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.

Provocative, indeed. Coward said, based on a conservative estimate, that every society is comprised of approximately 5% lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered peoples. He determined that there are nearly 4 million homosexuals inside the Anglican Communion!

The evangelical bishop. who holds a doctorate in theology from Oxford University, said that "to object to this much needed opportunity on the grounds of its lacking precedents is fatuous. Necessity must always be allowed to trump precedence. There were no precedents for bishops in the United States after the American Revolution. There were no precedents for Seabury's consecration.

By any estimate, it was a bad year for The Episcopal Church (TEC). Growing talk of schism in the wider Anglican Communion only heightened the tensions that continued throughout the year.

There were more consecrations by overseas Anglican provinces, more fleeing Episcopal parishes, and increasing legal dogfights from coast to coast over property ownership with a million or more dollars being spent in 2007 on legal fees.