Lodi church rejects Episcopal schism
Issue of whether gays can join the clergy splitting the world Anglican Communion
Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, Chronicle Religion Writer
Monday, February 12, 2007

Before hundreds of congregants at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Lodi, Bonnie Anderson said her name and three words: "I'm an Episcopalian."

The crowd rose for a standing ovation.

Nowhere in the nation would those three words be more controversial than in the Central Valley. Churches in the 14 counties covered by the Diocese of San Joaquin voted overwhelmingly in December to strip the diocese's constitution of all references to the word "Episcopal" as a rejoinder to the national church's stance that gay people can be ordained as clergy.

St. John's is one of only three churches among 48 in the diocese likely to remain with the Episcopal church. the rest