Associated Press Writer

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - The Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop-elect, told parishioners his election is a sign of a changing church, one that will continue even if he resigns.

"If I step down, do you really think other qualified gays and lesbians wouldn't be elected?" he asked about 40 people during a religious education meeting Sunday at Grace Church. "My standing down isn't going to make it all go away."

His comment was prompted by a suggestion from a parishioner that Robinson reconsider accepting the bishop's role because of the turmoil it has caused and the threat it poses to the international church.

"I personally think it's not worth losing the family," Paul Apple, of Mont Vernon said.

Outraged conservatives have threatened to divide the Episcopal Church in the United States and the worldwide Anglican Communion of which it is part.

"I don't want anyone to leave the church, and I don't like being thought of as the reason they leave the church," said Robinson, 56.

But he said the vigorous and sometimes bitter church debate over homosexuality would continue whether or not he left the stage.

"It's not all going to go back to being nice and pretty again. It's going to be messy for a while," he said. "This is not our church to win or lose. It's God's church."

Robinson predicted the church ultimately will survive the turmoil.

"I've been here an hour and look! The roof's still on. I think it will calm down when people see not a lot has changed," he said.

But Apple's question prompted Robinson to talk about his struggles to discern God's will.

"I agonize about this all the time. This is one of the hardest things I'll ever do," Robinson said. "I do have this sense I'm supposed to go forward, and I do feel that's coming from God and not my own ego. But I don't know."

"If I'm wrong, God help me -- and God will help me," he said.

Robinson was elected by New Hampshire clergy and parishioners in June and confirmed by the national Episcopal Church in August. He is scheduled to be consecrated as bishop of New Hampshire in two weeks.

At an emergency meeting in London last week, Anglican leaders warned that if Robinson is consecrated, "the future of the Communion itself will be put in jeopardy." However, they acknowledged that each province has the right to choose its own leaders. The announcement came a week after a meeting of 2,700 dissident Episcopalians in Dallas.

The Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, in a close vote Saturday, voted to withhold $512,000 from the national church to protest Robinson's election. The vote at the diocese's annual convention in Texarkana was believed to be the first time a Texas diocese has repudiated the national church by sitting on its checkbook.

"I'm a little surprised that it went this far," diocese spokesman Jim Goodson told The Dallas Morning Morning News. "A majority of our delegates disagree with the policies of the national church."

The diocese's proposed budget had included $512,161 to be sent to the national church in New York. A resolution proposed by the Rev. Rob Smith, the rector of a Coppell church, proposed reducing that contribution to zero. The resolution passed with 53 percent support from laity and clergy delegates. The diocese will use the money instead for missionary work.

Robinson remained optimistic, saying the church has weathered similar crises in the past. Much of the Anglican Communion still does not recognize the ordination of women, he said, and yet the Communion holds together, he said.

Asked by one parishioner to explain what's behind the anger over his election, Robinson said he believed it was a sign that patriarchy is ending in the church as women, people of color and gays and lesbians are more fully included.

Conservative Episcopalians in the United States have said they plan to form an independent network of churches opposed to Robinson's elevation and the blessing of same-sex unions in some dioceses.

Anglican leaders, representing 77 million members worldwide, have called homosexuality "contrary to Scripture." Robinson and his supporters say that is outweighed by the Scripture's call for love and acceptance of all.

Scripture does not address faithful, committed relationships between members of the same sex, Robinson said. The concept didn't exist back then. What it does condemn is promiscuity and abusive relationships, he said.

Robinson has lived openly for years with partner Mark Andrew, who was applauded by the congregation when he was introduced Sunday. Robinson is widely known and admired in the state, where he has been assistant to the retiring bishop for years.

At the end of a second question and answer session Sunday, Robinson received a standing ovation from parishioners.

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On the Net:

Anglican Communion, http://www.anglicancommunion.org

New Hampshire diocese, http://NewHampshire.anglican.org