Instead he stuck his finger in the eye of the POR and told them to stop meddling in his affairs. So much for the authority and power of the POR. It reminds me of the unarmed British Bobby who orders the armed bank robber to stop and surrender. At least in Florida, this doesn't work. What does this say about the hopes for letting TEC stay in the worldwide Anglican Communion? Are the hopes honestly realistic, or are these hopes at this point in fact contributing to the pain and suffering and making things worse rather than better?

The Pastoral Scheme called for all of the out-of-TEC American Churches with overseas primatial connections to go under the Windsor bishops as soon as an adequate pastoral plan was in place. This would have put an end to the boundary crossings that TEC was constantly complaining about, and it would have provided some degree of spiritual and actual safety to those recently departed from TEC. The Pastoral Scheme was a way to protect the overseas-linked congregations, but the one thing that it might not have helped them with was the lawsuits that TEC has filed against them, and the new ones initiated since the Tanzania meeting.

Conventional wisdom was that it was in all the key players' best interests to rapidly move forward on the Pastoral Scheme. Dr. Williams could have prevented further erosion of the USA situation and strengthened the middle ground which he believes (erroneously) to be the stable and large platform for the future.

The pastoral primates would have turned the border crossing over to Windsor bishops who could then cross boundaries with permission of TEC, and then the criticism over the boundary crossings would have stopped. Finally it was in Schori and the House of Bishops' (HOB) best interests to cooperate because it did pull everything back under the TEC umbrella, including the Constitutions and Canons.

Although it would have involved a temporary bending of TEC's sovereignty, it would have earned TEC goodwill internationally, and when TEC fails terribly in September to meet the compliance demands, they could have said "we tried hard and aren't there yet, but look, we are on board with you on the Pastoral Scheme," and it would have bought them more time. Instead they defied what was in their own best interests and also stuck their finger in Dr. Williams' and the primates' eyes. It seems to be a Lenten seasonal discipline of TEC giving up reason.

So with the acts of immediate defiance (new and increasing law suits by TEC and the "take a hike" message to the Communion) is there really any reason to wait until September 30th? In the real world, no. No business or nation that was intending to go forward would tolerate this behavior.

In the church world, yes, of course we will all wait until September 30th. For one thing, the communion is not set up for rapid and decisive action, and it will still need the time to put the decision making group together and ready to function. An immediate consequence of the HOB defiance is any scheme that puts overseas-linked congregations back under TEC is dead in the water.

Any concern that those parishes had based on the literal wording of the Communique is significantly lowered. The group of bishops and dioceses that are now at greater risk are the Anglican Communion Network bishops and dioceses, and unless the Archbishop acts now in the interim before September 30th, those dioceses are left very vulnerable to reprisal.

One case in point is the upcoming trial of beloved retired bishop Cox, aged 86, whose "crime" was to do confirmations and an ordination on behalf of Archbishop Orombi and Archbishop Venables in Christ Church Anglican (Ugandan) in Kansas City, Kansas. The service occurred in a congregation under the Church of Uganda, yet Bishop Cox is to be tried by a TEC Trial Court For Bishops for his "high crimes." On the other hand, an orthodox presentment filed over a year ago in Connecticut against Bishop Smith for his canonically unlawful actions against churches there has sat on the Presiding Bishop's desk, uninvestigated and with no action contemplated. This is what happens when a corrupt church misuses the canons of the church to terrorize the faithful orthodox.

Even if the Archbishop of Canterbury were to proceed with the Pastoral Council and an appointed Primatial Vicar (without the permission of the US HOB or Presiding Bishop Schori), the spiritual relief this would provide would be weighed against the immediate legal attack TEC would bring against those participating dioceses and bishops.

If this is not an ecclesiastical war, I don't know what one would look like. At the very least, a declaration by the Anglican Communion that the Episcopal Church is in a "State Of Division" would help a great deal, and if that were to be coupled with a Primatial Vicar answering to the Primates, some positive protection would result. We are indeed in need of the Peace that passes all understanding, for it is not in the world that we will find it. Blessings and Peace in Christ Jesus,

---The Rev. Canon David C. Anderson is CEO & President of the American Anglican Council