That the US Episcopal Church has elected a lesbian as a bishop should come as no more of a surprise than learning that the future of the Anglican Communion is once again in jeopardy. The trajectory of each has been clear to church watchers for almost a decade, so talk of schism and turmoil is not so much premature as it is tardy and, quite frankly, a statement of the bleeding obvious.

As recently as July the US Episcopal Church announced its decision to open "any ordained ministry" to gay and lesbian people. Last weekend they did just that – congratulations Mary Glasspool. You never wanted to be a "single issue person" but you are anyway. Not to be outdone on the flouting of the moratoria – three laughable "bans" aimed at keeping the Communion together – malcontents on the conservative evangelical side last year announced their decision to launch a parallel network for like-minded Anglicans, and there were accusations of heresy and apostasy thrown about in Jerusalem with gay abandon.

Although the existence of the Global Anglican Futures Conference (Gafcon) in itself is not breaking a ban, conservatives, whether in Pittsburgh, Abuja or Oxford, like rattling their sabres, threatening to break away because of the progressives ruining "their" church. Before the launch of Gafcon and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Foca), Anglican churches in Africa intervened in US parishes where there was a difference in opinion over homosexuality by providing religious leadership that is more conservative, a practice that continues to this day.

How else to describe then, other than broken, a Christian denomination that offers alternative oversight for those who cannot stand their fellow Anglicans? The conservatives have their own church-within-a-church – even if they themselves will not admit it – and the liberals are forging ahead in an inclusive direction as befits the 21st century.

Amid all this empire building and thumbing of noses the sky has not fallen in and the average Anglican continues to be bemused and more than a little frustrated at the Communion's obsession with sex, how people have it and with whom. The most intriguing aspect of this latest episode is, as always in ecumenical matters, what Rowan Williams will do next. Sidelined by the Vatican and tested once again by the Americans, Anglican eyes are trained on Lambeth Palace. The archbishop of Canterbury, so quick to lecture bankers and politicians and industrialised nations, took an age to even acknowledge an anti-homosexuality law in Uganda. But he took less than 12 hours to wag his finger sternly in the direction of Mary Glasspool – obviously he thinks one is a greater threat than the other.

He does not have authority over other Anglican provinces and, even if he did, it is too late for him to get tough with them. Everyone respects him, but nobody listens to him. While Glasspool's election needs approval from a majority of dioceses before the consecration can proceed, her victory shows how committed the Episcopalians are to same-sex relationships, in spite of vociferous opposition.

The conservatives are also pressing ahead with their vision of what an Anglican church should look like.

However one feels about the direction or values of either, neither can be faulted for their consistency, integrity and principles. If only the same could be said for the archbishop.