HILTZ: I think the very fact that we all came was important. It took its course in such a way that the Communion was not broken...All the posturing and rhetoric and rumors that were so much a part of the lead-up to the meeting didn't come to pass--from that point of view, it was good. There was a lot of deep personal resolve to make it work.

VOL: They came because Archbishop Welby asked them too, to take a hard look to see if the Anglican Communion had a future or not. It was not an official Primates meeting. The last one was in Dublin and a third of the Primates were no shows.

HILTZ: The weeks leading up to the meeting were marked by tension over the American church's decision to allow same-sex marriage and the continued acceptance of same-sex blessings by some Canadian dioceses, with some leaders of theologically conservative provinces reportedly threatening to walk out if the North American provinces were not disciplined.

VOL: And they stayed because they did not want to leave some 21 newbie archbishops to the tender mercies of liberals like Hiltz, Makgoba and other Western liberal provincial archbishops.

HILTZ: There was a critical moment...when the Archbishop of Canterbury was very direct, and said, 'We have to make a decision about whether we're going to walk together.' And I think it was a moment of grace, in that a vote was taken and it was unanimous that we stay together."

VOL: The Global South, especially the GAFCON primates had nothing to lose by staying, they knew they could get something out of Welby even if it wasn't the whole ball of wax.

HILTZ: It could have gone the other way. We did have people who, if they had their way, would have asked [TEC and Canada] to leave. And there was an attempt to do that, and it failed. There was a vote...and that was not supported.

VOL: One archbishop asked for a vote and then he threatened to leave and he did. The Primate of Uganda Stanley Ntagali left because his province is in broken communion with TEC. The other GAFCON primates are in impaired communion and stayed because they wanted disciplinary measures against TEC and got it, much to Hiltz's annoyance.

HILTZ: Some of the credit for the happy outcome of the vote, which asked the North American provinces to leave (15 in favor, 20 against), must go to primates from the Global South, who "worked really hard to keep their colleagues in the room," said Hiltz.

VOL: The ball was in their court the whole time. They called the shots, Hiltz and TEC did not. The Global South exacted punishment from Welby for TEC's sexual misbehavior over gay marriage and Hiltz now knows that if his province goes down the same road TEC has gone down over gay marriage he'll be kicked to the curb like TEC.

HILTZ: An official communique released January 15, however, made it clear that TEC's decision would not be without consequences: an addendum was attached to the communique "requiring" that for three years TEC "no longer represent us on ecumenical and interfaith bodies, should not be appointed or elected to an internal standing committee and that while participating in the internal bodies of the Anglican Communion, they will not take part in decision making on any issues pertaining to doctrine or polity."

VOL: One hopes Hiltz learned something from what happened to TEC when his HOB meets.

HILTZ: While the communique was not adopted through a formal vote, "about two-thirds [of the primates] favored the consequences."

VOL: Closer to three quarters, with 27 for 3 against and 6 abstentions.

HILTZ: However it remains to be seen how these consequences [on TEC] are actually lived out. The only authority we have in matters of this kind is the mutual accountability, which is one of the principles of how Anglicans live together around the world.

VOL: The spin has begun. There ARE consequences which we will see three years down the line. If there is no repentance then TEC could be formally asked to leave or they could leave themselves, or, better still the Global South leave en masse and leave the West to slowly wilt and die.

HILTZ: The Primates' Meeting is one of four instruments of Communion, and the communique raises the question of [whether] one instrument of the Communion [can] tell the rest what's what.

VOL: Technically yes, but the Task Force set up by the ABC pre-empts anything the ACC thinks they can do. Any clash between what the Task Force concludes and what the ACC thinks will go badly for Welby if he can't reconcile the differences.

HILTZ: Reports that the U.S. church is being asked to "repent" during the three-year period as a precondition for lifting the temporary ban on its full participation in the Communion are questionable. "I think the majority of the primates would view the three-year period from the point of view of...we need to really tend to the rebuilding of trust among the primates and the churches of the Communion...we need to restore some relationships."

