Three Anglican Episcopal dioceses in the USA that are firmly against the consecrating of gay bishops have voted to reject the authority of the denomination’s newly elected presiding bishop, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

The move will further widen the divisions in the already-strained worldwide Anglican Church, however, the three dioceses have also announced that they have stopped short of a complete break with the Episcopal Church.

In entirely separate meetings, the dioceses of Pittsburgh, South Carolina and San Joaquin, requested to the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, to assign them an alternative leader.

The Diocese of Pittsburgh is headquarters to the Anglican Communion Network, which is the representing body of 10 conservative U.S. dioceses, as well as more than 900 parishes within the Episcopal Church that are currently deciding whether to split from the denomination.