"We couldn't find a way to stay and hold our conviction," Gornik said.

Controversy has rocked the Episcopal Church since 2003, when Lexington native Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest, was appointed bishop of New Hampshire.

But for Gornik, Robinson's ordination was simply the culmination of a change that he said has occurred over decades.

"The trajectory of the Episcopal Church just continues to move away from what I would call biblical evangelical faith," he said. "This is about how to understand the authority of Scripture in your life."

Lexington Bishop Stacy Sauls said yesterday that he offered several compromises that would have allowed the theologically conservative Church of the Apostles to remain connected to the Episcopal Church, but the church did not respond.

"It breaks my heart that somebody would tell me that they don't want to be in a relationship with me," he said. "I feel like I've bent over backwards."

The Church of the Apostles' strained relationship with Sauls became public at the diocese's annual convention last February, when Gornik and four other members of his church declined to take bread and wine consecrated by Sauls.

The church had already stopped giving money to the diocese and the Episcopal Church USA.

Gornik said the church has had periods of prayer and fasting and conversations with that Sauls over the past year, but during that time, "the Episcopal Church has not moved in a position toward repentance."

He said the congregation was disappointed by the American House of Bishops' "minimalist response" earlier this month to a report on the issue of homosexuality that was released by an Anglican panel.

The church, which has average attendance of 100 to 110, had 147 people present when it met at Tatesbrook Baptist Church on Sunday.

"We think that almost to a family, the entire congregation has moved with us," Gornik said.

Several churches have offered the congregation short-term use of their facilities, he said. He did not know where the congregation would meet this Sunday.

A foreign Anglican bishop whose identity will be announced soon has agreed to oversee the church, Gornik said.

The Episcopal Church USA is a branch of worldwide Anglicanism.

The Rev. David Brannen, rector of St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Versailles, attended the Sunday-afternoon service of Apostles Anglican to show his support.

St. Andrew's was formed last year by former leaders and members of St. John's Episcopal Church in Versailles.

The conservative St. John's parish had had a tense relationship with the diocese for years, and the situation worsened after Sauls voted to support Robinson's ordination.

"I'm excited to have a partner in rebuilding biblical Anglicanism," Brannen said yesterday. "The service was full of energy and grace. It seemed to be a group of people who felt liberated."

Meanwhile, the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington went ahead with services at the Trent Boulevard building that had housed the Church of the Apostles and is owned by the diocese.

Fifteen people attended the service, where a letter from Sauls was read aloud.

"My hope is that we will make a decision to grow this congregation into a radically inclusive community in a model that will be pleasing to Jesus our Lord ... " Sauls wrote.

Gornik is also looking to the future. He said Apostles Anglican wants to reach out to those who do not have a relationship with Jesus, and to serve the poor in the neighborhood around it.

"We just want to roll forward," he said.

END