An Episcopal group has a doomsday plan that calls for ousting conservative bishops and seizing church property if they attempt to break from the denomination over its increasingly liberal position on homosexuality.

The so-called "Day After" plan could kick in as early as June, when the Episcopal Church USA holds its General Convention in Columbus, Ohio, according to minutes from a closed steering committee meeting of the group Via Media.

Joan Gunderson of Aspinwall, who served as recording secretary for committee meeting in late September, said nothing from the strategy session has been approved by the group's leadership.

"The minutes from our meeting were not meant to be public," said Gunderson, who is vice president for policy of Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh, formed to counter the conservative movement in the church. "It's a rough draft, and nothing in it has been finalized. We were just looking at possible worst-case scenarios."

Many in the church are bracing for a possible announcement by conservative bishops during the convention that the Anglican Communion Network be "recognized as the only legitimate expression" of Anglicanism in North America.

The Network was created by Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan and other conservative bishops after the denomination consecrated an openly homosexual man, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.

"If authentic, and we believe they are, the minutes of this meeting show how far the progressives are willing to go to appropriate what is not theirs," Duncan said. "I trust that the people in the Diocese of Pittsburgh will see clearly who is serving their best interest."

Duncan and other conservatives believe the Episcopal Church already has created a schism by formally departing from the traditional teachings on homosexuality held by the majority of Anglicans outside the United States.

Christopher Wilken of Bethel Park, who also attended Via Media's meeting in Dallas, said he would blame conservatives if the Episcopal Church splits.

"The one who gets up from the table and walks away is the one who creates the split," said Wilken, a member of the progressive group. "It is the so-called conservatives who have been increasingly separating themselves from the majority of us."

Pittsburgh diocesan officials estimate that although conservatives represent only about 10 percent of the roughly 2.3 million Episcopalians in the United States, an estimated 45 million to 50 million of the world's 77 million Anglicans consider themselves conservative.

Despite the preliminary nature of their discussions, Gunderson conceded that the progressive group is ramping up for a possible showdown with conservative bishops.

"Like any group of people who love their church, we are preparing for how things might be handled if some bishops try to take their dioceses outside the Episcopal church," she said.

Requesting a special convention to give the interim bishop power to fill positions in diocesan government such as trustees, councils and standing committees.

Identifying locations and personnel such as retired priests, deacons and lay leaders to provide worshipping communities and "safe havens" for those who remain in the Episcopal church.

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