First Presbyterian Church still healing after major split

Seven months have passed since members of First Presbyterian Church split over whether to leave their national denomination over doctrinal issues such as gay marriage.

Those who remain at the downtown church building -- located at 1100 First Ave. -- are still healing.

"This is the first (holiday) season after a very public and difficult time in the life of the church, and there's grief here as there would be in any family where there has been a loss," said the Rev. Joel Alvis, the interim pastor who has led the church since Aug. 17. "I think people will use this time as a time of thanksgiving, a time of reflection, a time of hope. That's what the church is about. We are a people of hope. So we will use our worship time and our time together to build a community."

The church split in April, after members voted 266 to 146 in favor of separating from the Presbyterian Church (USA), which some members believed had become too liberal in recent years.

The vote fell eight votes short of the two-thirds required for "gracious dismissal."

A week later, some members who voted to break away from the denomination formed a new congregation called Grace Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Chuck Hasty, then-pastor of First Presbyterian, later resigned. He is now pastor of Grace Presbyterian, which is currently based at Rock Presbyterian Church, a predominantly Korean congregation located in a former movie theater at The Landings.

Both Grace and the Rock, which recently separated from PC (USA), are now part of a more conservative denomination called the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO). Alvis said church membership at First Presbyterian dropped from about 900 to 700 members in the aftermath of the controversial vote.

Average attendance is now about 150 to 175 compared to about 300 to 325 a year ago.

But not all departures are the result of the vote, Alvis said. Some people have moved out of town because of employment or affiliation with Fort Benning.

Alvis said he expects an uptick in attendance during the Christmas season, but the church continues to receive notifications from people who want to move their membership. And there are some members at the church who are still undecided.

"There is a group of people ... who actually voted to leave the denomination, but they weren't going to leave the congregation," he said. "I've had a lot of people tell me that they're struggling with what to do and it has broken families apart. I mean literally. Husbands and wives made different choices, going to different churches -- and brothers and sisters within larger families, differences between generations. So it's been very painful and there's not unanimity about what it means to have stayed on this corner.

"... The reality is the world has changed," he added. "And those people who have left because of their desire to seek their faithfulness in Jesus Christ, and not be connected with the PC (USA), I don't anticipate that they will come back. And I think I can say that I and the (governing council), we wish them well. ... They're still friends. They're neighbors. ... But there is hurt all around."

Yet Alvis and many members remain optimistic that the church is moving forward.

The church continues to have two services every Sunday morning at 8:45 and 11. Another group watches the service at the Spring Harbor retirement community. The church broadcasts services online and on television every week.

"A number of weeks ago, I preached a sermon about beginning again," Alvis said. "I said, 'Church can sometimes be a contact sport. There could be an elbow thrown here, an elbow thrown there, some trash talk.' People responded to that very well ... acknowledging their own complicity, directly or indirectly. And saying, 'I want to be part of moving forward.'"

The healing process

Virginia Peebles has been a member of First Presbyterian for 52 years. She grew up at St. Luke United Methodist Church and transferred to First Presbyterian after marrying and returning to Columbus as a young adult. Her husband's family has been part of the church for generations.

"People have disagreed on issues and that's always sad when you have really good friends and you don't see eye to eye on some things," said Peebles, who voted to stay with the denomination. "What I wanted all along was for us to work out the conflicts and move forward together rather than split up."

After the separation, Peebles started a group called the "How Can We Serve? Lunch Bunch" to help fill leadership vacancies left by people who departed.

"Of course, we lost some members that were very active and involved in the church. So it left volunteer opportunities and places to serve where we needed folks," she said. "It just started with four or five people getting together and wanting to help, and now I have about 46 people on my email list."

Peebles said members of First Presbyterian are still active in mission work, participating in programs such as Valley Interfaith Promise, which shelters homeless people at local churches. The congregation also has a food pantry and provides brown bag lunches for the homeless, among other ministries. It has a Montessori school that's "bursting at the seams," Alvis said.

"I have just felt a lot of energy from people that love this church like I do," said Peebles, "people stepping up to the plate, filling these service opportunities."

Peebles said she has been hurt by statements made by some previous members in local news reports suggesting that PC (USA) had strayed from the authority of the Bible and belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ.

"As a Presbyterian, a member of First Presbyterian, we certainly believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that he is the way to salvation," she said.

Though she stays in contact with some former members, other friends are still estranged.

"With some of them the split was a little bit harder," she said. "But, you know, I guess that's my problem that I need to work on -- forgiveness and reconciliation -- a little harder."

Frank Etheridge, 69, said he and his wife have been members of the church close to 30 years and also voted to stay with PC (USA.)

"It was a horrible experience that we went through in the spring," he said. "I hope I never have to go through something like that again. The worst thing is losing close friends to another church. The good thing is it has energized many of us who stayed and I think we have an increased renewal in our spirituality."

After Hasty left, the church's associate pastor, Jones Doughton, stepped up and preached some good sermons, Etheridge said. Then the church formed a search committee for an interim pastor.

"We got Joel Alvis, and we could not have asked for a better choice," he said. "He knows the right things to say and he's really helped us along in the healing process."

Etheridge said the church also received assistance from the Rev. Stephanie Boaz, pastor of Morningside Presbyterian Church and The Abbey Student Center.

Prior to coming to Columbus, Alvis said he had been doing interim ministry in the Atlanta area, North Carolina and Florida. Now, he commutes from Atlanta and stays in town four to five nights a week. He's not sure how long he will remain in the position.

"Ordinarily, a transition like this takes 18 to 24 months," he said. "This is not quite so ordinary, so I don't know what that means."

Alvis said the church holds no ill will toward those who left, and he had a recent meeting with Hasty.

"In the world of Presbyterian pastors, it's not a whole big universe," he said. "We had lunch one day at a restaurant up in north Columbus, and it was a meaningful conversation for me. I felt like we shared openly and honestly."

Finances are a concern for the congregation, Alvis said. But the church recently held its annual fall stewardship campaign, and the contributions were encouraging.

"As of Monday, Nov. 23, we've received 102 pledges, totaling almost $671,000," he said. "There were 20 new pledges, showing an increase of over 23 percent."

Alvis said last year the church closed the campaign with about $1.1 million in pledges, and he's waiting to see what this year's total will be. He said the church also has endowments and other financial resources that will help get it through this difficult time.

Etheridge said the congregation may have to cut back a little, but everyone is doing his and her part.

"We're going to have to get used to having a smaller budget," he said. "But we've had some new people join the church, too. So I'm very optimistic about our future."

Alva James-Johnson, 706-571-8521. Reach her on Facebook at AlvaJamesJohnsonLedger.

This story was originally published November 29, 2015 at 10:09 PM with the headline "First Presbyterian Church still healing after major split ."