His words offer little hope for orthodox Episcopalians who are leaving weekly by the thousands, with dozens of parishes and one diocese, possibly three or more, ready to depart the denomination for ecclesiastical safety in African and Latin American provinces.

The archbishop also made it clear that there would be a Lambeth regardless of who turns up and he "left open as to whether homosexual Bishop Gene Robinson as a non-participant could conceivably be present as a guest at some point or at some optional event".

It is clear now that the Bishop of the Diocese of Recife, the Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavilcanti will not be invited to Lambeth, nor will recently consecrated CANA, AMiA, Uganda and Kenya bishops. If so, Archbishop Peter Akinola and his bishops will also not attend, as he has said he will not go unless bishops from his North American franchise are invited. They won't be. The Archbishop of Rwanda, Emmanuel Kolini has also said he will not attend as his North American bishops in the Anglican Mission in the Americas have also not been invited. Ditto for the Archbishop of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi. We should not be surprised then if all the CAPA bishops soon announce they will not be attending.

Williams said nothing about four TEC bishops who have recently fled to Rome or what he will do with bishops like John-David Schofield who has recently left the Episcopal Church. He also said nothing about the recent formation of the "new ecclesial structure" and Common Cause bishops and what would happen if a new orthodox North American province is formed before Lambeth 2008.

Williams did say that there would be no primates meeting before Lambeth, but that he intended to convene a small group of primates and others, whose task will be, "in close collaboration with the primates, the JSC, the Covenant Design Group and the Lambeth Design group, to work on the unanswered questions arising from the inconclusive evaluation of the primates to New Orleans and to take certain issues forward to Lambeth".

By giving a pass to The Episcopal Church, Williams has effectively nullified Lambeth 1:10, the lynchpin of Anglican moral orthodoxy, a resolution that was overwhelmingly passed by the bishops of the church in 1998. As one British blog queried, why is the deliberate and public flouting of Lambeth 1.10 allowed to continue? Indeed why.

Williams' letter gives status to the Lambeth Conference as "a meeting of the chief pastors and teachers of the Communion seeking an authoritative common voice", but this begs the question, if TEC can deliberately and continuously snub Lambeth resolution 1:10 and the resolve of the Windsor Report not to continue ordaining openly homoerotic persons to the priesthood and episcopacy and not put a total kibosh on the blessing of same-sex unions, where is the discipline in the church that one longs for?

Williams says that even though we have no single central executive authority, it is nonetheless important to try and state what common ground there is before we attempt to move forward; and that it is historically an aspect of the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury to "articulate the mind of the Communion" in moments of tension and controversy, as the Windsor Report puts it (para. 109).

But where is the common ground? One has yet to see it. The truth is the Anglican Communion is becoming more polarized, with recent actions by the Archbishop of the Southern Cone, the Most Rev. Gregory Venables, to take under his wing dioceses, bishops and parishes in Brazil, the U.S. and Canada - a loud signal that "common ground" is a now unachievable.

Furthermore, the actions of Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori and her attorney to litigate against dioceses and parishes that want to leave TEC is equally a violation of the Windsor Report and Williams' request not to pursue litigation as a goal to isolate parishes. Mrs. Jefferts Schori has consistently ignored this request of the Windsor Report.

Bishop John-David Schofield recently wrote, "I have tried in vain to obtain adequate Primatial oversight to protect the Diocese from an apostate institution that has minted a new religion irreconcilable with the Anglican faith. Hopes were raised in February 2007 when leaders of the Anglican Communion met in Dar es Salaam. The direction given by them for the formation of a pastoral council would have provided the protection we requested and would have averted the need for the Diocese to seek sanctuary from another Province."

This never happened. In pre-trial depositions in Virginia, Mrs. Jefferts Schori said she had a "fiduciary responsibility" to keep parishes in the Episcopal Church for future generations, even if such generations don't exist. Recent figures show that more than half of TEC's congregations have less than 70 members. The average age of such persons is now in the mid sixties with evangelistic zeal to reproduce themselves virtually non-existent. The Great Commission has been replaced by the call to affirm Millennium Development Goals. Ecclesiastical maintenance over time equals spiritual suicide.

Bishop Schofield articulated it well when he said, "The Episcopal Church has isolated itself from the overwhelming majority of Christendom and more specifically from the Anglican Communion by denying Biblical truth and walking apart from the historic Faith and Order. [My] ordination vows require me to be a faithful steward of God's holy Word and to defend His truth and "be ready, with all faithful diligence, to banish and drive away from the Church all erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to God's Word; and to use both public and private monitions and exhortations..." I can do no other.

"TEC is currently preaching and practicing heresy and the majority of TEC's leadership will not repent as evidenced by, among other things, TEC's refusal to comply with the Windsor Report. Continuing in communion with TEC poses a clear and present danger to the spiritual health of the Diocese and its parishioners. TEC's continued membership in the Anglican Communion is tenuous and excommunication or isolation is a reality which, in turn, threatens the Diocese's place in the Anglican Communion. We must remember, we are Anglicans first and Episcopalians second," said Schofield.

So we must conclude that either Bishop Schofield is right or the Archbishop of Canterbury is right. There is no middle ground here with no fudge that one can bring to a slow boil of compromise, and hope at the end of the day that everyone and all manner of things will be well.

Recently, Dr. Williams told clergy and laity at a "secret" gay Eucharist in London that they should continue dialoging with straight folk, in the hope perhaps over time, they will relent, cave in or just give up the fight and accept the new sexual order. It is evident that is not going to happen. More recently, he said in an interview that the issue of gay priests and marriage "doesn't have a quick fix solution" and that he had "no answers" to the issue of same-sex parenting. He was, however, quick to rip what he called "savage" arguments over the ordination of gay clergy and bishops. This begs the question, what if those arguments had eternal consequences for the human soul?

Williams concluded by saying these questions "will be debated for many years to come." That is not going to happen. The whole Anglican Communion is coming unglued before our eyes. Recent schism in Canada, ongoing schism in The Episcopal Church with whole dioceses about to flee, and potential schism in the Church of England with restless Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics crying out for alternative oversight, mocks efforts by Dr. Williams to draw this out any longer.

The second most powerful Anglican in the communion is not the Archbishop of York, it is the Archbishop of Nigeria. There is little doubt that he and Williams will, sooner or later, lock horns in mortal combat for the soul of the Anglican Communion.

The words of Akinola will be the words of Schofield and scripture. "Scripture is very, very clear. Christians are called to withdraw from Eucharistic fellowship."

There are many biblical references directly on point, among them: "If anyone comes to you bringing a different doctrine, you must not receive him in your house or even give him a greeting. To greet him would make you a partner in his wicked work." (II John, 10-1 1. Also Mt. 8: 17, I Cor. 5:11-13, Gal. 1:8, 2 Thess. 3:6, Rev. 2:20; BCP, p. 409.)"

At the end of the day, we will all have to choose whom we will follow. There is increasing evidence that Williams himself will walk apart with a minority of post-modern Anglican bishops and their dying provinces. Separation might well be the price the orthodox have to pay to stay faithful "to the faith once for all delivered to the saints."

To read the Archbishop's Advent Letter go here:
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7260

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