ATTLEBORO - The Rev. Lance Giuffrida, who broke away from the national Episcopal Church with his congregation from All Saints parish, may now be stripped of his standing as an Episcopal priest.

Bishop Thomas Shaw of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts has issued Giuffrida a temporary order prohibiting him from performing any ministerial acts in the diocese for 90 days, the first of two steps toward deposition, or removal as a priest.

The Rev. Gregory Jacobs, diocesan staff officer for urban ministry development, said that under canon law clergy can be deposed if they openly declare they are leaving the church, which Giuffrida has done.

The deposition will now go before the diocese's standing committee in two weeks to consider the charge that Giuffrida abandoned the worldwide Anglican Communion and violated his ordination vows by breaking with the Episcopal Church, the Anglican church in this country.

Those charges were spelled out by Shaw in a letter to Giuffrida in December that said the claims would be brought to the diocesan committee for further action. A deposition, Jacobs said, would mean that "we as an Episcopal Church do not recognize him as a priest, and no other diocese in the Anglican Communion recognizes him as a priest."

Giuffrida said Thursday the bishop's actions were expected and will not interfere with his intent to lead his new Anglican congregation, which is no longer part of the diocese or national church and is now under the oversight of Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini of the Anglican church of Rwanda.

"His deposition means nothing to me," Giuffrida said of Shaw's action.

After separating from the diocese and the national church weeks ago, Giuffrida and his congregation were ordered by Shaw to vacate the parish property this week. They celebrated their last service at All Saints church on North Main Street Sunday and turned over the property to the diocese Monday.

Operating as All Saints Anglican, the congregation is now leasing space at Fisher College on Elm Street in North Attleboro and will have services there Sunday at 7:30, 9 and 11 a.m.

Although Giuffrida expected Shaw's actions, he rejects the basis of the deposition.

"The charge is ridiculous," he said of the diocese's claim of abandonment, noting that the church in Rwanda is part of the Anglican Communion.

As to the claim that he violated his vows, Giuffrida said, "I am not the one who rejected Holy Scripture."

The growing split between conservatives and liberals in the Episcopal Church centers on the interpretation of Scripture, but reached a crisis three years ago after the national church voted to endorse the appointment of an openly gay bishop and the blessing of same-sex unions.

A number of conservative parishes and dioceses have been breaking away across the country and aligning with other Anglicans outside the United States who have condemned the liberal views of the American church. Some African bishops like Kolini have offered to oversee breakaway parishes, and that has sparked controversy within the global Anglican church, and a call by a body of church leaders for the practice to stop.

Jacobs said that under church law, no bishop is supposed to interfere or intervene in the affairs of another diocese, a position that has been strongly stated by Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the presiding bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church. She plans to attend a meeting in Tanzania later this month of all the heads of the various branches of the Anglican Communion, when the issue will be discussed.

Giuffrida said if he is deposed, he will still consider himself to be an Anglican priest, and so will some Anglican bishops.

At a recent convention in Jacksonville, Fla., of members of the Anglican Mission in America, an organization connected to the church in Rwanda, Giuffrida said he was warmly greeted by the bishops of Bolivia and Central Africa, and by Kolini, who asked how his church in Attleboro was doing.

"They embraced me personally," Giuffrida said of the three bishops.

He also expects his deposition to be ignored by some Episcopal bishops in this country who are at odds with the national church.

"American bishops are divided among themselves," Giuffrida said. "Some would still recognize my orders."

Jacobs said that although Giuffrida may claim to still be a priest despite the deposition, "that is not our position."

If removed as a priest, Giuffrida would lose benefits under his pension fund, and other benefits such as health insurance coverage, Jacobs said, and he would essentially be on his own with his congregation.

"His future is in the hands of his new parish," Jacobs said.

He and other diocesan officials are working with former parishioners of All Saints to revive the Episcopal parish under a new priest, the Rev. William Underhill, who will celebrate a service there Sunday at 10 a.m. Retired Bishop Barbara Harris and Jacobs will attend the service, and Underhill will later meet with parishioners to plan the future of the congregation.