A Park Avenue church’s plan to generate revenue by renting out its social hall for lavish parties has angered its neighbors, who are seeking to get its liquor license and Department of Buildings permit overturned.

Neighbors expressed concerns about the Upper East Side church, Third Church of Christ Scientist on Park Avenue at East 63rd Street, at a meeting of Community Board 8 last night. Board members, expected to vote on a resolution overturning its earlier approval of a liquor license for the church, had not voted at press time.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, however, residents of buildings who oppose using the church for large, catered events, expressed concerns about increased traffic congestion, noise pollution, and security risks associated with parties for as many as 1,000 people. The party space has been billed as an exciting new space to hold upscale, catered events.

An attorney representing 570 and 580 Park avenues, Phyllis Weisberg, said the community also is concerned because the Department of Buildings usage permit applied for by the church “is not what it seems.” Reading a statement of intent she said was prepared by the catering group hired to run the events, the Rose Group Park Avenue, Ms. Weisberg said the catered parties would overshadow church functions. That situation cast legal aspersions on the permit obtained, which describes the catered events as ancillary, or as an “accessory” to church events, she said.

But in documents distributed at the meeting, the church sought to explain how and why playing host to outside events could yield funds to pay for necessary building repairs.

An attorney representing the church, Jay Segal, said the community’s concerns were “misplaced.” He rejected the argument that the catering company would dominate the building. “The church has control,” he said.

Church members speaking after him sought to echo his argument, and they displayed what they said was a typical calendar, which included three catered events a week.

The head of the Rose Group, Louis Rose, who church members said once managed Cipriani’s in Midtown, also defended the company’s intent. “We believe we are in accordance with the law,” he said. “We have not misrepresented our intention to anyone.”

Still, in a letter dated March 13, several elected officials asked the commissioner of the Department of Buildings, Patricia Lancaster, to reconsider the permit it issued in August 2006, which allows the church to rent out space for social functions. “We believe that the proposed use of the church is far beyond any reasonable ‘accessory’ use,” the letter, signed by state Senator Liz Krueger, Assemblyman Jonathan Bing, and City Council Member Daniel Garodnick, said.

Earlier yesterday, a spokeswoman for the Department of Buildings, Kate Lindquist, said, “In response to community concerns, we are reviewing the application.”