A second Episcopal bishop has publicly rejected gay resolutions approved by the Episcopal Church, saying their approval “saddened” him.

Last week the church lifted a three-year moratorium on the consecration of gay bishops and approved giving bishops the discretion to bless gay unions, especially in states where gay marriage or civil unions are legal. The church also decided to begin creation of an official blessing for gay unions to be considered at a later date.

Rev. John W. Howe, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, is the second bishop to publicly repudiate the gay resolutions.

“I want to say to you that I am deeply saddened that these two resolutions have been passed, though I am not at all surprised,” Howe said in a letter posted on the diocese's website.

“So, we simply are not going to go there,” Howe, who's been married 47 years, said, then added: “We understand that the culture is changing, and that many believe differently, but this is where the Diocese of Central Florida is.”

Last week, Bishop James Monte Stanton, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, said, “We will not consent to the election of a bishop living in a same-sex relationship, and we will not allow the blessings of same-sex relationships,” and questioned whether the Episcopal Church – the American branch of the Anglican Communion headed by the Church of England – has the authority to decide on gay unions and clergy even within its own denomination.

Monday, Rowan Williams, the head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, warned of isolation from the mainstream Anglican Communion for churches that accepted the gay resolutions.

In his first response since the convention, Williams suggested a two-tier church where Episcopal dioceses who do not repudiate the gay resolutions would be relegated to a lesser unofficial role. He called this “two styles of being Anglican.”

Rev. Susan Russell, president of the pro-gay Episcopal group Integrity USA, said, “those 'outer darkness' threats are going to ring more and more hollow until they fade away altogether,” in a statement.

At the center of the controversy over the gay resolutions is Rev. Gene Robinson, whose 2003 consecration as bishop threatened to split the church. Robinson, 61, lives in Weare, New Hampshire with his husband.

Howe and Stanton stopped short of calling for an alliance with a group of mostly African conservative churches who've broken away over the issue of gay clergy.