New York, USA - Episcopal leaders offered conservatives more independence from the national church Thursday, as a California diocese quietly backed down from its threat of a swift break with the denomination.
The Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno, made the change as it came under pressure from Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and her advisers to ease off a proposal to leave.
Church leaders are trying to heal divisions over the Bible and sexuality that erupted in 2003 when the denomination consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Traditionalists contend that gay partnerships violate Scripture.
The church's latest plan is meant to accommodate conservatives while searching for a permanent solution to the crisis.
The proposal would create a leadership position called a "primatial vicar." The vicar would work with conservative dioceses, performing functions that normally fall to Jefferts Schori, including consecrating local bishops.
A representative of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, would have a role on a panel of church leaders supervising the appointee. However, the vicar would ultimately be under the authority of Jefferts Schori. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. wing of the 77 million-member Anglican family.
Virginia Bishop Peter Lee, a leader in developing the proposal, said the group that worked on the idea was "conscious of the need to respond quickly to the needs of parishes and dioceses." The Diocese of San Joaquin had been set to vote on a split at its convention, which runs through Saturday.
Six other conservative dioceses have also rejected Jefferts Schori's authority but have stopped short of a full break.
Canon Kendall Harmon, a conservative leader from the Diocese of South Carolina, said he was encouraged that Lee and others acknowledged the urgency of the situation. But he said the proposal failed to address underlying theological differences and their impact on the church.
"It's as if at the last minute they pulled a feather out of their hat and said, 'Here,'" Harmon said.
The plan was finalized during a meeting Monday of Jefferts Schori and a small group of bishops. Five conservative bishops who had been invited did not attend. Forth Worth Bishop Jack Iker and Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, two of the conservative invitees, said in a statement Monday that relations with national leaders have deteriorated so much that they have been advised to bring attorneys to any future talks.
Supporters of ordaining gays believe the Bible's social justice teachings take precedence over its view of sexuality. However, most overseas Anglicans believe gay relationships are sinful, and they are distancing themselves from the U.S. church.
Within the Episcopal Church, some individual parishes have broken away. The 2.2 million-member denomination estimates that nearly 115,000 people left the church from 2003 to 2005, and that the choice by at least one-third of those stemmed from parish conflicts over Robinson. But no entire diocese has broken away.
Next month, two of the most historically significant parishes in Lee's Virginia diocese _ Truro Church and The Falls Church _ will vote on whether to leave.
A spokesman for the Diocese of San Joaquin, the Rev. Van McCalister, would not elaborate Thursday on why his diocese changed course on breaking away. Two weeks ago, Jefferts Schori told San Joaquin Bishop John-David Schofield in a public letter that leaving would put "many people at hazard of profound spiritual violence" and was akin to violating his ordination vows.