Leader: Episcopal Church not splintering
By RACHEL ZOLL AP Religion Writer

NEW YORK — The Episcopal Church is not splintering, despite a decision by several Virginia parishes to leave and join Anglican conservatives, the head of the church said Monday.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said the parishes' move would not encourage other parishes to align with Nigeria's Anglican Archbishop Peter Akinola, who has called the church's growing acceptance of gay relationships a "satanic attack."

"This is a handful of congregations of a total of nearly 7,200, the vast majority of which are engaged in healthy and vital ministry," Jefferts Schori said Monday, a day after six Virginia parishes, including two of the state's most prominent, announced they would break away. the rest