Bishop Thomas E. Breidenthal of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio announced at the 135th diocesean convention that he would lift the prohibition of same-sex unions in the church.

The diocese includes about 25,000 Episcopalians in more than 80 churches.

Right Rev. Breidenthal put conservatives at ease by assuring them that no priest will be required to perform the same-sex blessing.

The General Convention this past summer approved openly gay bishops to serve in the Episcopal church.

Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said in a telephone interview Friday evening that Archbishop Rowan Williams was already due to visit Rome for ceremonies at a pontifical university to honor a late cardinal who worked for Christian unity.

Taking advantage of the archbishop’s presence in Rome, Benedict will receive Williams on Nov. 21 at the Vatican.

The Vatican’s recent move to ease Anglican conversions came as some Anglicans are upset by their church’s allowing openly gay clergy and blessing same-sex unions.

The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from the St. James Anglican Church in the Diocese of Los Angeles. It is one of several dozen individual parishes and four dioceses nationwide that voted to split from the national church after the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop in New Hampshire.

California courts have ruled that, while St. James had the right to split off from the larger church, the congregation could not take parish property with it, even though the parish has held the deed to the church for decades.

The Episcopal Church has argued that its rules bar anyone from walking away with denomination property, which often includes large endowments and land worth millions of dollars. The conservatives who want to separate say they have spent years, even decades, spending money to maintain and improve the buildings.

St. James is now allied with an Anglican diocese in Uganda.

The case is St. James Parish v. Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, 08-1579.

But she may have to give up the bayside sanctuary, where sunlight filters through watery blue stained-glass windows and glints off the flawless copper pipes of an organ purchased with parishioners’ tithes.

Kear is among theologically conservative breakaway Episcopalians fighting over parish property in a long-running rift over how churchgoers should interpret what the Bible says about gay relationships and many other issues.

St. James Anglican, in the Diocese of Los Angeles, is one of several dozen individual parishes and four dioceses nationwide that voted to split from the national church after the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop in New Hampshire.

“It’s not just about the building, it’s about the church,” said Kear, 70, who participates in group prayers for the property even while she says the congregation could continue without it.

The congregation may have to do just that. State courts have sided with the Los Angeles diocese throughout the five-year legal case, most recently in January. St. James has filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes that it might take up what has so far been a losing battle. St. James expects to know next month whether the nation’s highest court will take the case.

Two other seceding parishes – All Saints Church in Long Beach and St. David’s Church in North Hollywood – are parties in the lawsuit. A high court decision could also affect the Fresno-based Diocese of San Joaquin, one of the dioceses that voted to split off and is now involved in a complex property dispute with the national church.

Both sides make similar claims to the individual properties beyond their legal positions. Each has strong emotional and spiritual ties to the parishes, and views its interpretation of Scripture as the right one. Traditional Episcopalians believe that the Bible bars gay relationships; liberal Episcopalians emphasize social justice teachings of Scripture.

The Episcopal Church has argued that its rules bar anyone from walking away with denomination property, which often includes large endowments and land worth millions of dollars. Theological conservatives who want to separate say they have spent years, even decades, spending money to maintain and improve the buildings.

The 2-million-member denomination also includes many parishioners who disagree on the issues, but don’t see the rift as a reason to leave. Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno issued a letter to the diocese’s parishioners urging reconciliation.

“The Episcopal Church continues its long tradition of welcoming among its members a diversity of opinion, including loyal dissent. Our church remains a large tent expansive enough to include many views and voices while united in common prayer,” he wrote. “I ask each of us to keep working for reconciliation and renewal within this diocese.”

But reconciliation is a long shot.

Committing to leave the Episcopal Church five years ago and risking litigation was a somber decision for the St. James parish, especially because ties to the buildings run deep.

Kear remembers an expansion project about eight years ago when parishioners wrote prayers on scraps of paper and set them in the cement of the new sanctuary’s foundation.

There was “really a feeling (we were) building the new building,” Kear said.

Chad Sutton, a member of St. James’ lay leadership committee, said it’s particularly painful to hand the property to leaders with such different theological views.

“The prayers that have gone on at that altar – it almost gives you goosebumps,” Sutton said. “The saints that have gone before us and surrendered their lives, confessed their sins there – that has some significance.”

St. James has aligned with the Anglican Church of North America, a network of seceding Episcopal parishes and other congregations that was formed by theological conservatives as a rival to the Episcopal Church. At recent Sunday services in Newport Beach, parishioners voiced prayers for “our legal situation.”

Beyond awaiting word from the U.S. Supreme Court, there is no timeline for when the separationist parishes might hand over the grounds.

Sutton hopes, at least, it can wait a few months.

He and his wife are expecting a baby, and he said he knows exactly where they would like to have the child christened.

