N.Y. judge rules church separating from PCUSA can keep its property
By John H. Adams
The Layman Online
Thursday, August 24, 2006

A state judge in New York's Supreme Court system has ruled that the Hudson River Presbytery has no claim to the property of the now independent Church of Ridgebury.

The decision was a big, if temporary, victory for a tiny congregation – membership 29 at the end of 1995, according to PCUSA records – that voted unanimously on Jan. 10, 2005, to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The leaders of the congregation announced their departure by warning that any attempt by the presbytery or the denomination to claim the church's property "will be deemed slander of title, compensable by damages, and any entry onto Ridgebury Church property by any officer and/or agent of the Presbytery of Hudson River shall be deemed criminal trespass." the rest