This news item was submitted to the Plumb Line by Ben Ray, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Derby, Kan.
The latest changes to the Book of Order in the PC(USA) were the last straw for First Presbyterian Church in Derby, Kan. With much prayer and discussion, first among Session and then with the congregation, the vote was taken on April 6, 2025, to move to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The motion overwhelmingly passed and the process began.
Beginning conversations with Great Plains Presbytery were exciting and helpful. The help we received in the transition into Great Plains from the Stated Clerk, as well as other pastors and elders, was very encouraging. We were overwhelmed with the amount of prayer and love we felt from other churches within the Presbytery of Great Plains as we were moving into the EPC.
From the congregational vote to the PC(USA)’s Presbytery of Southern Kansas setting up an Administrative Commission (AC) to work with the Transition Team from FPC was quick work. It was not easy work, but it did bring our congregation together and solidified our decision to leave.
I have been the pastor in Derby since August 2000. I had been very active within the presbytery, even serving on administrative commissions for two other churches that had left and moved to the EPC. A paper on Gracious Separation for a church wanting to leave had been written and adopted into the manual of operations for the presbytery to help both entities work for the good of the Kingdom of God. But that was not followed this time.
Knowing that the process might not be as easy as it had been in the past, FPC’s transition team moved the congregation forward with updates and encouragement that a move could be made. The final demand from the presbytery was $500,000 cash payment to leave with all properties, assets, and rights that would normally belong to the presbytery.
The Session moved forward with a plan to acquire the money needed to move to the EPC. After paying off a $1.6 million loan in April, the congregation was now faced with another $500,000 to raise in 90 days. The “Best Gift” campaign was set in place asking the people of the congregation to give a one-time gift to help bring the amount that they would need to borrow to make the payment. Excitement built within the congregation and within 4 weeks, all $500,000 had been raised and deposited in the bank for the payment to be made! All praise to God from whom all blessings flow!
When asked what it meant that the money had come in so fast and so willingly from 70 different families, the leadership of FPC simply said; we have 501,700 “YES” votes to move to the EPC! Derby was received as a new local church in the Great Plains Presbytery on September 26, 2025, and we are excited and blessed to be part of the global movement of evangelistic Presbyterians!
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