FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Lawyers for a church ousted by United Methodists argued that property ownership should remain with the congregation, despite a "trust clause" in the denomination's Book of Discipline stating otherwise.

According to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, the Alaska Missionary Conference of the United Methodist Church contends the property, valued at about $500,000, should be turned over to the conference, as stipulated under the trust clause St. Paul Church agreed to when it came under the UMC umbrella in 1984.

Conference lawyers filed a lawsuit in September 2002 seeking to take ownership from church members still using the property. The church was ousted from the conference in May 2002 for allegedly not following United Methodist rules and regulations.

St. Paul lawyers argued that Superior Court Judge Richard Savell should not consider the Book of Discipline because doing so would violate the separation of church and state mandate in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

"The Book of Discipline itself is wrapped in theology," said St. Paul attorney John Burns. "The Book of Discipline has not, nor has the United Methodist Church, ever asserted that it is a secular contract. It is an ecclesiastical document."

Conference lawyers countered that the Book of Discipline, even though based on religious principles, is the equivalent of a binding contract under state law that should be enforced.

"Everybody in this lawsuit agreed that that's the rules they're going to play by," said conference attorney Joseph Sheehan.