The Episcopal Church moved to remove the bishop of the San Joaquin Diocese in California on Wednesday, in reaction to the diocese’s unprecedented decision late last year to secede from the church over theological issues.

The bishop, John-David Schofield, is the first bishop to face such action as a result of the disputes over the church’s stance on homosexuality.

At its semiannual meeting, in Texas, the church’s House of Bishops voted “to consent to the deposition from the ordained ministry” of Bishop Schofield.

The vote and the events leading to it underscore the discord tearing at the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the church is the American branch, since the church ordained the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, a gay man in a long-term relationship, as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.