We voted that belonging to the Anglican Communion matters to us and we are committed to the ongoing conversation. Next on the agenda was the St. Michael Report by the Primate's Theological Commission. Asked to give a theological opinion on whether the blessing of same-sex unions is a matter of doctrine, the answer was a clear "yes," but it is not a matter of core doctrine.

Redding's stated rationale is not the logic I'm thinking of. "I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I'm both an American of African descent and a woman. I'm 100 percent both." This sounds like the sort of subtlety that hides a profound truth. As St. Paul said, there is an element of paradox or "folly" whenever one preaches Christ. For that reason the preacher is forced to rely on the Spirit rather than on the eloquence of worldly wisdom.

The reason the bishops blocked the change was not mysterious. The vast majority of Anglicans now live in the Third World. Their African and Asian bishops have warned the American Episcopalian (i.e., Anglican) Church that it must either "repent" or face expulsion from the Anglican communion. This was their response to the decision of the Episcopalians to consecrate an openly homosexual bishop and to bless homosexual unions.

Now let us go back in American Anglican/Episcopal history just thirty years to see why the total Anglican situation is much more complex than the situation just described.