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• Primates were "distressingly silent" on the subject of violence against gays and lesbians worldwide.
  
  
• The Episcopal Church's emphasis on "a gospel that welcomes diversity of thought. … If that means that others reject us and communion with us, as some have already done, we must with great regret and sorrow accept their decision."
  
  

According to Bishop of Central Florida John Howe, Jefferts Schori told her fellow bishops she could on her own initiative still name a primatial vicar who would have delegated authority to visit dioceses and consecrate priests, but she could not delegate her role in disciplining bishops.

Late on Wednesday, Archbishop of Canterbury Williams issued a brief statement, saying, "This initial response of the House of Bishops is discouraging and indicates the need for further discussion and clarification. Some important questions have still to be addressed; no one is underestimating the challenges ahead." It is unclear whether he will continue to endorse appointment of the pastoral council and vicar.

For conservatives, future challenges could hardly be more daunting than the immediate challenges confronting them.

Those include:

• The Episcopal Church headquarters declaring invalid the election of a conservative to be bishop of the diocese of South Carolina, a conservative stronghold.
  
  
• The beginnings of a legal process to place William J. Cox, an 86-year-old retired conservative bishop, on trial for illegally performing sacramental acts without the permission of the local bishop. The incident dates to his ordination of two priests and a deacon in 2005, according to a report from The Living Church.
  
  
• The rejection by Bishop of Florida Samuel Howard of a complex plan to provide a conservative parish (Church of the Redeemer in Jacksonville) with alternative episcopal oversight. The plan had the backing of the so-called panel of reference, supported by Archbishop Williams.
  
  
• The extensive litigation against 10 conservative parishes in Virginia despite the call by primates for all litigation to stop.
  
  

Late on Wednesday, David C. Anderson, head of the conservative American Anglican Council, said in a statement the Episcopal Church's "desire for power and autonomy goes hand in hand with its rebellion against Scriptural authority."

"The church's arrogance is at its height; they still think they can dictate the relationship on their own terms, but the primates and the Archbishop of Canterbury have clearly said that that is impossible."

In her homily at the closing Eucharist, Jefferts Schori analyzed her church's predicament as a competition between two worldviews: One of them based in the Enlightenment, and the other in postmodernism. She compared seeing the church's situation to a scientist who perceives light as both a wave and a particle of energy. "There are occasions when it makes more sense to treat light as a wave and other times when using particle physics is more fruitful. Both are accurate; neither is sufficient."

But many conservatives see Jefferts Schori as inconsistent at best, not someone holding two perspectives in creative tension.

A humorist at Cartoon Church seemed to capture conservatives' doubtful opinion of Jefferts Shori and her fellow bishops by depicting a lonely, mitred primatial vicar sitting in a coffee shop awaiting instructions. Two thought balloons float above the vicar's head. One thought is set at the primates' meeting, where one primate pronounces, "A primatial vicar! Brilliant idea!" The second is at the Episcopal bishops' meeting, and a leader says, "A primatial vicar! No way!"

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March (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51