Diocese says no, for now, to Episcopal split
Dallas bishop calls for unity despite national church's stands on gays
Saturday, October 21, 2006
By JEFFREY WEISS / The Dallas Morning News

Leaders of the Dallas diocese of the Episcopal Church, heeding a plea from their bishop, rejected calls this weekend to immediately leave the denomination over disagreements about what the Bible says concerning same-sex marriage and ordination of gay priests.

But the two-day annual convention that ended Saturday approved a process that could create a split as soon as next year.

Many of the delegates hope that a year's delay will allow the international Anglican Communion to create a new home for conservative American Episcopalians. The Anglican Communion is an association of independent national churches.

"We're still in the opening act of this play," said Steve Wilensky, a convention delegate from St. John's Episcopal Church in Dallas who said he would have preferred a more definitive disconnection from the denomination. The rest