Before I attempt to answer that question, I invite you to read Network Moderator Bishop Bob Duncan's Council address very carefully. See the ACN website (http://www.acn-us.org) for the full text of his address. Yes, you will need to take some time to prayerfully think through it for Bishop Bob gives his comprehensive view of the state of the Church in this address.

Many of us, myself included, have been pressing hard toward the resolution of the Realignment issue, but the greater question for the long term is the Reformation issue. You will notice that Bishop Bob both began and ended his talk by emphasizing our critical need for a "Reformation of Behavior." If we do not embrace the holiness of life to which Jesus calls us, if we do not commit ourselves to radical discipleship and fruitful ministry, and if we do not live into a Reformation of both individual and corporate behavior, then the Realignment of orthodox American Anglicanism may well turn toward increasing factionalism rather than toward a uniting, biblical, missionary church.

We were together in Pittsburgh for only a little over 48 hours. We decided that the "best use of the time" would be to practice what we are preaching. Therefore, we devoted a lot of our time to worship, biblical teaching, prayer, and listening to the Holy Spirit. We made "melody to the Lord with all our heart." We "gave thanks...for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." We rejoiced in hearing reports on youth and children's ministry, church planting, global missions, and relief and development work. And we worked at reforming our behavior by "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ."

We were committed to doing the work the Lord gave us to do in a new way. We did not vote on any resolutions in the usual way. Resolutions are by definition divisive. Instead, we all sat together - laity, bishops, priests and deacons - and introduced various topics, prayed to hear what God was saying, and then discussed them until we came to godly consensus or agreed to hear more on another day rather than force decision on any issue.

We issued no statement at Council's end, largely because we are already on record on where we stand and because Bishop Bob's address said essentially all that can be said at this time about Anglican Realignment actions in progress. Part of our Reformation of Behavior is the hard action of waiting on the Lord as He gives us the light of next steps in His plan. God has led us mightily in the steps of Realignment in these last few years, but he has not revealed the entire plan that He is orchestrating. We move only as the cloud and the pillar move.

And now to answer the question that basically asks why we seem to have so much talk and so little action, even though, as Bishop Duncan's talk showed, a lot has happened in these last three years that has moved the Realignment along. If we were a single individual or even one local independent congregation, we could have taken action fairly easily. We could have renounced the "innovating" actions of ECUSA, separated from them, and announced our independence.

We are so verbose and move far more slowly than we might like because we are and will be part of the one holy catholic and apostolic church in its Anglican expression. The Anglican Communion is largely orthodox, and indeed, in part because of the autonomous ECUSA "innovations," has reaffirmed and reclaimed its historic orthodoxy. The Network, its Common Cause Partners, and others in ECUSA are seeking a way to be part of the orthodox worldwide Anglican Communion.

And therefore we talk at great length to our orthodox family members at home and abroad seeking God's wisdom on how best to rebuild American Anglicanism. This is not simple; it is a very complex matter. Individuals must consult with their families and friends, rectors must take counsel with their vestries and congregations, diocesan bishops must meet with their standing committees and conventions, and primates must meet with each other and with their synods. We are the priesthood of all believers, we hold each other accountable, and we listen to each other.

Not all of these discussions take place in a tidy manner. Various individuals and groups with influence travel throughout the country and abroad and impact the course of history thorough private conversations. The left hand often does not know what the right hand is doing. Many cooks are seasoning the broth, and we pray for a gourmet meal.

In an attempt to speak of the Network's "plan," +Bob outlined three ongoing initiatives that encompass three components of Anglican orthodoxy in America, all of which are being discussed with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the various Primates of the Anglican Communion.
The first dealt with the detailed appeal of seven Network Dioceses to Canterbury for "alternative primatial oversight" (APO). This appeal included, among other things, dissociation from "innovating" ECUSA, recognition of Communion standing for "enduring" ECUSA, and a practical "cease-fire" in the American Church. When the Network Dioceses say that they are the "enduring" ECUSA, they are essentially saying that they have not walked apart from the ECUSA Constitution and are still "upholding and propagating the historic Faith and Order." They are saying that they will endure as the legitimate Episcopal Church.

The second initiative focused on Network congregations in non-Network Dioceses. Here the call is for negotiated settlements between our congregations and their dioceses in a godly manner. In the short term, such negotiations may lead to temporary oversight form a Global South Province. In the longer term, these congregations will form new missionary dioceses along with the Network Dioceses and our Common Cause Partners to become a new orthodox American Anglicanism as "innovating" ECUSA fades away.

The third part of the "plan" covers those orthodox congregations that have already separated from "innovating" ECUSA and are now under temporary overseas jurisdiction as members of the International Conference of the Network (ICON), the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA), and the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). The involved leaders are considering the advisability of a working arrangement best described for these groups as a provisional "missionary district" that would stand along side others who are moving toward the new orthodox American Anglicanism.

Such is the "plan" that the Lord has given us at this point in the history of the Reformation and Realignment of American Anglicanism. As we wait on the next steps in God's plan to be revealed, we continue "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." We are prayerfully submitting to the Archbishop of Canterbury as he ponders the APO appeal from the Network Dioceses. We are prayerfully submitting to the work of the Global South Primates who will meet this September. And we are prayerfully submitting to the work of the American "Windsor Bishops" and other orthodox leaders who will gather in Texas this September to seek a way forward to "remain fully a part of the Anglican Communion."

At some point in God's plan, the cloud and the pillar will move again and we will be obedient to the next Realignment steps that He shows us. Indications are that a kairos moment in Reformation history is upon us. We pray and we listen to one another at home and abroad as we strive, with God's help, to set our personal and group agendas aside, mutually "submitting to one another out of reverence to Christ." May God be glorified as we seek to go forward in His Holy Name.

END