A Peters congregation that felt Washington Presbytery had balked at its request to join a more conservative Presbyterian denomination voted yesterday to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) without presbytery approval, and to immediately affiliate with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

The vote at Peters Creek Presbyterian Church was 207-26 with five abstentions. According to Peters Creek leaders, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church had already approved its request to affiliate, so people left the 11 a.m. service as members of the smaller, more conservative denomination.

The Rev. L. Rus Howard, pastor of Peters Creek, said during the service that this would put the matter of who owns the property into the civil courts, but he believed they would be more fair and impartial than Washington Presbytery.

"I'm very grateful" for the vote, he said afterward. "This has been a long struggle, but we did it as a matter of faith. We ... believe this honors God and lets us get on with our mission."

Peters Creek is part of the New Wineskins Association of Churches, congregations that believe the Presbyterian Church (USA) tolerates dissent from biblical authority and classic doctrines such as salvation through Christ alone.

Church law says that property belongs to the denomination. But it gives presbyteries the option of dismissing a congregation to another Presbyterian denomination with some or all of its property, so some New Wineskins churches are seeking to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, which is recognized by the Presbyterian Church (USA).

In Pittsburgh Presbytery, Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church has already done this and Memorial Park Presbyterian Church in McCandless is negotiating with the presbytery to do so.

On Sept. 9, Peters Creek voted 273-86 to ask Washington Presbytery to dismiss it to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Leaders of Peters Creek said they believed the presbytery was using delaying tactics to keep them in the denomination, and called for yesterday's vote to leave immediately.

The Rev. David Bleivik, executive presbyter of Washington Presbytery, said that church law left the presbytery no choice about considering the petitions of the minority, who he said had been "rather poorly treated" by the congregational leadership.

"It would be unfair not to provide for these people, many of whom built the existing church," he said.

In yesterday's action, "I'm confident that the dissident faction that left to join the EPC has done so and that they have disavowed their role in the Presbyterian Church," he said. "The property and assets are yet to be decided."

Both the Rev. Belivik and the Rev. Howard expressed a desire to settle without a civil trial.

"If it went to court, I have no doubt that the presbytery would win the legal action, but we are not seeking to win a legal action. We want to do what is fair for everybody," the Rev. Bleivik said.

The Rev. Howard said that he and his lay governing board were willing to talk.

"I'm hopeful and prayerful that Washington Presbytery, instead of going through the legal process, will sit down and work out the issues. ... It can happen if all parties are willing, and I am willing," he said.

In his sermon before the vote, the Rev. Howard said that he wanted to reconcile with the minority and had continued to provide pastoral care to them. He said that, although he initially opposed their request to hold a separate church service at Peters Creek, he later concluded that it was biblical to let them worship in their own way, but that they rejected his offer to share the church building.

One minority member spoke in opposition to the vote. Jim Simpson, who said he had been an elder and adult Sunday school teacher for more than 40 years, accused the Rev. Howard and the lay leadership of "untruths." The offer to share the building, he said, was contingent on concessions by the minority.

Afterward, longtime member Don Dukstein said he had opposed the move but would remain a member.

"No matter what they vote, it's not going to change my Christianity one way or the other," he said.

A former minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and his wife said they joined Peters Creek one month ago precisely because they wanted to be part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Brent and Carol Mock of Scott work full time in marriage education and left the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 2001. Now, he said, he wants to apply for clergy credentials with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

"The EPC more reflects the history and traditions of the Presbyterian Church than does the PC(USA), although there are a lot of good people and good churches in the PC(USA)," he said.