PETALUMA -- A Petaluma church has voted to sever its relationship with the Episcopal Church, the latest in a growing list of defections prompted by the national church's stance on gays and lesbians. An "overwhelming majority" of St. John's Episcopal Church believe that the national church has "acted contrary to Holy Scripture and the church's traditional teachings regarding sexual morality," according to a written statement from the church. Those feelings are largely based on the 2003 ordination of a gay priest -- V. Gene Robinson -- as the bishop of New Hampshire. The decision to ordain Robinson, who lives with...
