Two of the largest protestant churches in America, the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians, went in opposite directions yesterday on whether to allow gay and lesbian clergy.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted to keep a clause in its constitution that bans gays and lesbians from being elected to church posts, while a majority of the Episcopal House of Deputies rejected a motion demanding a ban on the ordination of homosexuals.

The Presbyterian general assembly in Birmingham, Ala., voted 298-221 to keep the clause in its constitution that requires office holders to “live in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and sacrament.”

But while the assembly chose to keep this national standard, yesterday’s decision leaves the decision of when and whether to enforce the standard to local church branches.

“There has been more weight put on the local committee to make a decision on a particular candidate,” the Reverend Joan Gray said yesterday.

“We have not fundamentally changed our standards in regard to human sexuality,” the stated clerk of the Presbyterians, the Reverend Clifton Kirkpatrick, said. “We encourage our governing bodies to take seriously their responsibility in examining candidates.”

After the election in 2003 of an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, in the face of opposition within the Episcopal Church, the worldwide Anglican Communion of which the Episcopalians are a part issued the Windsor Report, which called on the Episcopal Church to halt the consecration of homosexuals and the church blessing of same-sex unions.

The report also called on the Episcopal Church to pass a motion expressing “regret” for the election of Bishop Robinson at the 2003 General Convention.

Though the Episcopal House of Deputies approved a resolution yesterday that expressed “regret” for “straining the bonds of affection” within the Anglican Communion, many conservative members of the Anglican community consider the Episcopal Church’s decision grounds for a schism within the communion.

“The differences are irreconcilable,” the director of communications for the American Anglican Council, Cynthia Brust, said. “The truth of Christ is the ultimate truth, which is not accepted by the Episcopal Church any longer.”

Ms. Brust pointed out that the decision is a clear rejection of the Windsor Report and that the Episcopal Church’s decisions since 2003 have been “symptoms of a deeper disease.”

Ms. Brust said she expects that “the communion will react very strongly” to the failure of the House of Deputies to express regret at Bishop Robinson’s election, rather than regret at the controversy surrounding his election.

“As it stands right now, the Episcopal Church is showing no compliance,” Ms. Brust said.

The Anglican Communion represents the largest body of Protestant Christians in the world.