Some parishes won't secede
Several San Joaquin Episcopal churches aren't joining their diocese's split.
By Rebecca Trounson, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 10, 2007

FRESNO -- One day after the Diocese of San Joaquin became the first in the country to break ties with the Episcopal Church, the Rev. Keith Axberg sought to reassure and cheer up his congregation, the only one in this city that is expected to remain with the national church.

"There are things that are going to take time and much we don't know," said Axberg, rector of Holy Family Episcopal Church in northeast Fresno. "But our purpose is to gather here to worship God . . . and I'm thankful you are here."

Delegates to San Joaquin's annual convention finalized Saturday an earlier decision to remove all references to the Episcopal Church from the diocese's constitution, the latest twist in a bitter, years-long dispute about theology and the role of gays in the church. The conflict between liberals and conservatives escalated sharply in 2003 when the church consecrated an openly gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire. the rest

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