The former St. James thus becomes the seventh congregation in the Diocese of Florida to break away from the Episcopal denomination, one of the oldest organized churches in Baker County. Although the election of a gay bishop has been the catalyst of the most recent sensational unrest, especially as depicted in the media, the divisive issues go deeper.

The meeting opens at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Sheraton Ballroom with a service led by Archbishop Datuk Yong Ping Chung of Malaysia.

Church growth and mission work are the main topics of seminars Thursday through Saturday, said the Rev. John Richardson, host priest and the rector of St. Peter's Anglican Church in Mountain Brook. St. Peter's formed after a split from St. Luke's Episcopal Church in 2002.

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The remaining five -- All Souls and Church of the Redeemer in Jacksonville, Grace Church in Orange Park, St. Michael's in Gainesville and St. Luke's Community of Life in Gainesville -- formally ended their relationship with Bishop John Howard's diocese on Dec. 31 or will do so by Sunday, said the Rev. Sam Pascoe, rector at Grace Church.

Pascoe said more parishes are on their way to "disassociating" with the diocese and the denomination.

Murphy's recent and familial roots run deep through a Florida landscape that, until November, housed not only his flourishing congregation, but wife and daughter. So deep, he never expected to fully answer a call from the New Bern church looking for his powerful leadership and conservative commitment to teaching scripture. Emmanuel Anglican Church would not be his to lead, he thought.