First Presbyterian Church of Greenwood has voted overwhelmingly to leave its current denomination.
By a 249-3 vote Sunday, the church decided to leave Presbyterian Church USA to join a new denomination, Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians, also known as ECO.
“That’s as much unanimity as you can get out of Presbyterians on virtually any subject,” said the Rev. Rusty Douglas, pastor of the church.
The church’s de-parture and new affiliation were prompted primarily, church leaders say, by a disagreement over who owned the rights to the church’s property. That was settled, with First Presbyterian retaining the property and agreeing to move to a new denomination.
“It was important for this congregation to secure a clear title to all of its property,” Douglas said.
David Camp, a lay leader in the church, said, “I am extremely pleased with the result of our vote as well as the strong showing we had with the number of members we had attend the meeting. I’m very optimistic about ECO and the potential to do God’s work through that denomination as a local congregation.”
Camp serves as chairman of the Denominational Relations Task Force.
“We’re doing our duty to show that for all the people who came before us in this congregation, we’re ensuring the local congregation will be the responsible stewards of all that has been entrusted to us by previous generations,” he said.
Concerns had also been raised within the Greenwood church regarding what was perceived to be a leftward drift by PCUSA in recent years. The denomination lifted its ban on partnered homosexual clergy and permitted member churches to perform same-sex marriages, at their discretion.
Some members of the Greenwood church said, however, that theological differences were not the major reason for the split.
“It really didn’t have much to do with the denomination itself but the issue of property,” said Jim Quinn, who supported the move. “The only thing we wanted was clear title to our property, including all assets of the church.”
He was also mindful of the three dissenters who wanted to stay with PCUSA, hoping that they won’t feel alienated as the church proceeds to transition.
Like Camp, Quinn is optimistic about joining ECO. “I’m just excited. We believe that God has put us on the path with ECO. ... (I’m) looking forward to God’s plans.”
Previously, First Presbyterian filed suit in chancery court against St. Andrew’s Presbytery of Oxford, the overseeing body of First Presbyterian and a number of sister churches, to determine who was the rightful owner of the Greenwood church’s property. The two sides reached an out-of-court settlement in which First Presbyterian agreed to hold a vote to determine if the majority of the congregation wanted to leave PCUSA for a new denomination, or to stay. A minimum of one-third of the members of the church needed to be present, and two-thirds of those present would have to vote to leave — two conditions that were met.
•Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
