the causes of discontent within Bermuda's Methodist Church.

The report -- by Dr. John Cartwright -- was presented during a Methodist-only meeting attended by "members from just about every Methodist community on the Island,'' said Reconciliation Committee chairman, and Central Circuit Minister, Rev. Peter Tink.

"It was an excellent meeting. The report was very well researched. It was very positive and very thorough.

"We will now take the report and study it to see what it really has to say to us. We will then develop a process to implement what we find useful.'' Rev. Tink noted that the report outlined directions the church could take to heal itself -- but declined to divulge these.

"The report points out several directions we can go in to deal with very obvious problems. It will take a lot of time and a lot of very hard work to find the best course of action,'' said Rev. Tink.

He added that the report would now go back to Synod and church members who would look at what it said. The two groups will begin a process of dialogue.

Dr. Cartwright, an ordained Methodist minister, was hired to find the cause of a rift within Grace Methodist Church which led rival factions to hold separate Sunday services at the same time.

The split between the Synod and a faction of the membership led by lay preachers Gwyneth and Willard Lightbourne came after disagreement with Methodist affiliation to the United Church of Canada.

Some church members oppose the United Church's policy of ordaining gays, leading members of the Somerset and Cobbs Hill Road congregations to cut ties with Canada.

Pro-Lightbourne Grace Church members obtained court permission to hold separate Sunday services awhich they staged at the same time as the mainstream church did. There have been worries voiced by an anonymous source from within Grace Methodist Church that the Synod of the Wesleyan Methodist Church may impede the process.