What pecusa has wrought

Even the most die-hard liberal must look at the news coming out of the Lambeth Conference and wonder whether pecusa's unilateral actions were worth bringing the Anglican Communion to the brink of schism. Then again, given that die-hard liberals are all about power and don't care about the destructive results of their actions as long as they get their way, I would guess that die-hards don't really care about the threat of schism. Haven't Louis Crew and VGR both said that if the Anglican Communion splits over homosexuality, so be it?

Most in pecusa are not hard-core, die-hard liberals. Most are moderates, some moderate liberals, some moderate conservatives. The level of mistrust, distrust, angst, anger, and turmoil has to be unsettling to the vast majority of pecusa if they are paying attention. Then again, most in the muddled middle probably aren't paying attention. I suspect that most in the muddled middle are satisfied if they receive the sacraments on Sunday and the bishop visits when required for confirmations.

Yet, with the newspaper, magazine and likely television news coverage, the muddled middle will soon be informed about the tremendous mess that pecusa has wrought in the Anglican Communion. They will be informed about the distrust and anger that pecusa has engendered around the communion. They will hear about what an embarrassment the pecusa bishops are in the eyes of the rest of the world (in particular, among the Anglican, Roman, and Orthodox, to name the three largest Christian bodies), but will they care?

Most will not appreciate being the ecclesiastical equivalent of the ugly American. Will it make a difference in their lives? Maybe not. But, then again, maybe it will lead to a more widespread mistrust, distrust, angst, anger and turmoil in parishes. It certainly could lead to more distrust of clergy, especially those pecusa clergy who have been silent about what has been going on in pecusa and Anglicanism over the last five years. For those clergy who have pretended that there's nothing to be concerned about in pecusa, the present and coming Lambeth coverage may blow the cover off their silent treatment. Some parishioners may not feel too kindly toward the misleading that they have received from their priests.

Lambeth coverage could accelerate the losses that pecusa has endured over the last 5 years. Instead of losing 1,000 members a week, maybe it will be 1,500. This would be a good outcome as Lambeth coverage may awaken the pecusa faithful to the reality of the Episcopal fraud.