The Via Media meeting, composed of leaders from eleven dioceses, took place at All Saints Church in Atlanta, Georgia on March 25-27. At the culmination of the meeting, the leaders announced the formation of a national alliance called Via Media USA, representing laypeople and clergy with "diverse opinions about many issues facing the church" who nevertheless want to remain within the Episcopal Church.

Council members Kim Byham of Newark and Sandra McPhee of Chicago were asked to attend the meeting at the February session of Executive Council.

Executive Council had previously asked the Revs. Titus Presler and Brian Prior to observe and carry greetings from Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold to the Dallas meeting of the American Anglican Council (AAC) entitled "A Place to Stand" last October, along with Bishops Christopher Epting and Stacy Sauls, who were appointed by Griswold. But the deputation was not allowed to attend the meeting without signing a letter stating that they agreed with the AAC's positions.

"There is actually no category for Episcopalians to attend as observers, all Episcopalians who attend, whether clergy or laity must register as participants, and be able in good faith and complete candor sign the A Place to Stand document," wrote the Rev. David Anderson, AAC's president. "...The presence of any bishop or deputy who voted for Gene Robinson, or voted for same sex blessings would cause further injury and hurt to those very persons we are attempting to minister to."

Byham and McPhee said that, during the Via Media meeting, there was "absolutely no conversation" about General Convention's decisions to ratify the election of an openly gay priest as New Hampshire's bishop or to acknowledge the practice of same-sex blessings in various dioceses. "All present acknowledged that neither they nor the members of the several organizations they represented were of one mind on those issues," they said. "Rather they were focused on and absolutely committed to the unity of the Episcopal Church."

However, they reported "definite concern" that national leadership in the Episcopal Church did not understand "the gravity of the threat that members of these groups were facing in their various dioceses."

"Phrases such as 'dictatorship,' 'there is no ECUSA in our diocese,' and 'we feel abandoned by the national church' were used to describe the circumstances in various dioceses that have joined the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes," Byham and McPhee observed.

"Your presence was a great reassurance that we are still connected to the Episcopal Church," read a note McPhee received following the visit. "The feeling of abandonment is a constant battle for the remnant of non-network people in a network diocese." The two reported that the Presiding Bishop's letter of greeting "seemed to go a long way toward reducing the sense that the faithful Episcopalians in these dioceses had been forgotten."