After years of debate, the Diocese of New Westminster (headed by Bishop Michael Ingham) voted to bless same-sex couples that year. The worldwide Anglican Church immediately asked the diocese to delay the practice until it was fully debated. Global Church leaders then met to draft a formal letter specifically requesting that the diocese (and Bishop Ingham in particular) refrain from the practice.

First, though, a word about GAFCON. It came out of a gathering of a number of Primates (heads of provinces in the Anglican Communion) and other leaders in Nairobi in December. Mainly from the Global South-Africa, Asia, and Latin America- they represented more than 30 million of the Communion's 55 million active members. They met to consider the way forward amid the current Anglican divisions and confusions.

Bishop Pike, who led the Diocese of San Francisco in the 1960s, is generally regarded as the godfather of the social-activist, fringe left-wing crowd that has come to dominate the leadership of the Episcopal Church today. When he wasn't attempting to communicate with apparitions and dabbling in the occult, Bishop Pike was openly questioning heavy-duty church doctrine such as the virgin birth and the Trinity.