Robert Leaman, the diocese's chief financial officer, said the diocese expects $1.4 million in pledges in 2004, $350,000 short of expectations established in October at the state Episcopal convention.

In August, Colorado's delegation to the national convention backed the election of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who has lived with his male partner for years.

In protest, several Colorado clergy gave their flocks the option of restricting their pledges: taking the portion that normally would have gone to the diocese, typically about 10 percent, and giving it to parish-selected causes, such as overseas mission work or local charities.

That alternative found an audience in Colorado, home to 35,000 Episcopalians and some of the nation's best-known traditionalist Episcopal leaders. Nationally, the shortfall in 2004 pledges is not as pronounced - about 6 percent.

Colorado Episcopal Bishop Rob O'Neill said the decline will not significantly affect diocesan programs or result in layoffs. He said the diocese plans to leave two staff positions open and keep programming costs at 2003 levels.

Leaman said some of the shortfall can be explained by economic forces unrelated to the controversy. But he said most of it comes from the upswing in restricted giving. He said some of the state's 116 parishes boosted donations this year, but not enough to offset the others.

Parish support accounts for 89 percent of the diocese's 2004 budget, which had been estimated at $2 million before the shortfall.

In 2003, the diocese took in $1.6 million in pledges from parishes, and the budget was $1.9 million.

O'Neill said the large number of restricted pledges is understandable, given the pitched emotions about homosexuality in the church. But he questioned whether it will have the desired effect.

"I think we need to be clear about - and parishes and folks need to understand - what their contributions actually support," said O'Neill, who became Colorado bishop in January and supported Robinson's election. "It's not supporting a bureaucracy, and it's not supporting a political agenda. It's supporting new congregations, ministry with young people, training with teachers and youth workers."

Supporters of restricted giving say the approach is a legitimate protest and a powerful way to give disaffected parishioners a way to voice their displeasure while remaining in the Episcopal fold.

"The message to the diocese would be if you separate from both the Christian faith and the Anglican Communion, God won't bless your ministry," said the Rev. Don Armstrong, rector of Grace and St. Stephen's Church in Colorado Springs, one of the state's largest parishes. "As a good steward of God's money, we need to make sure the money is going to good ministry, not a revisionist, secularist agenda that runs counter to Scripture."

About 90 percent of Armstrong's parishioners are restricting their pledges, he said.

The result: The diocese will get $11,000 instead of $107,000.

Armstrong said the money will go to a hospital in Tanzania; Habitat for Humanity; and Ecumenical Social Ministries, a Colorado Springs charity.

Armstrong and Pueblo rector Ephraim Radner have been key figures in the launch of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes. The national group formed in January to stay within the denomination but challenge its leadership about homosexuality.

The Rev. David Henderson, rector of St. Paul Episcopal Church in Steamboat Springs, said 68 percent of his parishioners withheld funding to the diocese.

They will send $7,200 to Denver instead of $22,000.

Henderson said circumstances warrant the collection-plate protest.

"This is on a very different magnitude than not liking the color of carpet they're putting in the church," Henderson said.

The Rev. Andy Kline, rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Denver, said 30 percent of his parishioners' pledges are restricted.

The concept isn't new at Christ Church, where dissatisfaction with the national church's recent leftward shift runs deep. Kline said 15 percent of pledges were restricted last year.

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