Canada asks, What's a middle of the road Anglican to do?

The Anglican Church of Canada is experiencing some of the troubles with separatist parishes and clergy, that the Episcopal Church in America, has been working through for some time. Go here for some background.

This may all play like a broken record in some parts, but for our brothers and sisters in Christ who face these troubles head on in their parishes and dioceses, the experiences are very real and very unsettling. They threaten to uproot and even destroy a way of life and a reliance on faith and communion, that have proven inseparable.

Connie Woodcock of the Toronto Sun, who has been writing about Canada's Anglican ne'er do wells for some time, asks how things have come to this and wonders, "What's a middle of the road Anglican to do?"

Her piece sparked quite a few letters, which can be read by following the link to the entire column and clicking towards the letters.

"Anglicanism has always been a big tent that has made room for a broad range of belief. Those on the far right, who call themselves orthodox Anglicans, a small group despite the noise they make, believe the Bible literally, right down to Adam and Eve. Their sympathies lie with the Third World Anglicans although they don't seem to realize that beliefs there can seem outrageous to the rest of us -- those African leaders who despise homosexuality, for instance, but tolerate men with multiple wives. Some Canadian congregations have asked to be supervised by a South American bishop rather than their own.

There are those on the far left who have gone so far as to leave the Christ story itself behind and yet still feel comfortable within the church because, after all, we are supposed to love our neighbour as ourselves, no matter what our neighbour believes.

And then there are the rest of us in the middle, wondering why we can't just go back to the way we were -- worshipping in peace and tolerance."