The promotion of LGBT priests has been a huge source of controversy within the Episcopalian Church recently, but liberal branches are showing a heartening determination to press forward with equal treatment for promotion.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

The Rev. John L. Kirkley of San Francisco and the Rev. Mary Douglas Glasspool of Maryland will be among six candidates on the ballot when lay people and clergy vote in December, despite a long-standing request from world Anglican leaders for a moratorium on consecrating openly gay bishops.

Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno said in a statement Sunday that he was “pleased by the wide diversity” of the nominees. Separately, the Diocese of Minnesota on Saturday announced that a lesbian was among its three candidates for bishop. That election is set for October 31.

The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the United States.

The nominations were announced just over two weeks after the Episcopal General Convention voted to effectively drop a pledge that it would act with “restraint” when considering any more openly gay candidates for bishop.

“What happened really is we gave the green light for dioceses to do the right thing,” said the Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity USA, an Episcopal gay advocacy group.

Episcopalians caused an uproar in 2003 by consecrating the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Anglican leaders responded by asking the U.S. denomination for a temporary ban on consecrating any more gay bishops while they tried to reach a compromise that could keep the 77 million-member Anglican Communion unified.

No other bishop living openly with a same-sex partner has been consecrated since then.

Each Episcopal diocese elects local bishops. Church leaders must then signal their approval before the winner can be consecrated.

Rowan Williams wrote on his Web site Monday that there are “two styles of being Anglican” and that both sides should work together to maintain the church.

Williams is the Anglican spiritual leader. His comments are in response to a decision by U.S. Episcopalian church last week to authorize bishops to bless same-sex unions and research an official prayer for the ceremonies.

The Episcopal Church caused an uproar among some Anglicans in 2003 by consecrating the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Williams, has struggled since to keep the communion unified.

The Episcopal General Convention also underscored the church’s desire to remain a full member of the global Anglican Communion. But the actions at the national assembly are likely to damage the already strained relations within the fellowship.

Delegates voted earlier this week to effectively drop a pledge that they would act with “restraint” when considering any more openly gay candidates for bishop.

The Episcopal gay advocacy group Integrity said the church “turned an important corner” with the vote.

But the Rev. Dan Martins of the Dioces of Northern Indiana said he feared the measure would widen the rift with overseas Anglicans.

“On this day, my church is covering itself in shame, and I am profoundly sorry for it,” he said.

The Episcopal Church caused an uproar among Anglicans in 2003 by consecrating the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The Anglican spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, has struggled ever since to keep the communion unified.

Anglican leaders had pressed Episcopalians for a moratorium on electing more gay bishops, and asked the church not to develop an official prayer for same-gender couples.

But the measure adopted Friday noted the growing number of U.S. states that allow gay marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships, and gave bishops in those regions discretion to provide a “generous pastoral response” to couples in local parishes.

The resolution also authorized a church commission to “collect and develop theological resources and liturgies” for blessing same-gender relationships for consideration at the next national convention in 2012. Many dioceses already allow clergy to bless same-sex couples, but there is no liturgy for the ceremonies in the denomination’s Book of Prayer.

Williams attended the opening days of the convention and told delegates, “I hope and pray that there won’t be decisions in the coming days that could push us further apart.”

Back in England, he has said only that he regrets the convention’s decision to lift the de facto moratorium on gay bishops. The archbishop of Canterbury does not have the authority to force a compromise on the issue because each Anglican province is independently governed.

The 77 million-member communion is the third-largest grouping of churches worldwide, behind Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, head of the Episcopal Church, sent Williams a letter, released publicly Friday, saying that the actions of the convention were not meant to offend and did not mean that all – or any – diocese would necessarily consecrate a gay bishop.

“We remain keenly aware of the concerns and sensibilities of our brothers and sisters in other churches across the communion,” she wrote. “We believe also that the honesty reflected in this resolution is essential if we are to live into the deep communion that we all profess and earnestly desire.”

David Steinmetz, an expert in Christian history at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C., said Anglicanism has always accommodated different views, but “the question now is whether or not they can find enough things to agree about so they can still disagree about other things and stay in the family.”

Last month, breakaway Episcopal conservatives and other like-minded traditionalists formed a rival national province to the Episcopal Church called the Anglican Church in North America.

The new body includes four seceding Episcopal dioceses and is supported by several overseas Anglican leaders who have broken ties with the Episcopal Church.

Some traditional Episcopal bishops have stayed with the denomination, but many predicted the latest votes would break the Anglican fellowship. At the end of the convention, about 25 bishops with more conservative Bible views signed a statement that they “reaffirm our commitment to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of Christ as this church has received them.”

Delegates wrapped up the meeting with an emotional debate before over same-sex blessings, then sang “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” while the votes were counted.

The Rev. Ian Douglas, a scholar of Anglicanism at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., said he realized the resolution could “cause turmoil,” but he believed the church was “being faithful to God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.”

