Liberal TEC perspectives: one problem, many views

[...] "Inevitably you have some ambitious people who come to power in the Third World branches of the Anglican Communion, and they've never had an opportunity to beat up on the Episcopal Church before," he said. "So when Bishop Robinson was consecrated, it gave them a wonderful opportunity to hammer the Episcopal Church. People like Bishop Akinola have seen the consecration of Bishop Robinson as an opportunity for getting power."

Identity crisis

"We see this very differently," said Rev. Paris Coffey, pastor of St. Christopher in Oak Park, "and we're in the same deanery, so you can see how difficult it is to talk about how the whole church sees the issue."

Coffey believes that, at it's core, the issue is identity. To explain, she told a personal story. When she was a teenager in a conservative Presbyterian church, she was "kicked out" of the congregation for arguing about the doctrine of predestination. When she tried out an Episcopal church, she discovered that "not only were the questions tolerated, they were welcomed and encouraged." She said, "My great love of the Anglican Church, since my introduction to it, was the great freedom for many diverse opinions to be held in one community, understanding that the gospel was larger than any single issue." Read more