Every day in America, 12 children are killed with firearms. That's an entire classroom of children killed by gunfire every two days. More than 30,000 Americans were shot and killed by gunfire last year. That's more than half the number of Americans who died in the Vietnam War. At last count, 20 million people had died from AIDS, leaving 13 million orphaned children. Palestinians are suffering from a form of apartheid. In the Gaza Strip, 42 percent of the land has been expropriated for 3,000 Israeli settlers, guarded by 6,000 soldiers.

Salaries of chief executive officers and star athletes have reached obscene levels while average, hard-working individuals are laid off from jobs. Tension fills our high schools as teens have unleashed weapons upon their peers in Littleton, Colo.; West Paducah, Ky.; Pearl, Miss.; Springfield, Ore.; Jonesboro, Ark.; Edinboro, Pa.; Conyers, Ga., and Fort Gibson, Okla.

The top 1 percent of Americans had as many after-tax dollars to spend as the bottom 49 percent. One of three children in America is now born out of wedlock. Each year, 100,000 Americans die from smoking-related illnesses. The fastest-growing religion in America is a neo-pagan form of goddess worship called Wicca. While we sleep tonight, 2,500 Somalian children will die of disease or starvation.

Years ago, the Episcopal Church confronted issues like these. Our clergy and lay leaders spoke out. The church did something. It channeled our hearts and energies in worthwhile directions. Church leaders championed important causes. They drew upon what was best within us and led us to engage the critical issues of our day. They lived with the gospel in one hand and the newspaper in the other. The church made a difference in people's daily lives. Some bishops, other clergy and laity still do this, but by and large we have allowed lesser issues to capture our attention.

Our preoccupation with lesser issues has stifled our energy, split our ranks and hampered our ability to share our faith, care for the poor and address issues of justice. In the process, we hear less and less from our leadership about issues that make a difference between life and death. We waste considerable energy trying to appease those who still struggle with ordination of women or argue about gays and lesbians as their primary agenda. I believe we have missed the boat.

No wonder in many areas of our country people no longer look to the church to set the nation's agenda. It is no surprise that many young people do not admire that church enough to want to enter her leadership ranks. In the eyes of many young people, the church is perceived as being irrelevant and not a force. The church's leaders are not serving as prophets. Church leaders have less credibility to guide our nation as we continue to bicker over issues society deems already settled or inconsequential when compared to the pressing issues of our day.

The sin of America is not sex; rather it is ravenous consumption. We blindly hoard the world's resources and act as though nothing is wrong with our extravagant lifestyles. Americans are part of the 20 percent that uses 80 percent of the world's resources.

Increasingly we fight the wrong battles. We major in minors. While others die without hope, we focus on self-serving issues. We jettison the gospel imperative to care for those in need and to seek justice for all in order to form a homogenous club whose members focus on safe issues where a clear moral enemy may be declared. All in all, we concentrate on controversial issues that continue to split the church.

What's front and center? Worship and mission. Breaking bread and proclaiming the gospel. Bringing people to Christ and forming Christian souls. Deepening each other's and our own conversion so that lives are transformed. Learning and living the scriptures. Building a strong relationship with God and letting this inform all of our decisions and actions. Helping people engage the important issues of our day. Caring with compassion for those who suffer and hurt. Reconciling others to God and to each other.

Churches that focus on these concerns remain healthy. They grow and above all make a difference in the world and in ushering in the kingdom. Today, the Anglican Communion must do the same. It is time for us to end our collective navel gazing. I remember well when Jim Annand, the former dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, said, "We spend so much of our time fighting over which silver to use and what placemats to set down or how we should arrange the table, that we never get around to inviting anyone to come to dinner with us." Is that not the truth? People do not want to join a group constantly immersed in controversy. Most people want to be part of a group that has a clear vision, that makes a difference and breathes life, hope and excitement into the world around it.

What holds us together is not doctrine. It never has been and never will be what unifies us. Since our inception, Anglicans have been split over what we believe to be true. Wherever two or more of us are gathered, there is bound to be an argument. We debate how to worship, whether abortion is right or wrong, if the death penalty is just or unjust, and whether euthanasia is an ethical choice or just a cop out. We ponder whether priests should bless hunting dogs and boats, be accountable for growing their churches or leading lives of a higher standard than those in the pew.

What binds us is not one doctrine or a single straight, clear reading of the scriptures, which has eluded all of our predecessors. What binds us is common prayer. What makes us unique as Anglicans is the fact that we can gather the most obstinate and diverse body of believers, each of whom is made in the image of a loving God, each of whom bears a grain of truth, light and love, and draw this diverse body into prayer. That is our power. It is our gift to the Christian world. F.D. Maurice, William Temple and other leading lights have often reminded us of Anglicanism's focus on the incarnation. Earthly issues matter. We are called to move from worship to service. We can and should live out our faith in ways that bring about justice in the world.

Our light shines dimly but could shine more brightly. To do so, we must stop dissecting and revisiting peripheral issues and wage battle with the concerns that determine the difference between life and death. We hold the power to help people live with hope rather than succumb to despair.

As Christians we possess something that no other group brings to the table. It is the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. We ought not to hide it, nor place it on the back burner nor trade it for some pet issue. The harvest is plentiful if only the gatherers will figure out where the true field of opportunity lies. If our church is to be relevant and faithful to Christ, it is time that all of us -- lay and ordained -- begin moving in the right direction and stop pausing along the roadside to dabble in yesterday's battles or today's fleeting issues. Rather, let the Holy Spirit lead us in paths that bear fruit, stir souls and transform lives.

As George MacCleod, the former leader of the Iona Community in Scotland, once said, "Jesus was not crucified on an altar between two candlesticks but rather at a crossroads between two thieves."

The Rev. Marek P. Zabriskie is the rector of St. Thomas' Church, Whitemarsh, Fort Washington, Pa.