ENID —

The Rev. Roy Schneider, senior pastor of Enid First Presbyterian Church, believes he felt God’s call to retire.

In a letter to the congregation, Schneider said his last day will be the final Sunday of Advent, Dec. 18.

Members of the church voted 131-69 Sunday to leave Presbyterian Church U.S.A. The main issue was the national organization’s passage of Rule 10A, which states the Presbyterian church will return to the policy pre-1996, which says local congregations get to decide who they will or will not ordain. There is controversy in the national Presbyterian church over whether churches should ordain gay ministers.

In his letter, Schneider said passage of Rule 10A put the Presbyterian Church USA squarely in the far reaches of a small liberal wing of the faith. He said the issue is more than just about biblical sexual ethics, but about Presbyterians’ understanding of such core issues as justice, sin, repentance, grace, love, forgiveness and biblical authority.

“That’s why I fought the good fight against this change in ordination standards for my entire career in ministry,” Schneider said in the letter. He said the passage of Rule 10A already has caused Christian denominations around the world — from Mexico to Europe, South America to Africa — to begin breaking fellowship with the Presbyterian church.

“These last few months of denominational conflict have taken their toll ... on you and on me,” Schneider said in his letter. “It seems clear that our historic Oct. 16 vote has not prompted Cimarron Presbytery to change its position and quickly open negotiations with our two-thirds majority who cannot in good Christian conscience remain in the PC (USA). As a consequence, we are going to lose many wonderful families. What will be left of the church will no longer be theologically compatible with me.”

Schneider said the church has changed during the conflict and needs another type of pastor. The change has been both theological and emotional, he said.

“FPC Enid is now a deeply wounded church,” Schneider’s letter states. “And there comes a time in the life of a wounded church when it needs a chaplain pastor, one willing to simply hold the congregation’s collective hand, whisper words of encouragement and patiently point out the presence of God, even in the things we find painful.

“That is a noble, specific calling and talent. But that is not me. My push-push-push pastoral style would drive a hurting church like that nuts. So it’s time to move on.”

Schneider said he and his wife, Beverly, “have never felt more cherished, supported and honored by any congregation we have served.” They do not plan to leave Enid.

“But now a new page has been turned on the long, historic story of this precious church. And my name isn’t on it,” he said.

Schneider said he and his wife are praying for the pastor God has in mind, to find the church soon.

While 131 members of the church will negotiate with the national church, others will remain members of Presbyterian Church U.S.A.

Kay Carl, a member of the church, said Wednesday she was one of the 69 who voted not to separate from the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. She said she is opposed to ordaining gay ministers and does not agree with everything the Presbytery does.

“But you don’t just up and leave,” she said. “You don’t quit a job because you don’t agree with everything they do, and I’m not going to quit my church because of everything they do.”

Carl said the Presbyterian beliefs are what she believes, even though she doesn’t agree with every action taken by the church. She will remain loyal to the church.

“There will still be a First Presbyterian Church in Enid. It may be small, but there will be one,” she said. “Those 69 of us will still attend the First Presbyterian Church.”

Carl said those who voted against leaving Presbyterian Church U.S.A. have not had an opportunity to discuss what everyone is thinking, but she looks forward to that in the near future. She said it is like a marriage, there are always bumps in the road, but bumps that must be worked through.