Orlando church debates, votes on proposed elders The Layman Online Friday, December 6, 2002 Three days after Howard Edington, the senior minister of First Presbyterian Church in Orlando, told The Orlando Sentinel that he intends to retire for reasons dealing with gay ordinations and disputes with the Central Florida Presbytery, the congregation met for nearly three hours Dec. 8 to debate issues and elect 18 new elders to double the size of the session. Nine of the new elders proposed by the church's nominating committee were defeated by nine candidates who were nominated during the meeting. The congregational meeting was held after the 11 a.m. worship service, during which Edington preached. He announced on Dec. 5 that he intends to retire effective Jan. 31, 2003. More than 1,200 members and observers attended the congregational meeting, including an overflow crowd that watched the proceedings on television in the fellowship hall. With Edington's approval, the session had voted to increase to 36 the number of elders serving the 5,500-member congregation. The church's nominating committee submitted a slate of 21 candidates – the 18 new slots, plus three candidates to fill vacancies created by recent resignations. Not satisfied with the slate, some members nominated nine candidates from the floor. Each of the floor nominees was proposed specifically as an alternative to one of nine committee nominees. During floor debate, the major issue was whether or not a candidate supported Edington, who was not present during the election. Several members complained that they had not been informed about the personnel problems and disagreements between Edington and some members of the church. "I know we have some serious problems with staff morale and high turnover," one member said. "This is a dysfunctional church." First Presbyterian Church, the fourth-largest congregation in the Presbyterian Church (USA), faces another congregational meeting in a few weeks to respond to Edington's retirement announcement. The language of the announcement seemed to suggest that he might change his mind. "I am announcing my intent to formally retire from this great church, effective January 31, 2003," Edington said.

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