VOL: Wrong. The Task Force has teeth or Welby lied to the Primates, the rest of the Anglican Communion, the media and the world. It was not about rebuilding trust. There is no trust now between the Global South and the morally compromised Global North. Nigerian primate Nicholas Okoh never sat down with US PB Jefferts Schori in 9 years and he won't with Michael Curry. What about impaired communion does Hiltz not understand? This is a complete misreading of the Communique. The communique has teeth and consequences.

Hiltz refrained from commenting on how much weight the Anglican Church of Canada should give to the Primates' Meeting's decision, saying that to do so would be a betrayal of his role as chair of General Synod, the church's governing body.

VOL: It would be a "betrayal" of the fact that he knows what would happen if his province goes ahead with gay marriage.

Hiltz said it would be premature to consider whether "consequences" would also be imposed on the Canadian church if its upcoming General Synod approves a resolution to change its marriage canon to allow same-sex marriage.

VOL: Reliable sources say there would be consequences and Hiltz knows that. This is flim flam. You can be sure that the moment Canada changes its marriage canons, GAFCON chairman Eliud Wabukala would issue a statement declaring this a violation and it would be noted by the Task Force.

HILTZ: We're in a very unique place on that matter because of our polity. Since changing the marriage canon is a matter of doctrine, it has to be adopted by a two-thirds majority in each order of the church and at two successive sessions of General Synod. I don't think anyone can deliver some consequences to us, or impose a consequence, because that is to pre-empt the outcome of what happens in 2019.

VOL: But if Hiltz goes ahead with formalizing gay marriage it could knock him out of the court for an invitation to Lambeth in 2020.

HILTZ: In three years, I am convinced that the situation in the Communion will look very different than it did even in this meeting. You've got this very focused conversation [about same-sex marriage] now in Canada [and] Scotland. It will become an issue in Ireland because federal legislation says it can now happen. It is an issue in the Church of England whether they recognize it or not, and Brazil.

Even Africa--often painted with a broad conservative brush on issues around human sexuality --"speaks with a diversity of voices. Three of the primates from Africa stood up and talked about the need for them to address this matter in their provinces, and asked for help: 'How do you have this conversation?'

VOL: You can have all the "conversation" you want but the Global South will not cave into Western colonial attitudes on sodomy and gay marriage. Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. There will be no compromise on this issue from the five largest African provinces who represent 70% of the Anglican Communion. If they did it would be the end of the Anglican Communion as we know it.

HILTZ: With a number of provinces seeking ways to minister to gay and lesbian Christians and their families. One of the images that was tossed around [at the meeting] was 'pastoral accommodation.' The language Welby used at the Primates' Meeting when giving his "three I's: 'I loathe homophobia. I have a conservative view on same-sex marriage. I believe in pastoral accommodation.' " "Pastoral accommodation" is "a big stretch for some people in the Communion."

VOL: The intent of Lambeth 1:10 was to provide "pastoral care, moral direction of the Church, and God's transforming power for the living of their lives and the ordering of relationships" thus offering them a way out. "Pastoral accommodation" was never designed to allow or approve of sodomy. Never. If it turns out that "pastoral accommodation" means allowing and affirming sex between two men or two women then the Global South will have none of it.

Lambeth 1: 10 concluded, "While rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture, (we) call on all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation ... we cannot advise the legitimizing or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions."

"In view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage."

HILTZ: The Anglican Communion Office personnel could have brought much-needed clarity to the proceedings. "I just think we would have benefited from some of their wisdom, their knowledge, their insights, perhaps their counsel."

VOL: The ACO is no longer formally recognized by the GAFCON Primates. That relationship died under Kenneth Kearon and before him John Peterson. The new ACO General Secretary is a Nigerian who opposes same-sex marriage. He later confirmed that Nigeria and the Global South would never go along with gay marriage. He is walking on cut glass as his salary is paid for by the Episcopal Church. The ACO office has very limited powers, but still more than they ought to have, but they cannot and will not be allowed to dictate who is in or out of the communion. ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach is a primate because he is recognized by the GAFCON primates and Welby knows that, that is why he got an invitation to this confab.

