The Associated Press

CLEVELAND - An Episcopal priest has quit over the church's election of an openly gay bishop.

William Tumbleson, 63, a retired cleric who believes Scripture forbids homosexual activity, renounced his priestly orders last month after joining St. Theodosius Orthodox Cathedral in September.

"I don't ever say I've left the Episcopal Church. I just say the Episcopal Church has left me," he said.

The election and consecration of openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson in the Diocese of New Hampshire, has sparked national controversy within the church.

In Ohio, none of the 104 churches in the diocese have left or asked to leave, church officials said.

The Rev. R. James Tasker, pastor of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Bay Village, said leadership at about five churches in the Cleveland-Akron area and about 10 in all of the Diocese of Ohio is seriously opposed to the consecration of a gay bishop.

Tumbleson said Robinson's election was "the last straw" for him.

He said his decision to quit was painful after 24 years in the clergy.

Ordained in 1979, Tumbleson came to Northeast Ohio in 1988. He retired in 2001, but continued to fill in at churches.

Tumbleson hasn't decided whether he will pursue ordination in the Orthodox Church.

"It's been doing the same thing for 2,000 years, and it's not going to change," he said. "It's not going to go along with the world. To me, that's refreshing."