“Some will want to cast this decision as a choice between our faithfulness to God and our place in the Anglican Communion. But I will not join in,” he said. “I pray that our service to God’s mission of reconciliation will keep us together.”

George Wing, a theological conservative and delegate from the Diocese of Colorado, said he worries that the church’s liberal direction has caused active churchgoers to leave.

“The problem is, the most dedicated of the young people are evangelicals. They’re gone, and they’re not coming back,” Wing said.

The bishops voted 104-30 at the Episcopal General Convention to “collect and develop theological resources and liturgies” for blessing same-gender relationships, which would be considered at the next national meeting in 2012.

The resolution notes the growing number of states that allow gay marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships, and gave bishops in those regions discretion to provide a “generous pastoral response” to couples in local parishes.

Many Episcopal dioceses already allow clergy to bless same-sex couples but there is no official liturgy for the ceremonies in the denomination’s Book of Prayer. The measure still needs the approval of the lay people and priest delegates at the assembly, which ends Friday.

“We certainly feel a deep need to be able to proclaim the love of God in the midst of a changing reality,” said Suffragan Bishop James Curry of the Diocese of Connecticut, one of six states that are legalizing same-gender marriage.

A day earlier, the convention had declared gays and lesbians eligible for “any ordained ministry,” even though Anglican leaders had sought a clear moratorium on consecrating another gay bishop. The vote effectively lifted a self-imposed Episcopal pledge from three years ago to use “restraint” in approving another bishop in a same-sex relationship.

The Episcopal Church, which is the Anglican body in the U.S., caused an uproar in 2003 by consecrating the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

To calm tensions and keep the global Anglican Communion together, Anglican leaders five years ago pressed Episcopalians for a temporary ban on electing gay bishops, and asked that the church refrain from developing an official prayer service for same-sex couples.

At the start of the convention last week, the Anglican spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, told delegates, “I hope and pray that there won’t be decisions in the coming days that could push us further apart.”

A spokeswoman for Williams said Wednesday that he would not comment.

The 77 million-member communion is the third-largest grouping of churches worldwide, behind Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches.

Most overseas Anglicans believe Scripture bars same-sex relationships and disagree with how liberals interpret the Bible on a wide range of issues. Liberal Anglicans emphasize biblical social justice teachings and believe their fellowship can contain conflicting views.

Last month, breakaway Episcopal conservatives and other like-minded traditionalists formed a rival national province to the Episcopal Church called the Anglican Church in North America.

The new body includes four seceding Episcopal dioceses and is supported by several overseas Anglican leaders who have broken ties with the Episcopal Church.

Episcopal conservatives who have stayed with the denomination lamented the latest votes and predicted the already splintering Anglican fellowship would fracture.

“For many, this is the final straw with members of the wider Anglican Communion,” said Bishop William Love of Albany, N.Y. “It’s breaking my heart to see the church destroy itself in the manner in which we seem to be doing.”

Bishops at the Episcopal General Convention in Anaheim, Calif., voted 99-45 with two abstentions for a statement declaring “God has called and may call” to ministry gays in committed lifelong relationships.

Lay and priest delegates to the meeting had comfortably approved a nearly identical statement, and were expected to adopt the latest version before the meeting ends Friday.

Leaders of the Anglican Communion have been pushing Episcopalians to roll back their support for gays and lesbians since 2003, when the U.S. denomination consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. Anglican body.

Robinson’s election brought the 77 million-member Anglican fellowship to the brink of schism. Last month, breakaway Episcopal conservatives and other like-minded traditionalists formed a rival national province called the Anglican Church in North America.

To calm tensions, the Episcopal General Convention three years ago passed a resolution that urged restraint by dioceses considering gay candidates for bishop. No other Episcopal bishops living openly with same-sex partners have been consecrated since then.

Drafters of the latest statement insisted that the resolution only acknowledges that the Episcopal Church ordains partnered gays and lesbians and is not a repeal of what was widely considered a moratorium on consecrating gay bishops.

“The constitution and canons of our church as currently written do not preclude gay and lesbian persons from participating,” in any part of the church, said the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, on the committee that drafted the statement. “These people have responded to God’s call.”

However, the Episcopal gay advocacy group Integrity, said in a statement Monday night that the declaration “effectively ends” the temporary prohibition on gays in ministry. Integrity called the vote “another step in the Episcopal Church’s `coming out’ process.”

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who leads the Episcopal Church, was among bishops who voted to approve the declaration. The statement also affirms the Episcopal Church’s commitment to participate in and help fund the Anglican Communion, the third-largest grouping of churches worldwide, behind the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Christian churches.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, had attended the Episcopal national meeting in Anaheim, Calif., in its opening days last week. He said, “I hope and pray that there won’t be decisions in the coming days that could push us further apart.”