HILTZ: Despite reports of a planned walkout by some conservative primates, the only one who left was Archbishop Stanley Ntagali of the Church of Uganda, who explained in a statement posted on the website of the Global Anglican Futures Conference (GAFCON) that the laws of his own province limit his ability to participate in meetings that involve TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada. GAFCON is composed of primates and other church leaders opposed to more liberal theological views on human sexuality.

VOL: True.

HILTZ: I think that people were looking at people like Michael Curry and myself and saying, 'They're not really monsters, are they? They're not overly aggressive, they're telling us what is going on in their church.'

VOL: May be not monsters, but Curry's final verbal fling at the ABC and the primates was aggressive, accusing them of racism and more, even to the point of intimating that he would use his Church's money to push his pansexual agenda onto the African provinces of the communion in the name of inclusion.

HILTZ: There was another reason the GAFCON primates were willing to be at the table, Hiltz said, and that was the controversial presence of Archbishop Foley Beach, who participated for the first four days of the meeting. Beach, head of the breakaway Anglican Church of North America (ACNA)--which is recognized by GAFCON but is not a member of the Anglican Communion--was extended an invitation by Welby to participate as a guest. And as a guest, he was not granted the right to vote, although he was given an opportunity to participate in discussions and had an opportunity to share his church's story.

VOL: Beach was given voting papers but chose not to use that option. It was his to turn down.

HILTZ: While ACNA's relationship to the Communion was the third item on the agenda, it was quickly established that the proper body for dealing with church membership is the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC).

VOL: Beach will never ask permission of the ACC for the same reason his predecessor Bob Duncan did not. He would never be formally recognized. However he is a primate according to the GAFCON primates and that gives him a seat at the table. Welby knew that and invited him.

Hiltz also reported that although the possibility of a meeting between Welby, Beach and TEC Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and himself was floated, it did not materialize. "I was sorry about that, actually, because I said to Archbishop Justin that if in Canterbury there was an opportunity to seed a conversation that might imagine some kind of reconciliation, however hard it would be or however long it would take, I would go to that table. [Welby] really appreciated that, and Michael Curry said the same thing. I don't know what Foley Beach would have said about that.

VOL: To what possible end? The very reason ACNA exists is because Beach and his 120,000 followers believe TEC has become so apostate, departing from the gospel that any "conversation" and talk of "reconciliation" is impossible.

Hiltz also spoke of more personal moments of pain springing from Anglican disunity, explaining that he was told at one point by some primates that they could not take the Eucharist with him. How can people hold such a spirit, knowing that the Eucharist is all about Jesus' own yearning to gather us and feed us, and to say, 'Well, because he's there I can't go,' " he said. "That grieves my heart, but I look at it and think it must grieve the heart of our Lord even more."

VOL: So why should orthodox primates who are in impaired and broken communion with people like Curry and Hiltz possibly say they are one in spirit and one in Christ when they are not! How could they possibly take the Eucharist together when they are broken apart over the nature of the gospel, biblical authority, human sexual behavior and so much more! It would be a fundamental denial of reality.

HILTZThe 2016 Primates' Meeting was the first since 2011, when 23 of the 38 primates met in Dublin, but Hiltz said that Welby plans on returning to a more regular schedule. The next meeting has been scheduled for late 2017, and there are plans to hold another one in early 2019, in advance of the 2020 Lambeth Conference.

VOL: Don't hold your breath. Unless TEC repents Hiltz cannot be sure the GAFCON primates would show up in 2019 or even Lambeth in 2020. It is entirely premature to read the minds of orthodox Anglicans or say with certainty what they will do, except, of course, when it comes to truth, and on that they won't budge an inch.

END