Dismayed by the prospect of Mitt Romney as the Republican presidential nominee, conservative Christian leaders are intensifying discussions about jointly backing an alternative candidate from a field reshaped by Rick Santorum’s strong performance in Iowa.

The plan disclosed this week for dozens of conservative Christian leaders and political strategists to meet in Texas next Friday and Saturday, a week before the South Carolina primary, is the latest of several such efforts in the last six weeks to seek an elusive unity. Among the conveners of next week’s gathering are luminaries of the evangelical movement, including James C. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, and Donald E. Wildmon, the retired president of the American Family Association.

Other evangelical leaders are holding discussions and raising the possibility of later meetings if the gathering in Texas does not yield a consensus.

But time is running short. Like evangelical voters, the leaders of the religious right have been divided over which Republican to back, dispersing their support in a way that has helped Mr. Romney and undercut their influence on the nominating process. With Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, in a strong position heading into the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, the leaders said they knew they had to move quickly if they wanted to shape the outcome.