Smith is charged with breaking church laws when he took actions against six conservative priests in the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, after they objected to Smith's stand in favor of Robinson's ordination.

Smith entered St. John's Episcopal Church in Bristol and announced his suspension of Rector Mark Hansen, one of the six, and installed a pro-homosexual female priest in Hansen's place. Then Smith allegedly dismantled the church's website, hacked into its computers, and gained access to financial records.

United Methodist Church (UMC) - Rev. Edward Johnson, pastor of South Hill United Methodist Church in Virginia, was placed on a year-long leave of absence by his UMC district superintendent. His ecclesiastical crime? He refused to allow a non-repentant homosexual into church membership.

Johnson's district superintendent, the Rev. William Layman, had twice ordered Johnson to accept the homosexual man into membership. Layman acted with approval from the head of the Virginia Annual Conference, Bishop Charlene Kammerer.

When the pastor refused, he was removed from his position without salary. Johnson, who has been in the pastorate for 24 years, had pastored at South Hill for six years.

Meanwhile, the Rev. Irene Stroud, who had lost her credentials last December following an ecclesiastical trial over her admission that she was in a committed lesbian relationship, will have a new day in court. In April, a UMC appellate court reinstated her ministry credentials after overturning her conviction on an 8-1 vote.

That case will top the docket of the UMC's supreme court, according to United Methodist News Service.