Duncan said the ordination of the Rev. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire was a "presenting issue," but the underlying issue, he said, was the undermining of scriptural authority.

The vote, taken on the last day of the diocese's annual convention, had wide support among the 700 delegates gathered at a Reston hotel -- a sign, many said, of the desire not to let their differences lead to an open split. "What we're trying to figure out is how to stay together and proclaim the Gospel while we fight over what portions of the Gospel mean -- and it's just portions that we're fighting over," said the Rev. Lauren R. Stanley, associate rector of St.

Townsend said the label doesn't seem to fit, since the cemetery in the old church where she attends services contains the graves of several ancestors, and she has a plot there herself. Relatives buried in the old cemetery include George Pawley, one of the two men who bought the land in 1745 for use as a church.

"I think the Episcopalian Church is very strong and we have many more thing s in common than we have differences," delegate John Lansche of Charlotte said of Friday's actions. "To me, this says the delegates are behind the bishop."

The Diocese of North Carolina is one of three Episcopal dioceses in the state and includes most of the state's largest congregations, in Charlotte, the Piedmont Triad and the Triangle.