Led by the Holy Spirit and guided by a unanimous vote of its ruling elders and deacons, the members of Memorial Park Church of McCandless have voted to ask Pittsburgh Presbytery to dismiss it from the Presbyterian Church (USA) to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. On Sunday, June 3 at 10 a.m. with over 1,200 people in attendance during the worship service and congregational meeting, 1051 members voted with 951 voting in favor (91.1%); 93 voting not in favor (8.9%); 4 abstained and 3 ballots were disallowed by the members of Pittsburgh Presbytery overseeing the voting process. With a better than 91% vote the congregation of Memorial Park Presbyterian Church has formally requested the dismissal.
“At Memorial Park, we will always be Presbyterian. We are a conservative, evangelical, missions-oriented Presbyterian Church,” said Jay Roy, a ruling elder and former president of the Pittsburgh Federal Home Loan Bank. “Our motto is ‘preaching the unchanging Word to an ever-changing world.’ Without apology, we believe that the Bible is God’s infallible Word. We are unashamed when we proclaim that Jesus Christ is the only Way, Truth and Life.”
In 2001 Memorial Park joined the Confessing Church Movement in the PC(USA). In 2005, Memorial Park became a member of New Wineskins Association of Churches, seeking a partnership with like-minded Presbyterian churches that would be faithful to biblical standards. Dr. D. Dean Weaver was called to be the senior pastor in May, 2006. Dr. Weaver is the national co-moderator of New Wineskins organization.
Dr. Weaver noted that he and the other pastors are honored and humbled by the vote. “Over the years, this church has stood firm for Biblical Truth in the midst of a denomination that has consistently moved away from historic Christian teaching.” Dr. Weaver said the members affirmed that it is time to “realign ourselves with other Presbyterians in our country and around the world who believe the same things we do and have the same passion for evangelism and for missions.” Dr. Weaver expressed his gratitude for the numerous congregations and individuals in Pittsburgh and around the world who have supported them in this decision. “It is has been encouraging to receive the calls, letters and e-mails from as far away as Africa and as close as the North Hills, letting us know that many of our brothers and sisters in Christ were praying for us today as we took this historic stand for the gospel.” Dr. Kevin Gourley is the Associate Pastor, Dr. Bruce R. Bickel is the Teaching Pastor and Rev. Jack Willard is the Pastoral Assistant.
Memorial Park was founded as a mission congregation of the United Presbyterian Church of North America in 1941. The PC (USA) was formed in 1983 as a result of a union between the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS) called the “southern branch” and the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. called the “northern branch”. Presently, there are nine distinct Presbyterian denominations in the United States. Today, the PC (USA) has 2.4 million members. Memorial Park Church has 1,604 members and is one of the largest congregations in the PC (USA). Its annual budget is over $2 million, with 25% of that amount committed to missions.
