Those structures not flattened by the quake were destroyed in the subsequent fire that swept through the ruins. Once the smoke and dust cleared, the residents of Napier and Hastings were met with a great surprise.

The shattered landscape bore little resemblance to the terrain they had known so well. Landmarks such as Napier Bluff Hill, a popular tourist destination, had been torn from the coast and tossed into the sea. What had once been flat ground was now a series of hills. Where there had been valleys, there was now level ground.

Most shocking of all was the discovery that the water in Ahuriri Lagoon had somehow been swallowed up, leaving nine thousand acres of dry ground. When the residents of Hawkes Bay set about rebuilding their town, they faced a dilemma. The extent to which the earthquake had changed their environment was astonishing. Their maps of the region no longer applied; those maps showed roads running along land that no longer existed. And they did not show the new land heaved up by the earthquake. (From "The Passionate Church," by Mike Breen and Walk Kallestad, pp. 15-16, Cook Communications.)

An earthquake of great seismic proportions has changed the environment of the Episcopal Church. Our ecclesiastical landscape will never be the same. The tremors are gradually subsiding but their effect is still being felt throughout the world. A new map is gradually being shaped by spiritual cartographers for Anglicanism in North America. Whether we want it or not, we are now faced with the aftermath and the need for wise and faithful response.

How we will rebuild is very important for the days ahead. These are some of the seismic shifts that have led to the un-remedial fissures in our life together. The Current Theological Trajectory of the Episcopal Church. Bishops MacNaughton and Little both wrote over 10 years ago that the Episcopal Church was running on two divergent theological tracks, and it was questioned then if they would ever come into the same station.

The former Dean of Yale Divinity School, Dr. Philip Turner suggested in a paper after General Convention, 2003, that we as a church had two radically different approaches to the gospel-one that advocated "affirmation" and another that proclaimed "transformation." In his estimation, an identifiable commitment to love and justice had overtaken a need for personal faith response and commitment to Jesus Christ.

This prevailing theology of the Episcopal Church was nowhere more evident than in the decisions of General Convention, 2006. Fr. Chuck Collins, rector of Christ Church, San Antonio, Texas, wrote recently on his parish website: "It's obvious that today's Episcopal Church is not the church many of us signed up for.

I'm sad to tell you that our church has become more interested in denouncing the war in Iraq, apologizing for slavery, and instructing us against the anti-Jewish biases of the Bible than proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The church has largely forgotten its mission and is more interested in exerting political pressure on our government than bringing people to God through Jesus Christ."

Fr. Todd Wetzel, Executive Director of Anglicans United, rightly observes, "There developed two separate and distinct churches of very different minds. One views Truth as the result of Revelation; the other sees Truth as personal, constantly changing and relative. One views Truth in Creeds and Catechism; the other finds Truth in pictures usually abstract. Neither understands the other. Both cannot be 'right.' One must prevail."

It has become clear the theological trajectory that is prevailing, and many are recognizing this as untenable. The Rev. Dr. Paul Zahl recently shared in Seed and Harvest, the newsletter for Trinity School for Ministry: "At its General Convention in Columbus, the Episcopal Church left orthodox Christianity behind, decisively and definitely. I wish we could change this fact, but we cannot change it.

The election of Presiding Bishop Schori, whose views incline to heresy in faith and morals; the overwhelming turning away from a resolution submitted in favor of the Way, the Truth, and the Life; the overwhelming rebuff delivered by the House of Deputies to the Windsor Report; and the utterly unprincipled face-saving motion forced through at the last moment: these things confirmed the direction in which the Episcopal Church has been sailing for several decades now.

I do not see how we can be a part of this anymore. To Bible-formed sensibilities, it is unendurable." Theological coexistence and compatibility no longer seem to be a viable option. Rather than patching together a false fellowship, many are also suggesting that it would be healthier for these disparate theological streams to recognize their irreconcilable differences and begin the steps to an amicable and well-worked out separation and ultimate divorce.

