The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh says that clergy who left the Episcopal Church with Archbishop Robert Duncan will not be deposed -- defrocked -- by the Episcopal Church.

They will, however, be removed from the roll of clergy licensed to serve in that denomination. Of four dioceses that voted to secede, Pittsburgh is the only one in which the continuing Episcopal diocese has not moved to strip the ordinations of those who left.

There are two bodies called the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. A letter was sent yesterday from the standing committee that governs the 28-parish continuing Episcopal diocese to clergy in the 57-parish Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh (Anglican). It said that clergy who didn't ask to stay in the Episcopal Church would be released to serve in "whatever entity you choose." The letter contrasted this with deposition, in which clergy are found to have "abandoned the communion" and are stripped of ordination so that it cannot be transferred.

"We're trying to be as pastoral as possible. We don't want to deprive anybody of their holy orders. We don't think that's necessary, but we had to find some way to get them off the list of clergy in the Episcopal Church," said the Rev. James Simons, president of the Episcopal standing committee.

The letter was sent one year and one day after the diocesan convention voted to secede because members believed the denomination failed to uphold biblical teaching on matters from salvation to sexuality. The seceding diocese and clergy were received by the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America. It's a part of the 80 million-member global Anglican Communion, as is the Episcopal Church. The Anglican diocese is also a founder of the new Anglican Church in North America, which hopes to be recognized as an Anglican province. It is already acknowledged as such by bishops representing a majority of the world's Anglicans. The two dioceses share a cathedral, but the Episcopal diocese is suing the Anglican diocese for property and assets. The letter affects about 100 local clergy, but not Archbishop Duncan, who was deposed by the Episcopal House of Bishops in September 2008.

There were mixed reactions from Anglican clergy. Some interpreted the letter as an offer to release them to anything except the Anglican Church in North America, while deposing those in that body. They found either move largely symbolic.

"I appreciate the new diocese's desire to find a way forward in the midst of our unhappy division. However, few of these priests or deacons are inactive," said the Rev. Mary Hays, canon to the ordinary of the Anglican diocese. "They are fully functioning clergy in our diocese, which is recognized by a vast majority of the Anglican Communion."

The Rev. Karen Stevenson, chairwoman of the standing committee of the Anglican diocese, said she was unsure how to interpret the offer because it cited a church law for renouncing ordination.

"It looks to be a release from orders when we haven't left the Anglican communion. We just need to clarify what released means," she said.

The Rev. Simons said it contains no threat to depose anyone.

"We want them to be able to move their orders to any entity they want to. If that [Anglican Church in North America] is what they want, they can go there," he said.

The Rev. Jonathan Millard, rector of the Church of the Ascension (Anglican) in Oakland, welcomed it. "On face value, it seems to me to be charitable and the kind of disengagement that we would want to see," he said.

"My hope and my prayer is that this kind of amicable separation could lead to a similar amicable separation in terms of the property issues."

At the time of the split, the Anglican diocese gave clergy until October 2010 to decide which diocese to join. The Episcopal diocese wants a response from the Anglican clergy by Oct. 19.

The reason for the different deadline is a concern that November's Anglican diocesan convention may withdraw from the Southern Cone and align solely with the Anglican Church in North America, the Rev. Simons said.

If they do that "they will have abandoned the communion. If we waited another three weeks, we would have no choice" other than deposition, the Rev. Simons said.

The national church didn't try to influence the decision, the Rev. Simons said. "We told them what we were doing and they didn't ask us to do anything differently," he said.

Bishop Kenneth Price, the nominee for provisional bishop of the Episcopal diocese, was involved in the discussions. "As the standing committee worked through this necessary action, I was painfully aware that they were not just talking about a list of clergy, but friends of long standing. For this reason I am grateful the canons provide this softer method of allowing those who wish to depart from the Episcopal Church to do so legally without us making a judgment on their ordination," he said.

"However, we prefer that you notify us in writing of your request for this release, or send us a copy of your 'transfer' documentation for our records," the letter said. "This does not affect your ordination, which you may register with whatever entity you choose."

The letter said that those who later wish to reverse the release and return to the Episcopal Church may do so.

The Rev. Simons said that the Episcopal diocese had first looked for a way to transfer the Anglican clergy to the Southern Cone "but in the Episcopal Church there is no canonical provision for transferring clergy to foreign provinces. This is the only option left for us," he said.

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