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Maybe the primates have in mind the biblical principle that a thousand years are as a day in the sight of the Lord. But battle-scarred evangelical Episcopalians could offer the primates this warning: Convene a church commission with a vague charge, especially on anything to do with sex, and you've just created the weapon for your next political thrashing.

The Rev. Martyn Minns of Truro Episcopal Church advised the conservative Episcopalians meeting in Dallas to be patient. Let Global South primates address this controversy in their own voice, not in an American spirit that demands instant answers to long-term problems, he said. Fair enough. Amen, even.

But the accents in the primates' statement sound rather too clearly American and British. If we do not soon hear the lyrical voices of African primates, some of us believe today's Episcopal Church will be tomorrow's Anglican Communion. That is not news of joy and glad tidings.

Douglas LeBlanc is an associate editor of Christianity Today and a lifelong, though conflicted, Episcopalian.

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Last week, LeBlanc filed dispatches from the American Anglican Council meeting in Dallas. His dispatches included "Conservative Episcopalians Challenge Church Politics as Usual," "Reimagining Anglican Bonds of Affection," and "Florida Bishop Defies Episcopal Church Head."

Christianity Today's other recent articles on the Anglican crisis include:

Anglican Leaders Criticize Episcopal Church, Canada's New Westminster Diocese on Homosexual Actions | Future of the Anglican unity "in jeopardy," they say, but don't break communion—yet (Oct. 16, 2003)

Anglicanism's Communion of Saints | Under the somber portraits of their predecessors, Anglican archbishops will discuss the fractious issues of the church and homosexuality (Oct. 15, 2003)

Weblog: Where Else to Go for News and Analysis of the Anglican Primates' Meeting | The best (and worst) articles and sites monitoring the breakup of the world's third-largest Christian body (Oct. 15, 2003)

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October (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47