The parish, which plans to hold a service as early as this Sunday, has now divorced itself from the Albany Presbytery and has joined with the Ecumenical Presbytery effective Tuesday, said Dombroski. (Ed: presumably the EPC)

As a copy of the deed to the Jermain Memorial Presbyterian Church property was hung by a man dressed in monk robes to represent 16th century religious activist Martin Luther, the small but potent parish cheered and solidified victory in their fight for religious freedom.

But, according to the Albany Presbytery, the celebration might have been a bit premature.

The parish has been locked out of the church since May when the Presbytery changed the locks and padlocked the building as part of its plan to shutter the church because of declining membership, it said.

One long-time parishioner pointed out, however, that the Presbytery’s national organization had been making similar closures throughout the country with at least one thing in common — the churches all had a substantial endowment, said Ed Dombroski noting several pending court cases nationwide on the matter.

In the case of the church at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Sixth Street the endowment is at least $169,000, according to records.

The Presbytery denied the accusation, said General Presbyter Cass Shaw.

“There’s several hundreds of thousands of dollars. The members of this church go back more than 100 years and we have never given up. And, today, we did not close a church, we opened a church,” Dombroski said referencing the endowment set up in the late 19th century by a founder of the church, James B. Jermain, with a $100,000 deposit to ensure public worship at the site.

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