It was a case of give with one hand and take away with the other that did little to satisfy anyone. Episcopal leaders in the area had apoplectic fits over the decision.

Bishop Duncan and the diocese specifically deny that TEC is a hierarchical religious denomination or that dioceses are "subordinate entities," arguing that TEC is a confederation of equals and that General Convention was not designed as the highest branch of TEC, nor does it have hierarchical authority over a diocese. Dioceses are constitutionally and canonically free to nullify any legislative enactment by the General Convention with which they disagree, lawyers for Duncan argue.

Murchison takes us through the rough and tumble years of the Fifties and on to the 21st century. He writes of the Episcopal Church's "vaunted specialness-its reputation for gentility; the richness and roll of the language that Episcopalians used to worship God; masonry churches smelling of history and ritual; social and economic prestige outsized for a membership easily smaller than that of Methodists, Presbyterians, and Lutherans."

"Have we manufactured a large stone called 'an Anglican covenant' that will seal off creative, faithful life in the communion?" asked ACC chairman and Diocese of Auckland Bishop John Paterson, referring to the stone closing off Jesus' tomb and the council's work on the proposed Anglican covenant, in his sermon at the ACC's closing Eucharist. "I trust not."