CHARLESTON, S.C.  The backlash over the approval of the Episcopal Church's first openly homosexual bishop has some South Carolina congregations withholding money from the national church, The Associated Press reported.
The Rev. Canon Mike Malone of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina said 10 churches have asked the diocese not to give any of their money to the Episcopal Church.
They join churches elsewhere, including Georgia and Maryland that have withheld funding from the denomination because the Rev. V. Gene Robinson was confirmed as bishop of New Hampshire. (See related story, Funds withheld to protest homosexual bishop's election.)
Malone said 15 of 76 churches and missions in the diocese are having it redirect their money.
There are an estimated 50,000 Episcopalians in South Carolina, the news service reported. Church leaders called a special diocesan convention Oct. 2 to discuss their relationship to the Episcopal Church.
The 2.4 million-member Episcopal Church USA relies on its 7,300 congregations for about 60 percent of its $49 million annual budget.
