PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh religious group has voted to end a yearlong moratorium on shale gas development on church property, which could clear the way for construction of a gas pipeline.

The decision was made earlier this month by about 230 voting members of the Pittsburgh Presbytery, a Pittsburgh newspaper reported Wednesday. About one-third of the Presbytery voted to renew the moratorium.

Sheldon Sorge, general minister to the Pittsburgh Presbytery, acknowledged the division within the Presbytery on the moratorium and the pipeline, but he said the churches maintain a strong environmental commitment. The Presbytery represents the region’s 150 Presbyterian churches.

The Presbytery also voted to allow negotiations with Shell Oil and Gas Co. for a gas pipeline across an undeveloped corner of the 226-acre Crestfield camp near Slippery Rock.

The camp depends on funding from member churches, but its operating budget for this summer was all but eliminated due to budgetary constraints. Most of the revenue from a pipeline lease would go to the camp.