Incline Village’s oldest church has just become Incline’s newest place of worship.

The church has operated in Incline Village for nearly 49 years as Incline Village Community Presbyterian Church, Community Presbyterian Church and currently The Village Church.

During all those years, the church was connected to the Presbyterian Church (USA) or its predecessor denomination.

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On Sept. 18, The Village Church was dismissed from the Presbyterian Church (USA) and affiliated with ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. ECO is the newest denomination within the Presbyterian Reformed tradition having been established in 2012.

The leadership and congregation of The Village Church have spent the past three years studying, discussing, praying and discerning the proper course of action regarding denominational affiliation.

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Over the past decade the Presbyterian Church (USA) has become more theologically progressive in their interpretation and application of scripture.

The Village Church is moderate and Evangelical theologically. A tension and theological dissonance developed particularly over the issues of Jesus Christ and salvation.

As a result of this tension, the leadership of The Village Church notified the Presbytery of Nevada, a higher governing body in the Presbyterian Church (USA), of their desire to be dismissed from the denomination.

The church followed the requirements of the Presbytery’s gracious dismissal policy with many meetings with the congregation both in large and small settings.

These conversations were theologically rich. In the end more than 98 percent of the members voting expressed a desire to leave the current denomination and join ECO.

The Village Church provided the Presbytery of Nevada with a gift of $62,000 for mission and ministry within the Presbytery and received clear title to the church facilities at the corner of Mt. Rose Highway and McCourry Boulevard.

The ministries of The Village Church will remain the same — rich joy-filled worship including worship outdoors in the summer, outreach in the community through the Food Closet and the Thrift Shop, children and youth activities, The Village Christian Preschool, international missions in Dominican Republic and Romania, and more.

The Rev. Dick Randall is pastor at The Village Church. Learn more about the congregation at http://www.inclinechurch.org.