Unfortunately true. I can look around the Atlanta metro area and see what has happened to the various orthodox/conservative Episcopalian parishes. They haven't united at all -- several have become independent non-aligned churches who answer to no bishop, others have placed themselves under different bishops from various parts of the Third World (Chile, Nigeria, Asia). Each parish is going its own separate way -- and if they're talking to the Network, I'm not hearing about it. The AAC isn't doing much here either.
It's a complete splintering rather than uniting to form a "new" Anglican body.
The article is absolutely correct that many of us are crossing the Tiber (or the Bosporus). I get calls from my old parish wanting to visit our new Catholic parish . . . and if the conservative Protestants don't get their act together, that trickle will become a flood.
'Yes, Episcopalians, and Anglicans in general, seem to embrace the ideals of congregationalism (the mentality that says, “As long as my parish is okay, I don’t care what happens on the national level.”). But even that doesn’t stop people from continuing to stream out.'
Most lay Episcopalians do not embrace the concept of 'congregationalism' for theological reasons. The problem is that they cannot take off all the time to go to all these conferences, retreats, diocesan, national, and international meetings. These national and international structures and alliances seem remote. Lay people can identify with world-wide Anglicanism, or with some ‘network’ or ‘council’ till they are blue in the face, but if the local parish does not offer anything that is even remotely satisfying, or if the local parish priest is lazy, incompetent, or in-your-face constantly with his or her revisionistic views, they begin to fall away, one-by-one, family by family. The geographical location of a suitable alternative then becomes a top priority. If you live in a huge metropolitan area, driving for over an hour is just not acceptable (or affordable, given gasoline prices.