A holy war broke out yesterday as Methodist officials repossessed a church in the middle of a service.

Churchgoers at Grace Methodist Church on North Shore Road in Pembroke were caught in a religious tug-of-war as rival factions staged separate services -- at the same time.

On one side were husband-and-wife lay ministers Willard and Gwenneth Lightbourne and on the other was the Synod of the Methodist Church of Bermuda.

The 11.15 a.m. service saw two ministers, each armed with their own programmes and pianist, compete for the congregation's attention.

The move came as a result of a three-year split between the mainstream Methodist Church of Bermuda and the congregation at Grace Methodist Church over the Methodists' affiliation with the United Church of Canada.

The congregation opposes the United Church's policy of ordaining homosexuals.

And some churchgoers claimed a 1930 synod meeting gave Grace Church the power to run its own affairs.

Mr. Lightbourne told The Royal Gazette yesterday that as far as he and others were concerned the Synod still had not managed to take control of the Church.

Mr. Lightbourne said the congregation, without any warning, received a letter from the Rev. Victor Macleod, of Ebenezer Church in St. George's, insisting that he was the superintendent of the church.

The letter also said the Synod was taking over the church and a minister from Canada was coming to preach at the Church for the months of July and August.

Mr. Lightbourne said: "There was no consultation with the congregation. The congregation doesn't want to be dictated to.'' He added the parishioners did not want and would not accept the new minister.

"Personally I don't want to be a minister,'' he said. "The people asked me to stay and voted 17 to three in favour of it.'' A lay minister was adopted by the 35 to 40 strong church because it could not afford a full-time minister.

Mr. Lightbourne pointed out that in the three years of lay ministering, the church has seen $40,000 worth of renovations completed and an increase in the congregation.

He added that in June, 1995 the congregation gave the synod a year's notice that they would be severing ties with United Church of Canada over its policy regarding gays in the church.

"Cobbs Hill and Somerset voted to leave as well and they are not being harassed,'' he said. "All three should be treated the same.'' Mr. Lightbourne said ownership of the church was a legal issue and should be handled by the courts.

One member of the Synod, who did not want to be identified, maintained that the Synod had the authority to take over the church.

"We believe a minister should be ordained, be able to perform marriages, christenings and perform communions,'' she explained. "Mr. Lightbourne can't.

Synod tries to return to Grace "We sent letters to him and he wouldn't meet with us,'' she said. "He can minister if he likes but not in the Methodist Church.'' She admitted that the last three years had been difficult for the Methodist Church but hoped that the arrival of the Rev. Leicester Bigby from Canada would calm things down.

Dr. Bigby, who was born in Jamaica, arrives in Bermuda on Wednesday and is scheduled to conduct his first service on Sunday.

The synod member said those members of the Church who wished to leave the Church because of the Synod's actions were "welcome to do so''. But she insisted: "This building is to be used as a Methodist Church -- and it will be.''