It would seem that an explanation is in order. In a column about the Anglican Encounter of the South [TLC, May 25], I appeared to have offended a large portion of the readership of this magazine with two remarks. The first was when I referred to the Anglican Encounter of the South as "mysterious." The other was my opinion that most Episcopalians would not care whether they were out of communion with the Anglican Province of South East Asia.

Those offending remarks brought a mailbag full of letters to the editor [TLC, June 15], seven or eight phone calls (including one at home on Memorial Day), and descriptions of me or my work as "condescending," a "house man for '815'," a "faggot," a "racist," a "traitor" and a "moron." I must admit a couple of those appellations are new for me.

Now to the explanation. The word "mysterious" was chosen because it seemed to be apt. I must admit never having heard of the Anglican Encounter of the South. The day I found out about it, I happened to be speaking with two bishops. Neither had heard of it. To determine whether the now-renowned Kuala Lumpur Statement was on the level, I asked a few others - three priests and five lay persons, all in positions of leadership in the church - whether they had any knowledge of this body. None did. One of them said, "It's a mystery to me."

The other remark was simply my opinion. I wrote, "My guess is that a sizable portion of the Episcopal Church will care not a bit whether some other Anglican province declares itself out of communion with the American church." I still believe that. For the most part, the average Episcopalian cares nothing for the church beyond the walls of that building where worship takes place on Sunday morning. I know readers of TLC don't think like this, but they're in the minority. For most Episcopalians, the diocese is a nuisance, the national church is ignored. And the Anglican Communion? It's mostly unknown.

I think it doesn't matter to the average Episcopalian whether this church is in communion with any province, whether it's South East Asia or the Church of England. I don't like that, but I'm afraid that's where much of the church is. I think David Sumner was on the right track when, in his Viewpoint article [TLC, May 25], he described the Episcopal Church as being congregationalist.

My own feeling is that the Kuala Lumpur Statement is a sound document, thoroughly Anglican, and I support it. Its release is probably too late to have any effect upon the Episcopal Church, but it deserves wide circulation throughout the rest of the Anglican Communion.

David Kalvelage, editor