You may have heard something about GAFCON, the Global Anglican conference, or “pilgrimage” currently taking place in Jerusalem. It was organized as a conservative alternative to the Lambeth conference of Anglican bishops that will meet in late July. Many thought that the conference would result in an outright schism, with the traditionalists pulling out of the Anglican Communion and forming something new. While the final communique has not been released, it seems that no such drastic result will ensue. Instead, the traditionalists will continue to work from “within” to reform the Anglican Communion.

On the one hand, this news sounds somewhat positive. A split has been averted. On the other hand, it means that things will continue very much as they have for the past decade: conflict boiling over, vitriolic rhetoric, a singleminded focus on issues of sexuality.

A parishioner asked me last week why St. Christopher’s ended up where it did. He was suggesting that to focus solely on matters of sexuality was to lose sight of the work of the church. It seemed to him to have become something of an obsession with some. That’s certainly true, and it’s also true that one of the leaders of the conservatives in the US, when asked why he continued to do battle with the Episcopal Church rather than stepping away, replied, “I like a good fight.”

In the history of Christianity, conflict has often functioned to clarify issues, to define doctrine and polity, to shape the church. But the real advances have often come when people have chosen, or been forced to withdraw from the larger communion and gone their separate ways. Only centuries later have the opposing sides often come to see the depth of their commonality rather than only their differences. And conflict often leads many on the sidelines, or those less invested, to simply walk away entirely.