United States:American Anglicans moved closer to a formal split over homosexuality yesterday when two of Virginia's biggest parishes voted overwhelmingly to leave the Episcopal Church and ally themselves with conservatives overseas.
Falls Church and Truro, in wealthy suburbs of Washington DC, were among eight Virginia parishes to hold ballots on splitting from the Episcopal Church. Ninety per cent of Falls Church parishioners and 92 per cent of Truro members who voted in the last week supported cutting ties with the Episcopal Church. The two parishes have combined congregations of about 4,000 people and property worth $27 million (€20.5 million), which is likely to be the subject of a legal battle with the Virginia diocese.
Two weeks ago, the entire diocese in San Joaquin, California, voted to sever its ties with the Episcopal Church and six other dioceses are also considering leaving.
Tensions between conservative and liberal Episcopalians, which have been simmering for three decades, boiled over following the consecration three years ago of Gene Robinson, an openly gay man with a long-term partner, as bishop of New Hampshire.
More than 30 American parishes have voted since then to secede from the Episcopal Church and form links with conservative Anglicans in other countries.
The Virginia parishes voted to place themselves under the authority of the conservative archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, who has called for the Episcopal Church to be expelled from the Anglican communion for consecrating Dr Robinson.
Dr Akinola supports legislation in Nigeria that would make it illegal for homosexuals to form organisations, read gay literature or eat together in a restaurant. He has characterised the acceptance of gay relationships as a "satanic attack" on the church.
Despite an Anglican prohibition on bishops crossing geographical boundaries to take control of churches or priests not in their territory, Dr Akinola wants to create a US alliance of disaffected parishes called the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. Truro rector Martyn Minns was consecrated a bishop in the Church of Nigeria earlier this year to lead Dr Akinola's American outreach.
Mr Minns claims the convocation is approved by the Anglican communion, but the communion's office in London denied this.