[Gamecock]

Can’t congregations shrug off the PCUSA affiliation and go indy, or join a different conference?

Some have. The problem as they see it is that the home office holds the deeds to the building.

Local bodies have sued for the building and won. They left and joined the Evangelical Presbyterian Church or a new denomination called ECO, A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians.

One church recently paid the home office over $8,000,000 to leave with the building.

The OPC left without their buildings, which is why they have less architecturally impressive church buildings than many PC(USA) facilities.

IMHO the building issue is not a valid concern. Take the congregation and strike out in a conservative denomination.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I guess it would stink to have sunk funds into your building only to find that once the parent organization goes looie, it really wasn’t “yours.”

But fine, if that’s the game they want to play. I guess it would be wise to purchase it if reasonably possible, or look for a different place to meet. Some churches will host other ones at staggered hours, even cross-denominationally. I could easily see Baptist churches being sympathetic here.