An evident picture of blessed departure instead of internecine battle would be a remarkable and positive witness to both ecclesiastical and secular worlds. We're a Church where Inclusivity Is Preached but not Generously Practiced. We are not as radically inclusive as we advertise. We are a church that has become punitive to both Anglo-Catholic and Charismatic/Evangelical convictions. One theological stream stands for a high regard for the historic witness and practice of the church through the ages while the other affirms the centrality and authority of Holy Scripture.

The Rt. Rev. Jack Iker, Bishop of Fort Worth, recently wrote in The Living Church (with his usual grace and winsomeness, yet pain) of the coercive actions of previous General Conventions in making the ordination of women a mandatory practice in every diocese of the Episcopal Church. He states, "It has long seemed clear to us that the respect we have shown for the opinions and actions of others has not been reciprocated."

In response to the election of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jeffert-Schori, he concludes: "The office of the Presiding Bishop is a symbol and principal instrument of unity in The Episcopal Church. By the election of a woman to that office, dioceses and congregations that cannot in conscience receive her ministry are placed in an increasingly impaired relationship with the larger church in this country, which is not of their own choosing.

Her election is naturally seen as a further imposition of the will of the majority on the three dioceses which are regarded as 'non-compliant' and obstructions to progress, rather than honored partners in ministry." Nor have many within the evangelical/charismatic stream fared much better.

When their positions and moral principles as founded upon Holy Scripture conflict with that of their bishop's practices and beliefs, they have been threatened and deposed for "abandonment of communion." Some have become so marginalized in particular dioceses that when their consciences call for departure, the comment is often made (as it was for the Church of the Resurrection as it left the Diocese of Chicago in the early 1990's), "Well, they were never really Episcopalians to begin with-good riddance!"

There is little evident grief regarding the loss of vigorous, growing, and gospel-based parishes. Bishop Jack Spong has no place, as well, for this "element" in the church, and he opined that he would rather the church split than retreat from its prophetic course set at General Convention in 2003.

We Live in a Church that Has Chosen to Walk Apart from the Global Anglican Communion. Resolution B-033 this past June was so fuzzy in its final wording ("We call upon standing committees and diocesan bishops to 'exercise restraint' by not consenting to the election of individuals whose 'manner of life' presents a challenge to the wider church.") that it has no means for showing true Windsor compliance and accountability.

Bishop John Lipscomb of the Diocese of Southwest Florida states the obvious that we as a church are now in broken and impaired fellowship. He writes: "To pretend that a state of broken or impaired communion does not exist within the Episcopal Church, or the Anglican Communion, is the height of naiveté or a deliberate ignoring of the facts.

There are shifts already taking place in relationships within the Communion. To force change by claiming the high ground of 'prophetic action guided by the Holy Spirit' and then to place the burden for division on others is hypocritical and disingenuous."

Certainly churches (maybe some dioceses) will have to choose whether their "affiliation" rests with the Anglican Communion or that of the Episcopal Church. We think we can have it both ways, but we may not have that option, especially if strong recommendations are made by world-wide church leaders in the months (maybe days!) to come. The Spiritual Health of the Rest of the Communion Is at Stake.

Why Archbishop Akinola (Nigeria) and Bishop Rucyahana (Rwanda) have recently written that we have to excise the cancer and check the pernicious influence of Episcopal Church theology is that it is clear that it is on an aggressive and destructive mission, and that it will not rest until it devours and becomes the ascendant global theological expression. To its credit, the western church has a passion for converting the whole social order to its new gospel of redefined grace.

The Global South primates are fearful and protective of their gospel ministries and they recognize that they can no longer co-exist with this spiritually malignant force.

To continue to dialogue with this theological juggernaut (as have their North American evangelical, charismatic, and conservative Anglo-Catholic counterparts unsuccessfully done for over 30 years) the Global South leaders are seeing is futile. "Come let us reason together" is an impossibility.

