Not everyone was celebrating when Bill Murdoch and Bill Atwood were consecrated as Anglican bishops on Thursday at Nairobi's All Saints Cathedral. Well, certainly not anyone in favor of a united Anglican Commune anyway. The two American priests' decision to become bishops in Kenya signals not only their opposition to gays in the episcopal hierarchy but also a deepening division in the already fragile Anglican Church between its conservative African and liberal American branches, which have rowed ever since the U.S. consecrated its first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, in 2003. Even at the consecration, there was no mistaking exactly what had motivated the American priests to travel to Africa. Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi said of gays, "We need to love them we need to preach to them, but not to make them lay readers, pastors, bishops."

Murdock and Atwood are not the first to defect to African congregations in protest against the American church's ordination of gay priests. Rwanda has ordained six Americans so far, Nigeria one and Uganda will ordain its first on Sunday. Though the bishops will return to oversee congregations in the U.S., they will report solely to African Archbishops. While this might not mean the end of the Anglican Church, it certainly represents a shift in momentum to an alternative power base away from the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the spiritual head of the Anglican Commune, who has had little luck keeping the peace during this debate.

Africans are more than happy to be on the receiving end of this power shift. Commentators here pointed to Thursday's ceremony as evidence that, despite being a poor continent, it serves as a beacon for morality and spiritual solace for the rest of the world. The Anglican Church in Africa is not pleased with its American branch. At a key meeting in Tanzania in February, bishops called for Americans to end the appointment of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex couples, demanding a response by September 30.

They aren't likely to be happy with what they hear back. As recently as Tuesday the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago nominated a lesbian priest to be a bishop -- which seems clear evidence that Murdoch and Atwood's efforts will do little to counter the acceptance of homosexual priests in the U.S. If the Anglican Church does eventually split into two distinct branches, there may be little love lost.