I think Sarah Hey has it about right:

At the top of the hill, as people are putting their shoulders to the stationary boulder and pushing with all their might to get the boulder started on its descent, there is a unique window of opportunity to step in and ask for the shoving of the boulder to cease. After that request is rejected, yet another unique opportunity exists for the authorities to step in and cause the people who are shoving the boulder to cease their activities.

……..

We can use the analogy of the train leaving the station as well.
In the beginning it is easy to stop the train — just never start it.

But there is another train that has left the station, and that’s the GAFCON train.

The train has sat and steamed in the station for quite some time now. White smoke came from its smokestack, it made all of the noises of departure, but still it sat. Groups of people — laity, clergy, bishops, and Primates — who on the one hand knew that they could not remain close and connected to TEC, Canada, and others, yet also held out hope that the various initiatives, groups, commissions, reports, meetings, resolutions, and communiques that the authorities held out to the Boulder-Shovers in an effort to stop the activity would work.

……

For GAFCON to cease feeding coal into the furnace for a while, and pause and take a look, there must be much more urgent action than signal flags and placards and earnest messages.

Please hear me when I say this. Those who have decided to distance themselves from Canterbury and certain of the Anglican Communion’s provinces will only continue to move farther and farther away — like stars that have escaped the gravitational pull of the larger star — over the coming years.