More than 45 of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church's over 600 congregations have expressed interest in leaving the denomination after its June General Assembly approved a pastoral letter on same-sex attraction and ordination. The assembly affirmed the historic Reformed doctrine that "all disordered sexual desires, including those that arise from same-sex attraction, are in fact sinful," a vote that saw 43 percent opposed.
Four churches in the Pacific Northwest have already requested dismissal and hope to complete the process by November, which requires two congregational meetings and two-thirds member approval. The departing congregations are forming or joining the Westminster Association of Churches, described as a fellowship for confessional, complementarian congregations leaving the EPC.