I find it interesting that persons on the receiving end of a lot of ecclesial and social aggression and death-dealing are always asked to be gracious and patient while neither the aggression or death-dealing are ever addressed. It is time to turn the spotlight on those who find themselves in the dominant manner of life in this communion. Being willing to say "no" to mistreatment and stand up with shoulders squared as children of the Easter God and refuse to be the targets of ecclesial and social hostility even if that means living with the reality of vocal and clear breakdown of reconciliation is not aggression, it is honest.

Yes, and the other thing on which "light needs to shine" (as our Presiding Bishop tried to do in her response to the ABC's Pentecost letter) is the hypocrisy in the Church of Engand (and other Provinces) about the scores of partnered gay clergy in rectories across the land!

I applaud my Primate for the courage it takes to go where he knows tough questions await. It's easy to to fire volleys from a distance, to complain to those who you know will agree with you. Having a frank and honest conversation about differences, about tough issues, is a sign of leadership and is something we should support. There is much disagreement in the Anglican Communion, in the Anglican Church of Canada and in many of our parish churches on these issues. In my opinion going to face the tough questions, knowing the conversation might be uncomfortable, is much preferred to staying at home and pretending we can fix all the problems via the "powerplay."

I would absolutely agree. I have great respect for Fred Hiltz and the Anglican Church of Canada. You are all playing a key role in the renewal and mission of our Communion these days.

I hope the Primate will be able to to tell the ABC, and I hope the ABC will be able to hear, about two realities in Canada, (1) The witness for justice in the several dioceses in which blessings of same sex partnerships are authorized.(2) That the most outstanding examples of "gracious restraint" in the Canadian Church are to be found among faithful gay and lesbian members who remain committed to the church despite the slow pace of full inclusion.

Unlike Rowan, Fred doesn't engage in doublespeak. He will be a forceful advocate.

At our diocesan synod last weekend, two of our delegates to General Synod, from opposite ends of the spectrum (yes, Montreal has plenty of room for conservatives) spoke about how Spirit-led they found the dialogue process and the final statement on sexuality. Just maybe Rowan might listen and use this as a model across the Communion.

BTW, on the headline, Fred is "Primate of Canada". "Archbishop of Canada" refers to Claude Miller, Bishop of Fredericton and Metropolitan of the Province of Canada (one of 4 internal provinces)

Jim, I'm sure the delegates are sincere when they say they found the dialogue at GS 2010 spirit filled. On the other hand, time may show that what they really experienced was the euphoria that comes with escaping controversy and hard decisions. As the old saying goes, "invoking the Holy Spirit covers a multitude of sins." I think the jury may still be out on this one. I consider courage to be one of the gifts of the Spirit. I just don't sense a whole lot of courage in our Canadian Church right now on this issue. There seems to be a lot of walking on egg shells, but dancing in the Spirit, not so much.