I am anticipating that dioceses, parishes, and individuals who understand that we are part of the Church universal need to be very mindful that we hold dual citizenship, as Episcopalians and as Anglicans.

As concerned as I or others may be at the predictable acts of this General Convention, it seems to me that neither "leaving", nor being silent are options, for those of us who are concerned by the theological and communion vectors of the majority of General Convention. We are members of the Episcopal Church, and, if clergy, especially, vowed to that church. We are also members of the universal church, both Triumphant (and they do keep voting and praying) and the Militant and living elsewhere. The serene conviction of those who believe that they are answering the call of the Spirit will itself be tested. Meanwhile, leaving mires us into gridlock, lawsuits and backward looking attempts to deal with a divorce.

The history of the people of Israel and history of the Church are replete with occasions when it seemed that the church had abandoned their roots and the scriptures and, on occasion, tradition. Councils have and will continue to err. God always raises up a response. (Hosea, Amos, Luther, Wesley and Bonheoffer demonstrate that.) We need to wait and witness to the universal character of the church and the consistency of the Scriptures and tradition until He does so.

The temptation is to renounce one of our passports. I am holding on to both passports. It is like being the adult child of parents who are bitterly fighting; I still love both parents, even if I have strong and fixed opinions about one or the other's behavior and their fixed insistence on the rightness of all their actions.