Fourth Presbyterian Church, a tiny congregation in Friendship, has voted to ask Pittsburgh Presbytery for permission to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) for the more theologically conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

It is the third congregation in the presbytery to do so, and among at least 36 of the denomination's 10,000 congregations to do so in the past two years. Leaders of the departing congregations believe that the Presbyterian Church (USA) tolerates dissent on core doctrinal issues, such as salvation through Christ alone, and that it is moving away from commitment to traditional Christian sexual ethics.

Sunday's vote to leave was 27-2 at Fourth Presbyterian, which has about 40 members. Unlike most of the other churches that have followed this path, it has not formally asked to keep its property. Also, Fourth's pastor, the Rev. David Schrader, has said he intends to stay with the Presbyterian Church (USA) rather than leave with his congregation.

"We've been working in good faith with the presbytery, and have confidence that we will reach consensus on all of the relevant factors, including the property," said Carl Schartner, an elder at Fourth. He declined to answer further questions, saying that he wanted presbytery officials to speak on the church's behalf.

The Rev. Doug Portz, acting pastor to Pittsburgh Presbytery, said that leaders of Fourth had been talking with a presbytery task group for about six months. A proposal for departure will be worked out and voted on at a future presbytery meeting.

Neither Dr. Portz nor Mr. Schartner would elaborate on why the congregation didn't ask for its property.

"They do not wish to make the property an issue," Dr. Portz said. "We will talk about what will be a reasonable thing to do, given the size of the property and the assets. The presbytery will talk about what to do with that property to make it honoring to Christ."

Last year, Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church in Mt. Lebanon was allowed to take its property into the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, after agreeing to make a $250,000 "mission gift" to Pittsburgh Presbytery. Similar negotiations with Memorial Park Presbyterian Church in McCandless broke down last month, with the congregation suing for its property. However, a settlement is said to be near in that case. A dispute in Washington Presbytery over the property of Peters Creek Presbyterian Church has gone to civil court.