1.   Bishop Alex Dickson of Tennessee said liberal bishops were threatening the unity of the church by ordaining gays and lesbians.

2.   Edwards sought to report to Iker rather than Dixon, a more liberal Episcopal bishop, and retain his pastorate.

3.   Some liberal bishops and gay advocates complained that prelates from the developing world were lobbied hard by conservative American and English bishops working to gain ideological allies.

4.   Some parishes are refusing to allow liberal bishops to visit or administer sacraments.

5.   Some bishops in Africa and Asia, along with conservatives in the United States, have faulted liberal Episcopal bishops for supporting the ordination of gays.

6.   Still, Spong, among the most liberal bishops, expressed a long-term optimism.

7.   Their emphatic approach seemed to take liberal bishops by surprise, leaving them out-organized and out-talked.

8.   They began work two weeks ago amid bitter internal debate but were able to produce a resolution considered acceptable to many liberal bishops.

9.   In Austria, a liberal bishop, Reinhold Stecher, said last week he would ask the Vatican to rethink the ban.

10.   It was a defeat for liberal bishops, most notably those in Europe and the United States.