The Senior Pastor, Jim Singleton, writes about the congregational meeting as follows:
I want to offer a big thank you to all who attended the Congregational Gathering on Sunday afternoon. It was the longest congregational gathering most have ever attended, but in Presbyterian polity it was likely the most important such gathering most have attended here. To put attendance in perspective, there were more here and voting than were in attendance when I was called as senior pastor seven years ago. Over 1500 were in attendance and over 1300 voted. The result of the vote was that a little over 88% voted “yes” to leave the PCUSA and join ECO. A little over 4% voted “no” and a little over 6% indicated that at this point they were unsure of their decision. Lots of issues surfaced at the meeting ”“ issues we hope to address shortly. At this time, we do not have a firm date for the second meeting as it depends in part on permission and scheduling with the Presbytery. But we will know soon.
First Presbyterian is the jewel of churches in Colorado Springs . At one time Grace Church (TEC) could have made that claim but that era has ended. First Pres fought for years to keep LGBT clergy illegal and now it is optional. They are leaving before it becomes mandatory. A similar story is that of the U.S. Armed Forces. Statmann