"I pray we will conduct ourselves in a Christian manner, full of grace, but the issues are the most important and significant that have come before the convention for a long, long time," said the Rev. Jim McCaslin, rector of All Souls Church in Mandarin.

The major issue underlying the meeting at the Camp Weed retreat center in Live Oak is the 2003 election of an openly gay New Hampshire bishop by the Episcopal Church USA. Since then, tithing has dropped off denomination-wide, membership has declined and at least 20 sister Anglican Communion provinces across the world have severed ties with the American church.

Shock waves from the election of Bishop V. Eugene Robinson also have been felt in Northeast Florida, where some parishes, including McCaslin's, have displayed their disapproval by joining conservative organizations, dropping the word "Episcopal" from their titles and cutting their giving to the national church.

Saturday's convention is considered pivotal because some of the resolutions on the table would increase the distance between the diocese and denomination or, failing that, between some parishes and the diocese.

Among them are measures requesting diocesan Bishop Samuel Johnson Howard from taking communion with Robinson; prohibiting the diocese from sending money to the denomination; and others declaring the diocese to be in "serious theological dispute" with the Episcopal Church and seeking alternative Anglican oversight.

Another resolution would allow conservative parishes that leave the denomination and diocese to retain ownership of church property.

Howard said he is opposed to many of the resolutions, including the one barring him from taking communion with Robinson.

"I don't believe Holy Communion should be made a pawn in a political dispute in the church," Howard said Thursday. "It's much too sacred for us to use it in that way."

Howard said he also opposes prohibiting the diocese from forwarding money to the denomination. He said the current system -- allowing parishes not to send their money to the Episcopal Church -- is sufficient.

A top item Saturday also is the election of delegates who will attend the denomination's 2006 General Convention. It is there that some expect a battle over the denomination's future stance on homosexuality and the centrality of Scripture in church life.

"It's very important that we send conservative delegates" to the convention, McCaslin said.

Howard agreed the election of delegates is important but declined to comment further.

"I'm sure there's a lot of buzz out there, but as bishop I am not and cannot be part of that."

Partly from a desire to keep the convention running smoothly, Howard said he decided to bar media from the room where debates will take place.

"This is a family gathering of the church," he said. "We have some business to do" and a larger number of media "unduly distracts us from the business before us and distracts us."

The Rev. DavetteTurk, priest associate at All Saints Episcopal Church in San Jose, praised Howard for his handling of the growing division between conservatives and liberals in the diocese.

"He's trying to be in the center and keep everyone together," Turk said.

But she, like McCaslin, agreed Saturday's convention is an important moment for the diocese.

"This is a watershed convention and it is something led by the Holy Spirit," Turk said.

END