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An Episcopal Church committee voted October 17 to oust more than 50 California clerics who left the denomination last year to join a more conservative province in the Anglican Communion. The 16 deacons and 36 priests have six months to recant and return to the Episcopal Church before they are defrocked by Bishop Jerry Lamb of the Fresno-based Diocese of San Joaquin, according to Episcopal News Service. Diocesan spokesperson Nancy Key said two clergy have decided to rejoin the Episcopal Church since the committee began considering charges against them.

The Episcopal Church’s Diocese of Pittsburgh, as expected, has voted to split from the national church. In the October 4 balloting, clergy and laypeople voted 240 to 102 for secession and realignment with the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

Alluding to contentions over homosexuality and biblical interpretation, Peter Frank, a spokesperson for the diocese, said “this diocese could not in good conscience continue down the road away from mainstream Christianity.”