Court of Appeals may hear case of Lancaster church vs. presbytery
Published: December 21, 2009, 12:30 am
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A Lancaster congregation at odds with its former denominational body over who owns church property is continuing to press its case in the New York court system.
Lancaster Presbyterian Church expects to take its arguments to the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, after its appeal to the Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department, was denied in November.
The congregation has been locked in a court battle with the Presbytery of Western New York since the church broke away from the denomination in 2008.
The congregation wants to keep its historic worship space at Lake Avenue and Broadway, while the local presbytery and the national church governing body maintain that the property should be turned over to the denomination.
The case is being hotly contested in court because it has the potential to set precedence for other property skirmishes between denominations and individual congregations.
The two sides also are continuing to try to negotiate a settlement outside of court.
“We’re in a holding pattern,” said Donald L. Houck Jr., presbytery moderator, who is not part of the negotiating team. “They’re all good people trying to work things out, but there’s the court case looming.”
Presbytery leaders said they were “saddened at the significant time and treasure both sides spent over the past 19 months in the civil courts.”
Congregational leaders and representatives of the presbytery have met at least four times, and the church made an offer to settle the case in September.
The presbytery countered with its own financial offer, which the church’s governing body, called a session, rejected. Terms of the offers were not disclosed.
Lancaster Presbyterian had been at odds with the national church and the local presbytery for years, particularly over the issue of whether gay men and women can be ordained as ministers.
Church members voted, 243-0, to withdraw from the Presbyterian Church USA in 2008 and to affiliate with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, which leans in a more conservative direction on social issues and adheres to an interpretation of the Bible as infallible.
The Federal-style church building, which was expanded and renovated in 2002 at a cost of $1 million, originally was constructed in 1832 and is the second-oldest sanctuary in Erie County.
The property is appraised at about $3 million. The congregation wants to continue worshipping there, but presbytery leaders said it would be poor stewardship and set a bad precedent to simply let the property go with no compensation.
“Quite frankly, Lancaster [Presbyterian] has not given their per capita [share] for a number of years. That becomes problematic; it becomes a hard sell for other people in the presbytery,” said Houck.
The Rev. Kelly Negus, pastor of Lancaster Presbyterian, said the congregation was united in its efforts to continue litigation, while also trusting in God no matter what happens in court.
“No one would be excited about the prospect of losing their home. No one would be excited about the prospect of losing their church campus,” he said.
e-mail: jtokasz@buffnews.com
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