Latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Midlands

MOUNT PLEASANT (AP) -- A second church in South Carolina has pulled out of the Episcopal Church.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reported St. Andrews Church in Mount Pleasant voted this week to leave the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and join a more conservative group.

St. Andrews is joining the Anglican Church in North America, which was created to provide a theologically conservative alternative to the Episcopal Church.

All Saints Church on Pawleys Island left the Episcopal Church about six years ago, prompting a legal fight between the denomination and the church. The South Carolina Supreme Court last year ruled the local church owned its property. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider the denomination's appeal.

Conservative churches have been upset by the election of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire.

(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)