Episcopal diocese votes to split off

Representatives from the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh voted to approve constitutional amendments that are the first step in leaving the national church in a widening rift over homosexuality and interpretation of Scripture.

Pittsburgh joined dioceses in San Joaquin, Calif., and Quincy, Ill., in granting preliminary approval to separating from the national church. The dioceses contend the national church has abandoned Scriptural authority and teachings on truth and salvation.

“As a diocese we have come to a fork in the road,” Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan said before lay delegates approved the measures 118 to 58 and clergy voted 109 to 24. “Indeed, it has become clear that our understandings are not only different, but mutually exclusive, even destructive to one another.”