Another Sacramento Presbyterian church may soon leave the national denomination.

Members of Fremont Presbyterian Church, the largest Presbyterian congregation in the region, met Sunday to discuss whether they should break off from the national church and become the sixth congregation in the region to break away from Presbyterian Church (USA) to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

About 100 members attended the two-hour meeting in the sanctuary to discuss the future of the church on Carlson Drive near California State University, Sacramento.

The afternoon meeting was held in response to a nonbinding July vote by the church's board of directors, or session. The leaders voted unanimously in favor of leaving the denomination. They disagree with the national church on several issues including biblical adherence and its decision to allow ordination of gay clergy members, said the Rev. Donald Baird, senior pastor.

"We are not leaving them; they left us," Baird said in an interview before the meeting. "This is not what we planned. This is not what we wanted."

Sunday's was the first of four meetings set for members over the next month. A churchwide final vote on whether to stay or leave the denomination is expected in October.

At the meeting Sunday, reaction was mixed. Tim Farley, in the congregation 36 years, was the first to speak.

"I'm shocked and disappointed," Farley said. "I'd rather see the church stay in the denomination, not look for greener grass on the other side of the fence."

Others said they wanted more information about the evangelical denomination.

But the majority of those who spoke Sunday said they supported the church leaders.

"What they did is what is taught in the Bible, and what God has taught us," said John Hansen, a member who supports the leaders' vote.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) has about 2 million members. The Sacramento Presbytery, the church's regional governing body, includes 38 churches and reaches from Elk Grove to the Oregon border. About 10,000 people attend its churches in the region, according to the Rev. Jay Wilkins of the Sacramento Presbytery.

"Anytime a church leaves, for whatever reason, it is sad and disappointing," said Wilkins, who attended Sunday's meeting.

With about 1,300 weekly worshippers, Fremont Presbyterian is the last of the large churches in the Sacramento Presbytery in the PCUSA. Roseville and Fair Oaks churches, and three smaller ones in the region, have already left to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Those churches faced legal and financial issues when they left the national denomination. Each had to pay the presbytery for their church property. Baird said he hopes to avoid some of the problems those congregations faced.

He said the 5-acre Sacramento church property has been paid for by the Fremont congregation.

"The presbytery did not contribute 1 cent," said Baird. "But if we go, we will have to pay."

It is too early to know how much the move would cost church members.

"For our credibility, for our beliefs, it will be worth it," Baird said.

Editor's note: Comments on this story were closed Aug. 23 because of hate speech and personal insults in the comments.

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