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Bell, who had been the pastor of Mizpah Moravian Church in Rural Hall for almost a year and a half, resigned his position. At the request of several Mizpah members, he said, he agreed to continue worshiping with them in his home.

"They came and asked me," Bell said this week. "I would never go ask anybody to follow me. They said they were not able to stay where they were."

Bell and the small group soon began worshiping in the Grange Hall in Tobaccoville.

Several other Mizpah members followed them, and they formed a nondenominational congregation of about 40 members, Christ Covenant Church, that celebrated its first anniversary last fall.

Several miles away, Mizpah's remaining congregation of approximately 165 pushes on in the wake of the uneasy break between friends and family who had worshiped together for generations.

"I've been here all my life, and I just decided this is where I need to be," said Jane Hutchens, a Mizpah member who is 71. "If they wanted to leave, they can leave. I've got some good friends over there."

Congregational splits, not unusual in many denominations, are rare in the Southern Province of the Moravian Church, which is based here. But for the last few years, liberals and conservatives within the denomination have argued over whether Jesus is the only way to salvation. Mizpah, established in 1896, is the first church to split over that issue and related ones. "Of course I feel sadness," said the Rev. Bob Sawyer, who leads Moravians in the region.

"When fellowship is strained and broken, that's painful for any Christians," said Sawyer, the president of the Provincial Elders' Conference of the Southern Province.

The split is also sad, Sawyer said, because it takes energy away from the province's social outreach, evangelism and sense of mission. The split is not the beginning of a trend, he said, but the issues that were debated there have also been debated among other Moravians. Province officials have been talking with members of churches, he said, and that dialogue will continue.

"In addition to the ongoing listening and conversation, a March conference will focus on mission and outreach," Sawyer said.

Sawyer noted that he and other province officials have emphasized that Jesus is the only way to salvation. He and other province officials also talked to Bell, he said,

"We had extensive conversations about whether he could continue (at Mizpah)," Sawyer said. "We were very much hoping that he would be able to."

Bell said that province officials haven't backed their words on Christ's salvation with their actions.

He is 54. When he came to Mizpah in 2001, he said, he found conservatives who shared his frustration with the denomination.

Bell, the son of an U.S. Air Force sergeant, grew up all over the country and in Spain. After graduating from the University of West Florida, he laid brick for several years, then entered Duke University Divinity School, where he earned master's degrees in divinity and theology. He served as a Methodist minister in Florida, he said, but left that denomination because it didn't emphasize the authority of Scripture.

He and his wife, Lin, moved to Sanford to be near family, he said, and he went back to laying brick before entering Moravian ministry.

"I laid brick for six years, just praying and listening for a new call from the Lord," Bell said. "I very much appreciated the history and legacy of the early Moravian Church, their mission emphasis and their whole emphasis on Jesus Christ."

Bell soon found that emphasis was changing for some Moravians. Soon after he arrived at Mizpah, the Rev. Truman Dunn of Messiah Moravian Church in Winston-Salem said and wrote that Jesus is not the only way to salvation. His statement divided many Moravians, who had also argued over issues of homosexuality.

Bell said that he wanted the denomination leaders to say firmly that Dunn was wrong. As a pastor who had transferred from another denomination, Bell said, he and denomination leaders had been waiting to make sure that he, his congregation, and the denomination fit.

"But in the midst of these situations, I recognized that I could not hear a call when the person of Jesus Christ is in doubt, and also the authority of Scripture is doubted, so therefore I submitted my resignation," Bell said.

Other conservatives were pushing for the denomination to take a firmer stand as well, although none took the measure that Bell did. The Provincial Elders' Conference heard their concerns, and Sawyer responded last winter.

"There is a broad and wide consensus across this province that Jesus Christ is Lord, and salvation is through him alone," he said then. He and other Moravian leaders noted that their denomination's statement of faith has always affirmed that Jesus is the only way.

For some Moravians, it was too little too late.

Last spring, the elders' conference decided to let Dunn stay at Messiah, saying that after a year in dialogue with church leaders he "affirmed his belief in Jesus." That decision further angered conservatives. By then, more Mizpah members had gone to Christ Covenant.

"It was a difficult time," said Mike Long, a fourth-generation Mizpah member who had spent all of his 51 years in the congregation. "I still love Mizpah Moravian Church to death. But I felt like to grow, I needed to move on," said Long, an elder at Christ Covenant.

Several of those who stayed at Mizpah said they are troubled that their denomination has not stood firmly enough for conservative principles.

"I just decided that maybe I need to stay, and hopefully the Moravian Church can straighten itself out," said Ruth Robertson, a Mizpah member.

Mizpah members and members of Christ Covenant say that they're not upset with each other and visit each other's churches. Long's mother, Doris Williams, joined Christ Covenant, but still feels tied to Mizpah.

"Both churches mean a lot to me, but at the new church, all my family is attending there, and I felt like I should be with them," she said. "But yet I wanted to be at Mizpah, too, so I still visit."

The Rev. Jonathan Boling, who became the Mizpah pastor Sunday, declined to comment for this story.

Other Moravians have watched the situation between Mizpah and Christ Covenant.

"I like Luke as a brother a lot," said the Rev. Kevin Frack, a conservative and the pastor of Ardmore Moravian Church in Winston-Salem. "I think he has a good heart."

Frack said of the formation of Bell's church: "This has been a hard year and a half, and you can understand some of the reasons."

Bell said that his congregation now rents its space at Grange Hall and may one day consider buying land for its own church building. He hopes for the best for the Moravian denomination, he said.

"I certainly pray that everything works out for Moravians ... that there can be a scriptural restoration and a peace restored."

Sawyer said that the province has for 250 years "lived and served under Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. "We continue to submit humbly to that leadership and to Christ's call to love one another and to witness and serve."