Andrew Hutchison: "I thought it was going to be worse."

The blogosphere is going crazy over the latest Anglican woes.

ECUSA Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold had this to say at the meeting where it all took place:

We find ourselves overtaken by a compassion, which because it is of the Spirit and not the result of our effort or imagination, knows no bounds and can enfold all persons and all things.

It is a compassion, which in the words of St Isaac of Syria, embraces not only humankind but the birds and the beasts, the enemies of truth, those who wish to do us harm and 'even the reptiles', which may be seen as representing those slithery aspects of our own humanity which we are loath to admit to the company of our 'better' selves and therefore often displace on to others as evil.

Read the rest here

Get Religion has the most extensive coverage of the Anglican responses. Although clearly, they've taken the side of African Primates.

Canadian coverage. Check out the graphic. An empty church:

They have not yet made any decisions in response to the request, Archdeacon Paul Feheley, Principal Secretary to the Primate, told CTV.ca in a phone interview from Northern Ireland where the meetings between the leaders took place this week.

We're members of the Anglican Communion, we will continue to be members of the Anglican Communion," he said, nothing that the talks were much like a family dispute during which family members "step back for breathing space, to sort things out.


Bishop Sue Moxley of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island offered her usual wise insight,

"My whole thing is: as long as we can stay at the table, we can talk. If we're not there, how can we go forward?" she asked.

Bishop Moxley questioned why the primates chose to exclude the North Americans from the Council.

"They (the primates) didn't decide that Andrew (Hutchison) and Frank (Griswold, presiding bishop of ECUSA) couldn't be at the next primates' meeting," she noted. "It seems that they don't want anybody other than primates making decisions."

She said that the Anglican Consultative Council is the only place in the Anglican Communion where laity, clergy and bishops all have a voice.

"We were right on the edge of a break-up of the Communion," said Archbishop Hutchison. Withdrawing from the Council, he said, "gives everyone a little space to think; it gives the very conservative churches something to go home with and to be able to say that their voice was truly heard."

Read the rest here.