As his popularity rose among conservatives, both here and abroad, it diminished with institutionalists and some orthodox theologians who labeled him a reactionary on the "radical evangelical wing" within the communion as one theologian put it, but who did not speak for the vast masses of Anglicans worldwide.

In recent weeks, that has all begun to change. No longer can a single black face be blamed for the current breakdown in the Anglican communion. His is no longer a single wrecking ball aimed at Lambeth Palace. Two very white faces have entered the ring to give him moral and ecclesiastical support.

A triumvirate of archbishops has emerged that together are shaking the foundations of the Anglican Communion. The appearance on the international scene (with a vengeance) of British-born and English educated Gregory Venables, Archbishop of the Southern Cone, offering a spiritual and ecclesiastical safe haven for North American evangelical dioceses and bishops, has suddenly put him squarely in the spotlight of international attention, bringing down the wrath of both liberal Primates of The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Canada, Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori and Archbishop Fred Hiltz.

The third global Anglican leader to emerge on the stage is the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Peter Jensen, a co-convener of the upcoming Global Anglican future Conference (GAFCON) meeting in the Holy Land.

So now we have an African, a person from the Southern Cone and another from the Southern Hemisphere working in concert together against the liberal, pansexual and slowly withering Western church that is now the Anglican Communion. Together they represent more than 70 percent of all practicing Anglicans worldwide. They cannot be lightly dismissed. Even the Archbishop of Canterbury can do the addition and subtraction himself.

Both men have changed the dominating color and the notion that it is just extreme (and naive) African Anglicans who are poorly educated (a myth that has been exploded), that are leading the Anglican Communion away from its Canterbury roots.

Akinola has now been joined by two equally highly educated Western-trained (one has a doctorate) men who are as thoroughly acquainted with post-modernity as any liberal and who are just as prepared to denounce the prevailing liberal zeitgeist in the church as any African evangelical. Akinola himself has been theologically trained in the West and is no intellectual slouch.

Suddenly now the whole ball game has changed.

VOL opined, more than a year ago, that an orthodox pincer movement was on its way that would include the Archbishop of Sydney. This has come eerily true, but added to that is the appearance on the scene of Archbishop Venables, now a major force with which to be reckoned.

It is not just these three men alone who are pulling all the strings and who may well determine the future of Anglicanism. A second tier of bishops is making inroads into the liberal-dominated communion. While they will never be recognized as an instrument of unity, they are distinctly a voice for unity among orthodox Anglicans.

Foremost among them is Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, moderator of the Anglican Communion Network and Common Cause leader. The emergence of the Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, Bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin with his willingness to confront the "principalities and powers" is the first orthodox diocesan player to take his diocese out of the Episcopal Church. Bishop David C. Anderson's organization, the American Anglican Council, (he is now a CANA bishop), along with the two Canadian orthodox Anglican figures, Bishop Donald Harvey (Canadian Network Moderator) and Bishop Malcolm Harding, make a strong alliance with which to be reckoned.

If you think liberals are not a tad threatened by all this, you are wrong. They are very concerned. Their hope is that Lambeth will see everyone (that is, those who have been invited) all assembled to fulfill the agenda set up by the Design Team and Archbishop Rowan Williams. That, of course, is by no means guaranteed and remains to be seen.

Dr. Williams has made attendance at Lambeth 2008, if not compulsory, a "cross and resurrection" historical moment which he believes one flaunts to some unnamed spiritual peril.

The orthodox are not buying this argument, though no one has said so publicly, largely, one suspects, because it is such an absurd statement. They will go right on and have their own "Lambeth" in the Holy Land a month earlier focusing on the church's true mission which is about evangelism and fulfilling the Great Commission, while the Canterbury Lambeth will undoubtedly focus on inclusivity and diversity, As one Church of England leader told VOL, "the [Lambeth] Conference will be turned into a media circus by Gene Robinson, the homoerotic Bishop of New Hampshire, and the Rev. Colin Coward of Changing Attitude - the best reason for canceling it." He described Coward as the apostle for international sexual perversion.

Even if the Anglican Communion does not formally break up, that is to say, no one issues a statement announcing that it is over, events are clearly working towards a denouement with history.

The very fact of GAFCON, the very fact that a new North American Anglican province is even being talked about, that Forward in Faith UK wants a third province and that English evangelicals want to quit supporting liberal Church of England bishops speaks volumes.

The Anglican Communion is engaged in the biggest and most devastating break up since Luther's Reformation. The potential schism, already begun, was voted among the top 10 stories of the year by the secular and religious press. With thousands leaving The Episcopal Church and new Anglican formations emerging on the global scene, there is little doubt that Anglicanism is on a collision course with history.

When the Church Times did an informal poll asking "Is the Anglican Covenant the best way to achieve unity?" the results were startling. Of the 600 plus who to date have answered the question only 9% voted "yes" with 91% registering "no" votes. To the average Anglican a covenant, if it is ever agreed upon by all parties and that now seems almost impossible as liberals have already scotched it, will be irrelevant.

It's time the Archbishop of Canterbury faces the reality that there are two different religions, both going by the name of Christianity, at war within the communion. As one observer noted, only one of them may rightly be called by that name. In that respect, Anglicans and others across the mainline spectrum are dealing with a situation that very much resembles the first century conflict against Gnosticism (among others), one that requires the same strength of conviction and willingness to take an uncompromising stand for truth that our forebears in the faith exhibited. If that means declaring, "let them be anathema," (Galatians 1:8) so be it. It ain't polite, but it's the truth.

And if Rowan Williams is able, at this late hour, to rescue the Anglican Communion, he will have to acknowledge and reckon with that. Either the Communion will continue as a failing corporation or he will proclaim the faith once delivered without apology. The time for dithering is over.

END