On the eve of the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, September 28th, I hand-delivered a letter to the diocesan office in Jacksonville in which I provided a "100-day" advance notice of intent to vacate my interim rectorship at Nativity church in JAX, which period concludes on the Feast of the Epiphany, 2006, and to effect an orderly departure from the Episcopal Church, a departure that would seek to minimize the negative impact of my leaving on the good people at Nativity.

'Basic freedom'

The Reverend Katei Kirby, African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance chief executive, said: "It affects everyone so deeply.

"This is not just about doctrine. This is not even about theological opposition. This is about our basic freedom to speak and to preach.

"It affects people's freedom to discuss and to critique anything because it might upset or offend somebody else and that is very serious."

Speaking on the Senate floor last week in support of his amendment, Senator McCain said, "The intelligence we collect must be reliable and acquired humanely, under clear standards understood by all our fighting men and women. To do differently would not only offend our values as Americans, but undermine our war effort because abuse of prisoners harms - not helps - us in the war on terror."

Section six of the constitution says unity depends on the Australian church being satisfied that its English counterpart is complying with biblical teaching.

Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen's view that the Bible forbids same-sex unions is well known, but this motion is the first step towards a split.