If the resolution passes, diocesan officials would be expected to consecrate new bishops based on their qualifications, not their sexual orientation, said the Rev. Susan Russell, an associate priest at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena.

I am happy today to welcome you and the distinguished delegation accompanying you. This is not our first meeting. Indeed, I was grateful for your presence, and that of other representatives of the Anglican Communion, at the funeral of Pope John Paul II, and again at the inauguration of my pontificate a year and a half ago.

Respective presentations were received expressing the increasingly difficult and, in some cases, untenable situations in which they attempt to live out apostolic faith and historic order. We were distressed to hear of the legalistic and autocratic environment in which some now find themselves as they seek to remain faithful Anglicans within The Episcopal Church.

The convention was held at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, in Arlington, Texas. Live audio and video streaming of the Saturday business meeting were provided through the diocesan website. The diocese's guest preacher and convention speaker was the Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton, Canon for Operations of the ACN. Fenton told the convention that outreach and church planting were priority activities for the Network, of which the Diocese of Fort Worth is a founding member.