"I know it's materialistic, but I hate to leave this place. I was baptized here. I got married here. My son was baptized here," said Masterson, 34, who named her baby girl Jillian Grace in honor of her beloved church. "It's sad. It's awful."

The church is trying to negotiate an exit from the diocese, said the Rev. Sam Pascoe, the church's rector for more than 20 years, a gregarious man known for his wit and down-to-earth nature. Whether it can be done without litigation remains a question, Pascoe said.

"It's a mess," said Pascoe, whose goals are to keep his staff and 1,400-member congregation intact and to maintain control of Grace's historic 4-acre campus on Kingsley Avenue. "The 500-pound gorilla in the middle of the room is the property."

Florida's Episcopal Bishop Samuel Johnson Howard, who is an attorney, said churches leaving the diocese must forfeit their property. The diocese holds all property deeds, according to church law.

Howard, in a letter published in the November issue of The Diocesan, the national church's Florida newsletter, said the church law is clear.

"I am pleased this is not a gray area to which any time need be devoted to argument," he wrote.

But Pascoe and 17 lawyers working pro bono to help Grace maintain its campus said Grace's members paid for all the buildings, which range from brand new structures to those more than 100 years old. The buildings include the 1880 chapel, the school, youth center, counseling center, the Waste Not Want Not building, an education center and the newly renovated 500-seat sanctuary on land-locked property.

If the diocese takes over the campus, it will also inherit Grace's parking problems, a $600,000 mortgage debt and huge maintenance bills, Pascoe said.

"What are they going to do with it?" Pascoe said.

Grace may try to purchase the property from the diocese. But members of Grace are split on that idea, because some believe the property is rightfully theirs, despite church law. Another option is relocation to a rented space. But lessors want to know how much space the church needs, for how long and at what price. Pascoe said church leaders can't answer all those questions yet. Other Grace members hope the Episcopal Church USA will implode on its own, and Grace will inherit the property.

Pascoe said the school likely will stay put and continue under diocesan rule because many agree it's best for students to maintain continuity with their education, he said.

About six months ago, some lay leaders from Grace, devoted to reformation, created New Grace Church, a non-profit corporation. This angered the bishop, who told Pascoe in a letter Nov. 15 that he did not approve. He asked Pascoe to cease and desist and renounce his orders and resign as rector of Grace.

But David Dearing, one of Grace's attorneys, fired a letter back dated Nov. 17, saying the bishop was breaching an agreement he had made earlier to withhold disciplinary action against clergy for departing the diocese.

Meanwhile, Grace's office staff members are transferring their computer files to disks and packing up stuff that could be seized by the diocese.

A letter from Grace's senior warden, Janie Simpson, posted in each building, says Grace officials will not hand over keys, passwords or anything else to diocesan officials without a court order.

Members are all grieving, Pascoe said, and he is too. But he's starting to regain a sense of peace because he expects the situation will be resolved within the next several months, somehow.

END