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"There's no indication from the leadership of the Episcopal Church that they have any intention of turning from the headlong rush they're on," Harmon said. "It's an under-prescription for the seriousness of the disease."

Diane Knippers of the Institute on Religion and Democracy said the report was a bit stronger than she expected after addressing the commission's second meeting earlier this year. Based on the questions commission members asked her, Knippers said, she sensed that they were more focused on managing the crisis than on providing bold solutions.

"I think the report expresses more hope than realism," Knippers said. "I have higher hopes for the primates." The 38 primates of the Anglican Communion will gather in February to discuss the report.

"For me, the big question is, Are the standards going to be clear enough that the deconstructionists cannot make it say whatever they want?" Knippers said. "I think the international Anglican Communion is still naïve about the duplicitous nature of postmodern deconstructionism."

Knippers said the report, with its recommendations of a process that will take years to unfold, fails to understand the urgent dilemma felt by conservative Episcopalians. "When you're the parents of a teenager, you don't have a lot of time for your church to get its teaching together," she said. "The report doesn't begin to understand our feelings of complicity in a church that is doing harm."

"What the primates must realize is that every delay of sending clear signals simply allows revisionist theology to become more firmly entrenched in the Anglican Communion," she said. "If false teaching is an infection, we want to see it quarantined."

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Our other coverage of the Windsor Report and its fallout includes:

Stronger Action Needed, Say Global Anglican Leaders | "The primates will add teeth" to Windsor Report, conservatives predict, hope. (Oct. 19, 2004)

Disappointed Anglican Conservatives Mull Options, Threaten Revolt | Americans must belong to Episcopal Church, report says. (Oct. 19, 2004)

Report Rebukes Episcopalians for Disunity but Declines Sanctions | U.S. church in limbo as conservative dissidents mull their options. (Oct. 18, 2004)

Weblog: Anglican Report Treats Conservatives Harsher than Liberals | News, predictions that commission would sanction Episcopal Church were greatly exaggerated. (Oct. 18, 2004)

Anglican Primates Respond to the Windsor Report | What church leaders from around the world are saying about the Eames Commission and the future of Anglicanism. (Oct. 18, 2004)

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October (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48