Conservative Anglicans in the United States are finding themselves living through an "extended Good Friday", mourning for The Episcopal Church.

The Anglican Communion Network, an orthodox group of Anglicans discontented with The Episcopal Church, began its fourth annual council meeting in Bedford, Texas, on Monday. Over 80 representatives opened the two-day meeting expressing disappointment in a church many had grown up in.

"Because our sense of order is such that we have always sought to be Christian first and Episcopalian next, we find ourselves on this present Way of the Cross," said the Rt Rev Robert Duncan, moderator of the Anglican Communion Network and Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, in his opening address.

A growing number of Episcopal parishes and leaders have left The Episcopal Church, citing dissatisfaction with the US Anglican branch's departure from Christian orthodoxy and Anglican tradition, particularly the 2003 consecration of an openly gay bishop.

In March, The Episcopal Church reaffirmed that it welcomes gays and lesbians as an "integral part" of the Church and rejected the request of primates (Anglican heads of the 38 Anglican provinces) to allow Anglican leaders outside the US branch to oversee US dioceses and those unable to accept the authority of the Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Bishop Duncan said the denominational Church that raised him and ordained him "no longer had any room for me, or any like me".

"How bitter the rejection! How total my failure!" he said on Monday.

"Yes, we are all at different places on the Calvary journey as concerns our ministries in The Episcopal Church. But I suspect I can speak for all when I say that where we are is not where we had hoped to be," said Bishop Duncan, who believes their fourth annual meeting is being held amid a "seismic shift" in which more bishops and priests have left the US church body.

The Anglican Communion Network was birthed in March 2004 and is currently comprised of over 900 parishes and over 2,200 clergy. Last month, Bishop Duncan invited conservative leaders and major breakaway Anglican groups to initiate discussions on forming a separate Anglican structure in the United States and take their "Common Cause Partnership" to the next level. They are due to take place from 25 to 28 September.

Although The Episcopal Church has expressed a desire to remain in the Anglican Communion, Bishop Duncan believes the US branch will "walk apart" from the global communion.

"[F]ew in this hall anticipate that The Episcopal Church will turn around in the last days before September 30, or that The Episcopal Church has any intention of leaving room for those of us whose commitments to 'the Faith once delivered' created the Anglican Communion Network and have sustained its vision and its witness," said Bishop Duncan at this week's council meeting.

The Episcopal Church has been given until 30 September to unequivocally pledge not to consecrate another openly gay bishop or authorise official prayers for same-sex couples. Episcopal leaders, including Bishop Jefferts Schori, have indicated that they will not "retreat" from their 2003 decision and pro-homosexual position.

"God, in His wisdom, has not used us to reform The Episcopal Church, to bring it back to its historic role and identity as a reliable and mainstream way to be a Christian. Instead The Episcopal Church has embraced de-formation - stunning innovation in Faith and Order - rather than reformation," Bishop Duncan stated.

The worldwide Anglican Communion rejects homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture but at the same time calls its people to minister pastorally to all, including homosexuals.

Amid deepened divisions within The Episcopal Church and impaired relations with Anglican provinces overseas, there has long been speculation of schism within the Anglican Communion. And the Anglican spiritual head, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, is not fully confident the global body can hold together.

"Anglicans should remain Anglicans ... I don't think schism is inevitable," said Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in an interview with Time magazine.

The Anglican head added, however, "If you're asking am I absolutely confident that we can get it together after the Lambeth Conference? No. I'm not absolutely confident."

Bishop Duncan added, "We do not know how long our trial will be, but we trust our Heavenly Father."