"Within the Canterbury Communion the ordination of women to Holy Orders has grown from an eccentric mid-20th century proposal into a widely supported proposal in the 1970s, then into accepted practice in North America and the Antipodes. In the 1970s opposition to the new view was officially protected with conscience clauses. While most of the Canterbury Communion did not adopt the innovation in the 1970s and 1980s, the bad theology that it implies was not definitively rejected by the majority through the explicit breaking of communion with the innovators and by the explicit breaking of communion with those who tolerated the innovation."

Haverland said it was not sufficient to refrain from communion with the error; one also must not tolerate communion with those who tolerate the error. Why? Because bad theology drives out good theology.

"The ordination of women has spread quickly through the Anglican world, so that today even the final traditionalist bastions in West Africa and the SSC are beginning to crack. No Church or Province of the Canterbury Communion that has adopted the so-called ordination of women to the priesthood has ever reversed course. No Canterbury church or Province has broken communion with the bishops and Churches who accept who accept the ordination of women. Conscience clauses are dropped and dissent from the new orthodoxy is now either punished or reduced to a few, ignorable, eccentric holdouts in the places where the original innovation occurred. Orthodoxy retreats to the suburb of dissent, while error is enthroned."

Haverland scored pan-African Anglican unity, which he said mattered more to the West African bishops than does orthodoxy concerning ordination. The South African Anglican toleration of homosexuality has not led to a clear and explicit ending of communion by the other African Anglicans, only to ineffective, though supposedly stern, chidings. "Put not your trust in Lagos. In process of time the toleration of errors or the toleration of the tolerators of errors will destroy the orthodoxy of the tolerators. Bad theology drives out good.

"The failure to take a hard stance against some kinds of compromise implies a compromised theology. We are in a similar position today concerning a number of important theological issues, notable the ordination of women," he continued.

Haverland repudiated what he called "the sadism of small differences" arguing that he was not talking about soteriological views, but whether it was tolerable for a so-called Anglican Church to appropriate and claim for itself authority to alter doctrine. "Anyone in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury or the African churches effectively asserts that such a false claim is tolerable."

The Anglican Catholic archbishop called his position a "hard-line" but said it was "necessary" and "charitable."

"If we believe that the principles of the Affirmation of St. Louis are true, then we must be just as clear and firm in those principles as our opponents undoubtedly have been and re in pursuing their goals. We must forget hopes of huge numbers and connection with great Churches. We must forget success. God does not call us to success in the world but to fidelity.

"If our goal as leaders of the Continuing Church is our own unity, then the Anglican Catholic Church must be part of the unity. For the ACC full communion in sacris requires adherence to the Affirmation, and that in turn means no communion with either the ordainers of women or with those who are in communion with the ordainers of women."

Haverland added that in the great scheme of things the ordination issue is second or tertiary; but in our day it has become primary as the line that orthodox Anglicans have been called to defend since 1975.

"The ACC is quite clear on this point. While we are happy to talk to anyone, full communion with our interlocutors will require acceptance of a hard-line similar to the one we have adopted, lest bad theology drive out that good we have embraced. That is what I mean by theological integrity on the basis of the Affirmation of Saint Louis. For us this issue will quickly come forward in all of our ecumenical conversations."

The World Continuing Anglican conference drew bishops from seven jurisdictions and several priests from other Continuing Anglican bodies. Those bishops present included: Presiding Bishop Brian Marsh, Anglican Church in America (ACA). Bishop Walter Grundorf, Anglican Province of America (APA), Bishop Paul Hewett, Diocese of the Holy Cross, Bishop Michael Gill, Bishop of Pretoria, TAC., Archbishop of Metropolitan Mark Haverland, Anglican Catholic Church (ACC) and the Most Rev. Samuel Prakash, Metropolitan, Church of India TAC and the Rt. Rev. Edward H. MacBurney, Bishop of Quincy, (TEC) Ret.

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