A number of VOL readers who asked not to be named, said that both sides traded accusations and insults about the inadequacy of the national church's response to the Windsor Report, with liberals asking conservative stalwarts like the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, Senior Fellow of the Anglican Communion Institute and a parish priest in Pueblo, and the Rev. Don Armstrong, rector of Grace & St. Stephen's, Colorado Springs to go ahead and leave the church if they can't abide by its decisions--announcing they had no use for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Primates or Lambeth, who according to them have no authority or influence "in our system."

"Things got downright nasty," said one observer. It's ironic, Bishop Rob O'Neill recently told a Colorado newspaper that "this diocese is not falling apart; we're more together than we've been in years." He's living in a fantasy world, said another priest.

The central issues were between those pushing the progressive agenda of the church and those upholding classic Christian teaching, said an orthodox priest to VOL.

Another source told VOL, the Left imploded. "One female priest grabbed the microphone and screamed at O'Neill that he was a liar and that he had betrayed them, that he had made "promises to them in several meetings" (which obviously were private, secret meetings) and he had lied to them and betrayed them."

This angry blast was combined with the Presiding Bishop's recent accusations that the Colorado based Anglican Communion Institute, has been dedicated to dividing the church for a decade.

"This lets you can see the face of toleration out here in the Wild West," said the priest. The Bishop recently announced a task force to examine gay rights issues "in light of the changing landscape of our church." The task force approach worked well in our previous pre-Windsor circumstances, but at this point the division among us is so deep that a one size fits all solution developed by a committee of undecided voters will simply not bridge the gap."

"The bishop needs to be clear about where he himself is regarding the current divisions. Not taking a clear stance is not one of his options given the recent clarity with which our General Convention rejected the demands of the Communion Primates. Hiding behind the position that General Convention did indeed make an adequate response to Windsor doesn't work because this is an evaluation that is the Primate's to make and not local ECUSA bishops--and we know even now what the Primates think about the GC2006 response---totally inadequate." "Clearly alternative leadership and structure will need to be provided for those in our diocese who are no longer able to live with the demands of Communion life and discipline--in other words for those who are walking apart into an associate status," he said. "My position is that we let them go with their properties, and use the church's resources to get back to our work...not waste time in legal battles that only serve to diminish our own witness."

O'Neill announced the panel during last weekend's state convention, in Denver, which he described Tuesday as a "positive experience," It became apparent that underneath the surface there is a deep, deep division," said the Rev. Ephraim Radner, a Pueblo pastor, Yale educated theologian and author of books on the future of the church.

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