The loss of such a connection would be deeply felt in the Church, but would be a non-issue for the nation, Bishop Robinson said, despite the Episcopal Church's history of leadership disproportionate to its numbers - only one per cent of the US population.

"My hope is that our gifts and our passions and our faith are important to the rest of the world as well."

Njegovan told the CBC that he had banned the The Anglican Planet in his parishes. "As bishop, I do not endorse any such material. Nor do I wish to see it distributed in, or to, our parishes."

The Anglican Planet is published out of Charlottetown by Anglican minister David Harris who said that the bishop is making a mistake. "We're getting letters from people saying they just feel refreshed by another voice within the Anglican Church of Canada," said Harris.

Metropolitans have the power to discipline bishops in their area. In recent years, Archbishop Buckle and Bishop Ingham clashed over the issue of same-sex blessings. After New Westminster voted in 2002 to allow such ceremonies, several dissenting parishes asked Bishop Buckle, a theological conservative, to come into the diocese to perform such episcopal acts as confirmations.

In his sermon, Regas, who from the pulpit opposed both the Vietnam War and 1991's Gulf War, imagined Jesus participating in a political debate with then-candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry. Regas said that "good people of profound faith" could vote for either man, and did not tell parishioners whom to support.