Lancaster Presbyterian Church and the Presbytery
of Western New York wait for property decision
By Deborah A. Hills, The Layman, August 22, 2008
Historic Lancaster Presbyterian Church (USA) in Lancaster, N.Y., has left the denomination to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and is awaiting a decision on whether it can take its church property.
The Presbytery of Western New York maintains that the church has “responsibilities to the presbytery” that must be resolved before the church can completely sever its ties with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and take its property with it to the EPC.
The case is in the hands of the State Supreme Court awaiting a judge’s decision. Neither party has any definite indication of when that decision will come, but both believe it could come in the next few weeks.
On June 15, the Lancaster congregation voted 243-0, out of a membership of 531, to withdraw from the PCUSA and join the EPC. On June 16, the church filed for a temporary restraining order to protect the property from any claims or interference by the presbytery. It also asked the court to determine who is the rightful owner of the property.
Members of the congregation knew they could face repercussions when they voted to separate from the PCUSA. But as the congregation that drew up “The Lancaster Affirmation” in 1998, declaring their resolve to uphold the confessions of the church, a break may have been inevitable. The decisions of the 217th General Assembly in 2006 (including the PUP report and the Trinity paper) were the final straw. Lancaster’s pastor, the Reverend Kelly Negus, said he understands the conflict, since no one wants to lose such an historic church, but “we will not be held hostage by our property.”
Organized in 1818, the church became the first in the village to have an actual house of worship in 1832. That building is still standing, but underwent a $1 million expansion and renovation in 2002. It is still the only Presbyterian church in a town of 40,000.
According to Negus, the church’s leaders have tried to keep open the channels of cooperation with the presbytery from the beginning. However, he said he believed that it is pointless to negotiate with the presbytery when, in the long run, the national governing body might enter into the discussions and impose another outcome.
Donald Houck Jr., moderator of the Presbytery of Western New York, said he is “surprised, puzzled and hurt” by Lancaster’s actions. The presbytery formed an administrative commission to seek an amicable resolution to the conflict, he said.
Houck said that if Lancaster no longer wants to be connected to the presbytery and the PCUSA, it brings great sadness, but the presbytery doesn’t want to keep them in a place they don’t want to be. He added, “We have said to them, ‘We don’t want your property.'”
Meanwhile, there’s nothing either party can do now except wait for the judge’s decision to make the separation complete. The parties are officially divorced-the only question is, who retains the property?