Since the first Lambeth Conference took shape in 1867, leaders of the global Anglican Communion have passed hundreds of resolutions and recommendations about land mines, religious freedom, nuclear weapons, euthanasia, ecology, international debt and, yes, human sexuality. Bishops from around the world participated in the conversations, which ran according to parliamentary procedure.

But that was before the Episcopal Church consecrated Rev. Gene Robinson.

When Episcopal bishops gathered in New Orleans earlier this week, their task was big, but certainly not easy. Not only did they see firsthand the chasm between the city's  historic decadence and post-Katrina despair, they faced cleavages in their own church.