Justice Jane Milanetti ruled in Hamilton, Ontario, she couldn't make an immediate decision Thursday on the dispute between the Anglican Diocese of Niagara and the congregations in Oakville, Lowville and St. Catharines.

Earlier this year, the three groups voted to join with the conservative South American Province of the Southern Cone Anglican division in protest of the Canadian church's decision to support same-sex marriages.

The Anglican Diocese of Niagara sought to have cost of the churches' upkeep split until the question of final ownership was settled, although sources told The Toronto Star that could take as long as a decade.

Prior to the hearing, local church officials had made alternate arrangements to celebrate Christianity's holiest weekend at an old schoolhouse and movie theater, the report said.