CINCINNATI (AP) — Sharon McLeod feels unwanted by the church that kicked out the minister who married her and her lesbian partner.

“I’m a lifelong Presbyterian but I feel like I’m in exile,” said McLeod, 51.

In contrast, Meghan Kaskoun believes that sticking with Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church is the way to produce social changes.

“I know this church will back the fight to get the whole denomination to honor and value diversity,” she said.

Mount Auburn, which 12 years ago affirmed the rights of gays and lesbians to membership and leadership roles, now is divided over the loss of its pastor for defying an order from the Presbyterian Church (USA) against marrying same-sex couples.

The Rev. Stephen Van Kuiken, a minister for 19 years, was removed in June as a pastor in the 2.5 million-member denomination.

“As far as I’m concerned, that action made it clear that the Presbyterian Church considers homosexuals second-class citizens,” said McLeod’s partner, Dea Jones, 47, who left the Roman Catholic Church mainly because it did not accept her homosexuality. “I can’t stay in a church where my partner and I cannot worship as a couple or in a congregation that does not stand up for its beliefs.”

At least 10 of Mount Auburn’s 250-member congregation had formally left the church by September, and more resignations or requests for inactive status were expected. As many as 40 people were attending Sunday services in homes and other churches.

“It has been a very difficult time, and each of us has to make our own journey out of the grief and turmoil,” said Van Ackerman, a 44-year-old gay elder who chose to remain.

“I think we need to do as much as we can to stay within the larger church without compromising our core values,” he said. “Our goal is to work within the system for change.”

Mount Auburn, which was founded in 1868, adopted a policy of inclusion in 1991. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people now make up about a third of the congregation.

The denomination’s highest court ruled in 2000 that ministers may bless same-sex unions but cannot marry the couples. The denomination follows the biblical interpretation that marriage can be a covenant only between a man and a woman.

“My initial reaction at Steve’s ouster was: ‘Who needs the Presbyterian Church?’” said Kaskoun, 34. Her marriage in May to partner Melinda Tarter sparked the removal vote by the Cincinnati Presbytery — a cluster of churches.

“But then I realized that walking away is not the way you make a change in social justice.”

Others are looking for a new religious base.

Erna Olafson, a heterosexual mother of three, had attended Mount Auburn for seven years. She now goes to the home services.

“Our idea initially was just to take care of each other and pray,” said Olafson, 65. “I don’t know how long this will last or whether it will lead to formation of a separate church, but it has been one of the most meaningful things I have ever been part of.”

Pat Timm, who began attending Mount Auburn in 1980 with her husband and three daughters, is staying.

“It’s not like we got caught in a web and can’t move forward,” she said. “We will continue by relying on our leadership and our diverse membership.”

Yvette Dalton, acting head of staff of the Cincinnati Presbytery, said there is always sadness when members leave a church, but she is optimistic about Mount Auburn’s future.

“We have an administrative committee working with Mount Auburn and some very faithful people there who are working to keep the church moving forward,” she said.

Guest ministers are leading Sunday services until an interim pastor can be appointed while Mount Auburn searches for Van Kuiken’s successor.

Church elders say the new minister must honor the tradition of diversity and inclusion, but they are still reviewing the church’s policy on marriages of same-sex couples.

The Rev. Mark Tammen, director of constitutional services at the denomination’s Louisville, Ky., headquarters, said the Presbyterian Church is open to all people, but that it is necessary to abide by the constitution.

“You don’t have to like everything about it (the constitution) ... God knows, we change ours often enough,” he said.

David Neff, editor of Christianity Today magazine, said church divisions are not unusual and often lead to the formation of stronger and more dynamic churches.

“When congregations split, it can be very painful at the time, but often the new congregations that are formed — both in the existing church and the one formed by those who have left — have a kind of zeal and energy that attracts others,” he said. “There is often a stronger sense of commitment once the sense of hurt and controversy dies down.”

A United Methodist pastor, Jimmy Creech, was removed from his church in Omaha, Neb., after being acquitted in 1998 of breaking Methodist law by marrying a lesbian couple. About 300 conservative members of the 1,900-member congregation left to form another church, but First United Methodist Church has maintained a strong congregation of about 700 people.

Van Kuiken has won a stay of his ouster during his appeal but acknowledges that his chances of winning are slim.

“Being a pastor is part of who I am,” said Van Kuiken, a married heterosexual. “I just have to figure out where to do it if I cannot be who I am in the Presbyterian Church.