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As area Episcopalians came together to celebrate the holiday season, many expressed disappointment and loss with recent news that a breakaway group hopes to faction off and create its own body separate from the U.S. Episcopal Church.

The news is only the latest in a deepening rift among members of the U.S. Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion over the role of gays and lesbians in the church, highlighted when the first openly gay bishop was consecrated in New Hampshire in 2003. Since then, several conservative parishes have departed from the Episcopal Church and claimed allegiance with more conservative arms of the Anglican Communion, claiming that gays and lesbians should not be ordained as ministers, or have their unions blessed at church.

The province, without physical borders, would set itself apart from the Episcopal Church through ideology. Called the Anglican Church in North America, it would be led by Bishop Robert Duncan of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, which departed from the church in October.

No parishes in the left-leaning Episcopal Diocese of Washington, which encompasses the District, and Montgomery, Prince George's, St. Mary's and Carroll counties, have defected from the church, according to Jim Naughton, communications director for the diocese.

"We are a more liberal diocese than many others, and there's not that many people who disagree with the Episcopal Church about human sexuality," Naughton said. "I think [Washington Bishop John Bryson Chane] has done a really good job reaching out to [gay and lesbian] folks and letting them know they are as much a part of the diocese as anyone else."

However, a conservative church group in Fairfax, Va., has factioned off, along with individuals and families locally.

"I think a lot of people including myself see it as a tragedy that the Anglican community seems so split, and my heart aches having been there immediately following 2003 — I know what some of these congregations are going through," said the Rev. Cynthia Baskin, a rector at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Potomac. St. Francis was affected by the rift in 2003 after Gene Robinson, the gay bishop in New Hampshire, was consecrated. The discussions that followed about the roles of gays and lesbians in the church lead to the departure of about 50 individuals from the church of about 400. "There's a lot of grief and a lot of loss and it's just very difficult, like watching someone in the hospital."

While Baskin said St. Francis is more unified after the members' departure, she said a poll of her congregants would most likely find viewpoints on the role of homosexuals in the church all over the map. The difference, she said, was that some Episcopalians use the issue as a "litmus test for faithfulness."

"I wouldn't go so far as to say [the individuals who left the church] didn't want to include or reach out in some kind of way to someone who was homosexual," Baskin said. "At the same time, they felt very strongly that homosexuality is not the way God intended human being to be, and they drew a line there, and found it difficult to be part of a community that honored homosexuals and allowed for their inclusion."

The issue hits especially close to home for area Episcopalians who are gay or lesbian. "I think people operating outside the community in this way are really violating the real essence of what it means to be an Anglican," said the Rev. Stephanie Nagley, a rector at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Bethesda, who is a lesbian. Nagley said her relationship with her partner has been embraced at church. "We have a big tent — we can disagree, but still stay together."

At the same time, local Episcopal leaders are skeptical that the province will ever come to fruition. The province would need a nod of approval from the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church as well as the Archibishop of Canterbury, the Anglican spiritual leader. Church leaders including Chane have noted that is unlikely, while at the same time strongly condemning the move.

Chane and other local Episcopal leaders have stressed the importance of bringing the focus of the church back to the ministry and helping those in need in a time of economic crisis. "Let's move on to really important issues," Nagley said.