The Episcopal Church in the United States is the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Any break with the Episcopal Church is a break from the American branch and would thereby no longer oblige that church to abide by its resolutions.

Kasch said Jefferts Schori's refusal to abide by The Anglican Church's Windsor Report - a set of resolutions dictated to the American church to bring it back to more traditional Anglican ethics - illustrates her agenda.

"One [resolution] is a moratorium on bishops of any stripe having sex outside of marriage - no more same-sex unions," Kasch said. "Another is to express repentance for doing our own thing when we are supposed to be a part of a communion, and not only did the resolution to do all that fail at the general convention, they elected this woman who was for same-sex marriage with the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the church."

A number of Episcopal churches have been blessing same-sex unions and ordaining gay and lesbian priests. However, the consecration of V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest in New Hampshire, to the rank of bishop in 2003, cracked open a fissure that had been slowly building steam.

Kasch said he believed a substantial number of churches across the nation were electing to split with the Episcopal Church, leaving many of its members to wonder if the break will be a permanent division of the church into two factions: conservative and liberal. The former, he believes, holds that Scripture decries sex outside marriage and the latter that scripture is mutable and open to interpretation.

"It's a little simplified, but one side says we wrote the Bible and we can change it, and the other side says, 'No, God wrote the Bible, and we are required to live under obedience to it,'" Kasch said.

The issue for All Saints', Kasch said, is less about the acceptance of gays and lesbians and more about what Scripture says about sex outside of marriage.

"If Gene Robinson said, 'I'm gay but I'm also celibate because the church teaches you are not supposed to have sex outside of marriage,' there wouldn't have been a problem with his consecration," Kasch said.

Kasch said he conferred with the ministers of the two other local Episcopal churches, Rev. Gene Wise of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Murfreesboro and Rev. Frederick Richardson of Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Murfreesboro, while deliberating the decision.

Richardson said his church feels similarly about the direction the church is taking but plans to adopt a less radical path.

"While I certainly understand where they are, and we feel basically the same about the greater issues in the Episcopal Church and what we are facing, we simply disagree about the way to respond to it," Richardson said.

Kasch said the vote to split from the church was nearly unanimous as his congregation felt that Jefferts Schori's interpretation of scripture veers from the heart of Christianity.

"The breaking point for us is also Ms. Schori's denying of Jesus' uniqueness for salvation," said Kasch, referring to comments Jefferts Schori made in a Time magazine article about the role Jesus Christ plays in salvation. He said Jefferts Schori is closer to a Unitarian/Universalist than an Episcopalian.

"She represents the American church to the world, and is supposed to be the chief teacher of the American church," Kasch added.

Paul Standerfer, a member of All Saints', agreed with Kasch that the church's take on Jefferts Schori is that her understanding of Jesus is closer to Jesus as messenger than Jesus as the son of God.

"She has stated that that would be putting God into an awfully small box to think that was the only way," Standerfer said. "We are absolutely worried about the direction the church is going in."

Trixie Smith, faculty advisor for MTSU's Lambda Association, an educational, outreach and advocacy group for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, questions that Kasch's only problem with Bishop Robinson is that he cannot be married legally.

"My question is: Is the pastor fighting for equality in marriage?" Smith said.

In a letter posted on the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee Web site, Rev. Bertram Nelson Herlong, acting Bishop of Tennessee, urges regional churches to remain calm during the debate though the letter also states concerns about where Jefferts Schori will take the Episcopal Church.

"We should not make premature judgments about what will happen, but should wait and see how her performance affects the program and direction of the National Church," said Herlong. "Bishop Jefferts Schori is our Presiding Bishop, and we must respect the office, even if we do not agree with the performance of the individual who holds the office."

Kasch said it came down to identifying his church on a fundamental level.

"The crisis point for All Saints is that we consider ourselves Christian first, Anglican second and Episcopalian third," Kasch said.

Calls to the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee were not returned.

END