Episcopal diocese to vote on final split

The 9,000 strong Diocese of San Joaquin in the US will vote this week on whether or not to secede from the Episcopal Church.

The diocese consists of almost 50 churches and would be the first to leave the Episcopal Church over the divide caused by the liberal stance of the Episcopal Church on homosexuality.

The US Church and the Anglican Communion have been divided ever since the Episcopal Church consecrated the openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire in 2003.

Concerns over the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of homosexual bishops have not gone away, despite a pledge to "exercise restraint" by the Episcopal Church in autumn this year.

As many as 32 individual parishes have already left and another 23 have voted to leave the Episcopal Church as a result of its liberal pro-gay stance, but a whole diocese is yet to split from the Church.

The Dioceses of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Fort Worth have all taken preliminary votes to leave but any final decision is one year away.

According to Reuters, the Bishop of San Joaquin Diocese, John-David Scholfield said that leaving the Episcopal Church would be "a sensible way forward", but not one to be regarded as a permanent departure should "circumstances change and the Episcopal Church repents".

The diocese has been invited to place itself under the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of South America, led by Archbishop Gregory Venables of Argentina, part of the more conservative Global South movement in the Anglican Communion.

In a preliminary vote last year, the Diocese of San Joaquin voted overwhelmingly to leave the Episcopal Church. In order to leave, however, two votes a year apart are required.

According to Reuters, an organisation called "Remain Episcopal" is fighting against splitting from the Church and has said its members will stay and be recognised by the Episcopal Church should the bishop, clergy and other congregants leave.

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katherine Jefferts Schori, called upon Bishop Schofield to stay within the Church, saying, "The Church will never change if dissenters withdraw from the table," reports Reuters.

She also said she would initiate a process allowing her to "depose" the Bishop, declare the diocese vacant and form a new church leadership out of the remaining congregation and clergy, reports Reuters.

The Episcopal Church has also claimed that the church buildings used by exiting congregations belong to them, and that departing congregations will need to find new places to worship. The Episcopal Church is already engaged in legal battles over church property with congregations who have left.