That is just what the West is doing, especially the Anglophone West. Britain, Australia and even the God-fearing United States are becoming atheist societies. Britain is more atheist than Australia, which is more atheist than the US, but the trend of radically declining belief is undeniable in all three.

In every generation the Church faces a live or die challenge. Convert or be converted. Either act as an agency for people to encounter the Living God and be forgiven, turned and transformed; or fit into the unforgiving contours of a society that is driven by other forces, other appetites, and smear over their agenda a patina of spirituality that confers a thin covering of political and cultural legitimacy.

Archbishop's Prayer at Amritsar

The communique says, 'Archbishop Justin will visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar and will be the first Archbishop to visit the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. He will join in commemorations for this tragedy, when thousands of unarmed Indians of many different faiths were shot by British troops in 1919.'

A showdown over homosexuality was the flash point for many churches leaving TEC, but the conflict had much deeper roots. Some Episcopalian bishops had long since rejected the authority of Scripture, the resurrection of Jesus, and the exclusivity of Christianity. And those who were Biblically faithful had a big problem: TEC hierarchs would not let them maintain faithful witness.