The Anglican common ground for true dialogue (Scripture, Tradition, and God-enlightened Reason) have long been abandoned for "experience" and "truth-telling." As the Scriptures say, "Light cannot exist with darkness." The hallmark of the East-African revival was "Walking in the Light." The primates of much of the Anglican Communion realize they are clearly challenging spiritual darkness and that they must set up boundaries to protect not only their provinces but the territory of the historic faith.

An emergent ecclesiastical structure for the expression of faithful Anglicanism in North America is now a necessity and not an option. The advertised "most roomy" church of Christendom has disappeared from the landscape of North America. For the health and vitality of not only the Anglican patient in North America but that of the global patient, more extensive treatment measurers have to be taken. One of these would be a clear severance from that which would continue to potentially corrupt and destroy.

We're a Church in significant Transition-Dissolution Is already Occurring and Will Continue to Manifest Itself. Within the Episcopal Church, eight dioceses have sought alternative primatial oversight. This is tantamount to beginning the process toward more deliberate detachment from the Episcopal Church. Countless vibrant and healthy churches have left or are in the throes of departure. This also does not account for the number of frustrated laity who are silently departing or the number of clergy of orthodox conviction who have elected for early retirement or "cross-over" to Rome or other "Common Cause" affiliations.

Other bishops and dioceses are seeking to distance themselves from the actions of General Convention, 2006 by engaging in a process of covenant and by declaring a lived-out compliance to the moratoria of Windsor and the tenants of Lambeth 1:10. (The heart of Lambeth 1:10 "upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in life-long union and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage.") Both progressive and conservative lay members are leaving the church in droves.

Pundits are now saying the church will bleed to death before it can take significant action. Most are tired of the dissension and lack of resolution, and the encumbrance of the church's ministry as a haven for true spiritual rest and replenishment. The sad thing is many leave no longer to be active participants in the life and ministry of any church.

It use to be that a conservative priest could have a hearing (or at least be tolerated) by more progressive parishioners, and, conversely, a more progressive leaning priest could still be the pastor to more conservative members of the church.

The entrenched position and new theological trajectory of the Episcopal Church has so strained this formerly positive dynamic that effective pastoral ministry and gospel witness is now also a casualty of the clash. Irreconcilable differences now suggest that it is better to separate than to continue the hostile and destructive fight. Summary Thoughts.

With these huge seismic shifts happening around us, maybe it's time to set aside all the legal wranglings over "hierarchy" and property and begin to be the generous self-giving church of Jesus Christ where it's "more blessed to give" than to "appeal" and "sue." Perhaps it's time to recognize that we're already a disparate church, and that we now need to bless one another by officially acknowledging it and acting upon it.

Perhaps we need to recognize that the theological innovations of our time are a pernicious disease that will ultimately infect and destroy the body of Christ. Healthy cells cannot coexist with destructive cells. Separation is essential for the spiritual health of the greater Communion. One of the hallmarks of Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold's ministry was his repeated call to generosity.

As emergent structures begin to develop for a new expression of classical and faithful Anglicanism for North America, it is the hope that a spirit of generosity will overrule all else and become one of the grand testimonials to the life of the greater Church.

The terrain of Anglicanism in North America is now radically and irrevocably different from what it once was. Along with this, though, comes the privilege and integrity of ecclesiastical cartographers to redraft new maps.

The Episcopal landscape will never be the same. How the rebuilding and restructuring is done will be crucial to the souls and spiritual well-being of many to come. It could be one of the finest moments of the Church.

---The Rev. Carl F. Brenner is rector of St. John's Church, in Farmington, New Mexico. This paper by Fr. Carl Brenner will be distributed on the floor of the Diocese of the Rio Grande's 54th Annual Convocation, October 13-14. Brenner was the priest who gave objection at Bishop Jeffrey Steenson's consecration to the presence of Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold as chief consecrator.

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