A Summit County Common Pleas Court judge has upheld a magistrate's ruling that the property at Hudson Presbyterian Church belongs to the faction of the congregation that voted to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

But the legal dispute may not be over.

The Rev. Dan Schomer, who heads Eastminster Presbytery, said Thursday that he will ask the local governing body of the denomination to appeal the decision by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Mary F. Spicer.

''Eastminster Presbytery has already determined that those church members loyal to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) should be the worshipping community that meets in the church facility,'' said Schomer, who expressed disappointment in the judge's decision.

The presbytery, based in Mineral Ridge, had argued that all property of the church is held in trust for the denomination as outlined in its constitution. It contends that the property belongs to the minority group of the Hudson church that has continued with the denomination. The presbytery is made up of 55 churches in Summit, Portage, Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

In October, a magistrate in Summit County Common Pleas Court ruled that the Hudson Presbyterian Church property at 201 W. Streetsboro St. belongs to the faction of the congregation that voted 166-61 to leave the denomination. Last Friday, Spicer upheld that ruling.

''We are obviously very pleased with the decision and we are just pressing ahead,'' said the Rev. D. Wayne Bogue, senior pastor at the church. ''There is nothing for us to do but continue our ministry and mission.''

Bogue has pastored the church for more than 10 years. His congregation, like more than 50 others that have left the mainline denomination since its national assembly in 2006, cite theological differences as points of contention.

Since leaving the denomination, the Hudson congregation has been worshipping at the church property, which is at the center of the legal battle. Bogue's congregation is currently affiliated with the New Wineskins Association of Churches. The New Wineskins is an organization within the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, a conservative denomination that is accepting churches that are leaving the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.

The minority group that stayed with the denomination ordained a new pastor last month and is worshipping at the historic Church on the Green in Hudson.

Earlier this month, the local presbytery reached an agreement with Stow Presbyterian Church that allowed the Stow congregation, which voted to leave the denomination in October 2006, to keep the church property. At that time, Schomer said the primary reason the presbytery did not seek legal action against the Stow church is because it contained no loyal faction to the PCUSA.

The denomination, based in Louisville, Ky., claims 2.3 million members and more than 10,000 congregations.

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