WOODBRIDGE, N.J. — Jim McGreevey has gone from altar boy to mayor to the nation's first openly gay governor.

From the moment he stood at a podium in 2004 and announced he was a "gay American" who was resigning because of an affair with a male staffer (who denies it), people wondered what McGreevey's Act Two would be.

Now we know: He is taking steps toward becoming an Episcopal priest.

Embroiled in a bitter divorce battle, McGreevey has joined the Episcopal Church and entered a program for prospective clergy deciding whether the priesthood is their true calling.

Raised Catholic, McGreevey was accepted into the Episcopal Church on April 29 at Manhattan's St. Bartholomew Church. This fall, he starts studies at the Episcopal General Theological Seminary in New York.

Preparing for the priesthood usually takes at least three years, but can last much longer.

"Where Mr. McGreevey goes with this is up to him," school spokesman Bruce Parker said. "We have a lot of people studying here who are not interested in ordination at all."

The former governor has joined a denomination embroiled in its own controversy: The Episcopal Church caused an uproar in the global Anglican family in 2003 by consecrating its first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Anglican leaders have given the U.S. denomination until Sept. 30 to step back from its support of gays or risk losing its full membership in the 77-million-member Anglican Communion.

Within the 2.3-million-member U.S. denomination, theological conservatives are a minority. Many Episcopal parishes are welcoming toward same-sex partners and gay clergy, and several bishops allow individual priests to conduct blessing ceremonies for same-gender couples.

Some see an inspiring tale of redemption in McGreevey's new vocation; others see him as something akin to a bad rash that won't go away.

Word of McGreevey's plans came the same week that his estranged wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, hit the talk-show circuit to promote her book, "Silent Partner," about their life together and subsequent breakup. Their ongoing divorce has become so nasty that a judge scolded the two to remember that their daughter, now 5, will someday read what they are saying about each other.

Dina Matos McGreevey issued a statement, terming his seminary plans "the most absurd thing I've ever heard."

"He needs to be in the spotlight," she said. "I am astounded by his arrogance."

Jim McGreevey stepped down as governor in 2004, claiming he had an affair with Golan Cipel, whom he had appointed as homeland security adviser, and that Cipel threatened to sue him. Cipel denies an affair with McGreevey, claiming he was sexually harassed by the ex-governor.

Many in his former hometown see McGreevey as a cunning political operative, even now. They note that he got married and had a child knowing he was gay, resigned before Cipel could publicly accuse him of wrongdoing, wrote a tell-all book just as he and his wife were hashing out divorce terms, and joined a new religion and the seminary the week his wife's side of the story came out in her book.

A close friend of his, state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, insists the former governor had long been interested in becoming a priest or having some other religious role.

"It's always been on his mind," said Lesniak, who attends prayer meetings with McGreevey. "It's been a natural progression since he acknowledged who he truly is."

Lesniak said that since being received into the Episcopal Church, "he's very much at peace and yet at the same time disturbed by the fact that it came out at that time."

"He would have preferred to have had this happen privately, but him being who he is, that's not possible," Lesniak said.

McGreevey now teaches at Kean University (named after the family of another famous New Jersey governor), earning $17,500 as "executive in residence." He guest-lectures in a graduate business administration program. So far, he has taught a class on law and ethics, and another on management and leadership. The head of the state's Republican Party likened McGreevey teaching an ethics class to "Dr. Kevorkian teaching health maintenance."

But Crew said McGreevey's political talents, an asset in ministry, might not lead the former governor to the pulpit.

"He is obviously a very capable person in terms of moving with and juggling a lot of people," Crew said. "Instead of some big, visible leadership role, that may translate into running one of the most efficient soup kitchens in the world, where no one knows who you are."