When it was time for the Holy Eucharist during the 10:30 a.m. service yesterday at the Church of the Redeemer, pew after pew emptied toward the center aisle and up to the altar, where the church's rector waited with the diocesan bishop.

That moment when believers come forth to receive the bread and wine could have been a disruptive one.

The Forbes Avenue church in Squirrel Hill is one of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh's most liberal, while diocesan Bishop Robert W. Duncan Jr., who was presiding over the Eucharist, is one of the national church's leading conservatives.

By the vagaries of diocesan scheduling, it was happening on All Saints' Sunday, the same day when 500 miles away in Concord, N.H., an openly gay priest later would be consecrated as a bishop -- a first among mainline Protestant denominations and an event that has precipitated talk of a schism in the Episcopal Church.

But there was only fellowship as congregants broke bread with their bishop. While the Rev. Cynthia Bronson Sweigert also was conducting the Eucharist, some made a point of seeking Duncan out.

"I did because I want to be -- by God's grace -- in loving fellowship with the bishop," said Wanda Guthrie, a member of Redeemer and of Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh, a local group advocating a more inclusive church.

"He is a member of my [church] family. I'm not sure I'd ever have the chance to do it again because the church may split."

Duncan's visit was planned months ago; he tries to visit every diocesan church for its confirmation ceremonies. At Redeemer, those occur on the first Sunday of November.

Bronson Sweigert had included a plea in this month's parish newsletter that she was "painfully and acutely aware" that some members might stay away because of Duncan's visit.

"We do need to show Bishop Duncan we are a vital community, strong in our faith and in our commitments to one another," the newsletter read.

About 100 people attended, more than the average Sunday service.

Duncan admitted that "in these last months our relationship has been somewhat strained."

"The best thing to do," he said, "is to begin as you plan to continue. Let everything we do be done together."

In her sermon, Bronson Sweigert called on those in attendance to pay tribute to saints past, present and future.

"And we know what are some of the indicators of these saints in every generation," she said. "Not perfect people, by any stretch of the imagination, but people who seek to be committed to faithfulness, mercy [and] peacemaking."

The history of the Christian faith, she said, "has been the history of people ... who have believed that God created everyone and everything, and are willing to treat all of their sisters and brothers as members of God's beloved family.

"I believe, really, that is what we are seeking to do here when we are at our best -- as we seek to help each other see the image of God in what and who is around us, including those most different from us."