The diocese did not ordain women to the presbyterate, As of 2006 it was one of three dioceses in the Episcopal Church that did not ordain women; the other two were the
Diocese of San Joaquin, whose convention voted to secede from the Episcopal Church in December 2007, and the
Diocese of Fort Worth, whose convention voted in November 2008 to secede. In 2006, the diocese issued a news release saying that it was "unwilling to accept the leadership" of the Presiding Bishop,
Katharine Jefferts Schori, and passed resolutions asking for "alternative pastoral oversight" and withdrawing consent to be included in
Province 5 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. As a consequence, the long-term effect of these votes is unclear, as with similar cases in the
Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin and the
Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh; those two dioceses have each split into two factions, with each faction claiming to be the legitimate succession of the traditional diocese. Neither secession nor annulment of accession is either prohibited or provided for by the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church. The Constitution and Canons of the Province of the Southern Cone allow only dioceses in the six southern nations of
South America, but the Province of the Southern Cone has agreed to accept realigning dioceses "on an emergency and pastoral basis". An executive committee was elected at the cathedral on December 13, 2008, to carry out the business of the committee to Reorganize the Diocese of Quincy, in communion with the Episcopal Church, particularly to organize a special synod of the Diocese of Quincy to elect a standing committee and other officials of the diocese. Keith Whitmore, assistant bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta, retired bishop of the Diocese of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, served the Diocese of Quincy, as consulting bishop, until a special synod, held at the cathedral on April 4, 2009. The synod elected John Clark Buchanan, retired Bishop of West Missouri, as provisional bishop. ==Reunification==