismissed from the PCUSA and to satisfy the denomination’s trust clause. In addition, the church will pay $115,397 to the presbytery over 10 years (by Oct. 1 each year) in the form of shared mission giving, making the total payment $230,000.

“We had a few people who thought we should not have to pay any money, but we wanted to negotiate a settlement without being taken into a secular court,” Shirey said. “That would not do any good and would be more expensive.”

Shirey said the church went through a process of raising the funds to meet the required payment, knowing that God would provide the necessary amount needed to fulfill the congregation’s commitment.

“God has led us this far and been good to this church,” he said. “We don’t expect Him to let us go now.”

 

Looking ahead after dismissal

During the Oct. 8 meeting of Presbytery of Great Rivers, a voice vote taken yielded an obvious majority in favor of the congregation’s dismissal. Presbytery officials did not comment on the dismissal when contacted via email by The Layman.

“It was as amicable as any divorce can be,” Shirey said. “The presbytery certainly was not happy about it and took every opportunity to make a case for why we should stay. But we were deliberate about it and got through it fairly amicably. Yes, it was a gracious separation.”

That parting of ways has provided a breath of fresh air to the Northminster congregation.

“It’s been a long siege, but there is a sense of relief that we are finally finished and an excitement about what is coming into our future,” Shirey said.

The focus now for the church is on bringing in a new head of staff and increasing its emphasis on mission in Peoria and around the world.

“As smooth as it was, it wasn’t easy. We have devoted a lot of time and energy on leaving the denomination, but we have kept things going,” Shirey said. “Now we can start devoting that time and energy to new ways of living out the Gospel instead of arguing about denominational issues. We’re ready for a new shepherd to come so we can hit the ground running when that pastor is in place. We can start thinking about our future with a lot less ambiguity.”

 

Buffalo Prairie also dismissed

Buffalo Prairie Presbyterian Church also was dismissed from the Presbyterian Church (USA) during the Oct. 8, 2013, meeting of the Presbytery of Great Rivers.

The 158-member congregation is located in Rock Island County in western Illinois near the border with Iowa.

According to documents from the presbytery, Buffalo Prairie was dismissed to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) after being received into the EPC’s Presbytery of Lakes and Rivers Sept. 27-28, 2013.

To honor the trust clause of the PCUSA, Buffalo Prairie agreed to pay $26,000 to the Presbytery of Great Rivers on Oct. 8.