Like other divorces, though, this one's going to court. And nervous officials from every mainline Protestant denomination in New York will be watching to see what the state Supreme Court in Orange County decides. At a time when churches across the country are threatening to cut denominational ties over ideological differences, especially in regard to homosexuality, the question of who owns church property may have vast religious and financial ramifications.

"We are first and foremost saddened, because we all hurt when one church wants to leave the body, but the implications are far greater than that," said Harriet Sandmeier, stated clerk of the Hudson River Presbytery, a regional body of the denomination that is suing the Ridgebury church to keep it from taking its property.

The presbytery includes 92 churches in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and four northern counties.

"This could be a landmark decision regarding the integrity of our constitution," Sandmeier said.

At issue is a clause in Presbyterian Church (USA)'s constitution, its Book of Order, that says all church property is held in trust for the denomination. Most denominations have a similar rule to prevent churches from skipping out when they please and causing denominational chaos.

These days, more and more churches with conservative or orthodox bents are looking to leave mainline Protestant denominations as internal conflicts grow over ordaining gay clergy and blessing gay couples. Last month, in a ruling that has provoked much talk across the country, a California judge said the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles could not confiscate the property of a congregation that left to protest the consecration of a gay Episcopal bishop.

Still, church property cases are hard to predict. They are handled differently state by state, depending on each state's statutes and the particulars of a case, said Valerie Munson, who leads the religion and law practice at the Pittsburgh-based law firm Eckert Seamans.

"These cases can be so different because the courts have to look at all the church documents and applicable law," said Munson, a Presbyterian who studied church property disputes at Princeton. "It's generally not in anyone's best interest for churches to be paying lawyers. I don't think anyone believes that these cases make good witness or glorify God."

In any case, the First Presbyterian Church of Ridgebury - which now calls itself The Church at Ridgebury - is contending that it does not recognize Presbyterian Church (USA)'s property trust clause. If the courts decide that the Ridgebury church is correct, other churches may feel emboldened to take the same stand.

The Ridgebury church was part of the United Presbyterian Church in the USA when that denomination adopted a property-trust clause in 1981. Two years later, the denomination merged with another to form Presbyterian Church (USA), which immediately included a similar clause in its Book of Order.

The Rev. Stanley Wayne, interim pastor of the Ridgebury church, said the congregation never consented to the clause. He said the congregation could not be forced to stay in Presbyterian Church (USA), or to give up its property, because it no longer believed in what the denomination represents.

"This congregation is over 200 years old," said Wayne, who has pastored Baptist and Assemblies of God congregations. "I would imagine we once believed the same things as the denomination. But they've left the Presbyterian faith, supporting Palestinian causes, welcoming gay people to the ministry. We feel the denomination has hurt us, and our membership will grow when we've broken free."

The question of whether to ordain gay clergy has divided the denomination for years. A denominational task force recently recommended that it be left to presbyteries and churches to decide how to apply church law when ordaining clergy.

The Ridgebury church's lawyer, Don Nichol, said the congregation's decision to leave is a religious matter.

"There is nothing the court can do unless it says the property-trust provision supersedes scripture," he said.

But the presbytery's lawyer, Frank Patton Jr., said the Ridgebury church could not simply ignore its history of Presbyterian membership and involvement.

"Ridgebury participated in the process when the trust clause was adopted and has vigorously participated in presbytery activities ever since," Patton said. "There were occasions where the church wanted to dispose of real property and, in accordance with the Book of Order, went to the presbytery to get permission. There is no legal basis to say, 'Gee whiz, we never agreed to that.' "

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