PITTSBURGH — Leaders of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburg will meet Nov. 8 and discuss steps that would allow the diocese to isolate itself from Episcopal Church USA, the Tribune Review reported.

Delegates from more than 70 parishes, representing about 20,000 people, will meet for the 138th annual diocese convention. They will vote on a proposal that would allow the diocese to act unilaterally when it does not agree with national church policy.

"We are not going to be dictated to by the national church," said Assistant Bishop Henry Scriven.

The national church on Nov. 2 consecrated the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. Robinson became the first openly homosexual bishop in the church, upsetting many conservatives in the church.

Not all local parishes support the proposal, the newspaper reported. Calvary Episcopal Church filed a lawsuit Oct. 24 seeking to protect diocesan property in the event of a schism.

"This attempted change basically says the diocese no longer will be bound by decisions of the national church if it chooses not to follow them," the Rev. Harold Lewis, Calvary's rector, told the newspaper.

He said the proposal should not be allowed because it attempts to change fundamental church law and will exacerbate divisions within the church.

"I think the divisiveness is already a fact of life in the diocese," Lewis said.

The diocese called a special session in September to discuss Robinson's affirmation and the national church's decision to recognize same-sex unions. During that session, Bishop Robert Duncan called the actions "unbiblical, anti-ecumenical and unconstitutional," the newspaper reported.