The leader of the Episcopal Church will poll bishops nationally next month in an effort to move the possible deposition of Pittsburgh Bishop Robert W. Duncan Jr. ahead to May.

While Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's reasons have not been made public, the impact of accelerating the deposition could be far reaching not only for Bishop Duncan but the entire worldwide Anglican Communion.

If the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops were to depose Bishop Duncan -- essentially defrocking him for abandoning the communion of the church for his efforts to move the Pittsburgh diocese out of the American church to a more conservative province within the worldwide Anglican Communion -- then the Archbishop of Canterbury would have to decide whether to disinvite him to this summer's once-a-decade meeting in Lambeth, England of all bishops in the worldwide church.

Bishop Duncan is widely recognized throughout the communion as a leader of those upset with actions in the past few years of the American church, such as same-sex blessings and the consecration of an openly gay bishop. He is moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, an alliance of biblically traditional dioceses and parishes that comprises about 10 percent of the Episcopal Church's 111 dioceses and 2.2 million members.

The bishop is also a key broker between conservative Episcopalians and the leaders of millions of Anglicans in Africa, Asia and South America who also disagree with the actions of the American church.

If the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, disregarded the deposition of Bishop Duncan, it would be a tantamount admission that the Episcopal Church is out of step with the rest of the communion.

According to an e-mail sent this week from David Booth Beers, the chancellor to the presiding bishop, to about two dozen Pittsburgh Episcopalians representing a spectrum of the diocese, he wrote that the Rev. Jefferts Schori would "poll the House of Bishops in April to see when the House would next like to meet to discuss, among other things, the certification respecting Bishop Duncan. It is not accurate to say that she is seeking approval to proceed; rather, she seeks the mind of the House as to when to proceed."

The next scheduled meeting of the roughly 300-member House of Bishops is in September.

In January, the Rev. Jefferts Schori warned Bishop Duncan he could be removed from office because of his realignment efforts. His response to her will be made public Monday.

In a related vein, several parishes within the Pittsburgh diocese formed an organization this week dedicated to advancing realignment. Called Coalition for Realignment, it seeks to reassure people in the diocese "that we're still on track to realign," said the Rev. Jonathan Millard, rector of Church of the Ascension in Oakland, and the group's spokesman.

The diocese will vote on realignment at its November diocesan convention.