Episcopal meeting takes upbeat tone
Years of divisiveness have given way to a fresh sense of unity, some say.
By JEFF BRUMLEY, The Times-Union

LIVE OAK - The atmosphere at Saturday's 164th convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida was palpably different from the meetings of the past three or four years.

Palpably better, said the Rev. Sandra Moyle, associate rector at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Jacksonville.

Previously, she said, the annual sessions held to conduct diocesan business pitted those who wanted to remain Episcopalians against those who did not because of their denomination's "progressive" views on Scripture and homosexuality.

Now that those unhappy factions have quit the Episcopal Church USA and Bishop John Howard's Jacksonville-based diocese, the mood at the convention is noticeably upbeat and joyful, Moyle said. the rest