Diocese vote signals break with Episcopals

FRESNO, Calif. – In a public rebuke of the Episcopal Church, a conservative diocese voted Saturday to affirm its membership in the worldwide Anglican Communion after distancing itself from the national church over the ordination of gays and women.

San Joaquin Bishop John-David Schofield called it a first step toward a formal break with the U.S. Anglican denomination, though the proposal makes just minor changes to the diocese’s status.

Delegates also approved re-writing the Diocese of San Joaquin’s constitution to bring its trust fund under the bishop’s control, a move immediately questioned by Episcopal leaders.

The denomination’s canons don’t give local dioceses sole ownership of church property, said Robert Williams, a spokesman for the Episcopal Church.

Divisions erupted in 2003 when the Episcopal Church, the U.S. wing of the 77 million-member Anglican family, consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, of New Hampshire. Traditionalists contend that gay partnerships violate Scripture.

Schofield, who refuses to ordain women and gays, has publicly accused the church’s first female leader, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, of promoting “heresy.” Under his leadership, the Fresno-based diocese has cut back funds sent to the national church and considered a plan to affiliate with an Anglican diocese in Argentina.