Acrimony at troubled St. Mark's Church is set to continue after the much-maligned vicar refused - yet again - to resign his position last night.

Members of the vestry met with Rev. William Hayward yesterday and asked him once more to give up the Smith's Ministry in a bid to quell falling congregation numbers and rising debts.

They said the AGM was to be held on May 18 and they wished to have the issues with Rev. Hayward dealt with before then, so they could elect a new vestry and move forward.

However, with the minister's refusal to stand down last night, some vestry members said the church could experience difficulties in getting a new vestry elected at all.

Senior warden and vestry member William Zuill Senior said the two-hour meeting became very heated at times as the reverend refused to budge on the subject.

"The rector has not resigned," he said.

"He was asked to by the vestry, as he has been before, but again he refused. We were all unhappy."

Mr. Zuill said since the church's AGM last September, when Bishop of Bermuda, The Rt. Rev. Ewen Ratteray said the pastor could stay with the understanding that a review committee would monitor his progress, there had been little change.

He added: "I think there has been some improvement, but not what we were hoping for. Since the AGM, things have not got really any better. They were at a pretty low ebb when we (the new vestry) came on board, and they remain there."

Vestry member Keith Hollis said he was at the meeting last night and said members felt "a little crest fallen" after Rev. Hayward refused to resign.

He said: "I think what Rev. Hayward said, in so many words, was that he thought he should go from St. Mark's, but that he was waiting for the Bishop to give him a new position.

"He's not prepared to go, or move, or do anything until the Bishop tells him what's next. I guess there is a lot of sympathy for that, but our feeling is what are we going to do about St. Mark's because that's our responsibility.

"We have an AGM on May 18 and we would like to have this matter solved prior to that so we can move forward. We were feeling a little crest fallen because we had hoped this would be it. We just hoped that we had reached the final point."

The row at St. Mark's has rumbled on for more than three years with members of the congregation claiming they did not like the pastor's style.

Church numbers have steadily dwindled after people complained that Rev. Hayward's sermons were uninspiring, and that he was regularly late for mass.

They also alleged that he had no ability to deal with the church's mounting debts, and said they would prefer a rector who was married, rather than single.

Last night, Mr. Hollis described the financial situation as "grim" and said, if anything, it had got worse since September.

"It's not a pleasant picture," said Mr. Hollis.

"We have an outstanding debt of $200,000 with the bank, but, in addition to that, we are finding it very difficult to get the monthly income equal to the monthly expenses."

Last night, The Royal Gazette was unable to reach Rev. Hayward or Bishop Ratteray for comment.

However, Mr. Zuill said he was in regular discussion with the Bishop.

At the AGM last May, church members refused to put themselves forward for a sufficient vestry to be formed, so Rev. Hayward had to run the Anglican church on his own.

A vestry of seven members was finally formed at the re-scheduled AGM in September, when Bishop Ratteray appealed to church members o pull together to support their rector.

He said he was adamant that a solution would be found and said he had been very unhappy about the acrimony in the church.

He said the future of the church was at stake, and while allowing Rev. Hayward to stay on, he said a review committee was in place to monitor his progress and set minimal standards of the pastor.