Those attending the two-day "From Surviving to Thriving" conference at the Hylton Memorial Chapel were given a list of recommended books, suggestions on how to elect "orthodox, faithful" Episcopalians to key diocesan positions and suggestions on where to "redirect" their finances to theologically traditional causes.

His comments, made in a recent address at the Christ Church of Hamilton and Wenham in Massachusetts, have enraged traditional Anglicans who have suggested that the Bishop should be "struck down by thunder and lightning bolts". Bishop Robinson, whose consecration in 2003 triggered a schism between evangelicals and liberals in the worldwide Anglican Communion, was giving an address entitled "Homosexuality and the Body of Christ: Is There a New Way?"

I have long spoken of the "diverse center" as persons of different and often passionately held points of view whose over-arching desire has been to walk together as integral members of Christ's risen body in the service of mission to our broken world. The diverse center was able to speak with force and conviction in a way that has given hope and confidence to many and opened the way toward strengthening our relationships with other parts of the Anglican Communion.

The fact that for the first time in the known history of such gatherings the Primates refused to share a common Eucharist with the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church is but one dire indicator of the gravity of our situation. The reporting that the Primates "put aside their differences to reach unanimous agreement" belies the actual dynamics of the meeting.