Present on this occasion will be Dr. Rowan Williams, the leader of 77 million Anglicans.

While in New Orleans listening to the HOB and engaging in "conversation", the Archbishop of Canterbury will be conscious of two guns pointing at his head. The first gun pointing at his right temple will be from a number of Global South (African) Primates who have threatened to break with the Episcopal Church if he does not discipline them. They have said they will not attend Lambeth 2008 if TEC does not become Windsor compliant.

The second gun pointing at his left temple will be from the mostly liberal and revisionist Episcopal House of Bishops who have made it abundantly clear that they do not want Dr. Williams interfering with the TEC's independent constitution. They believe that the decisions they make about sodomy are really none of his business. Of course, they will say it more politely than that, but the guns pointing at his head will not be firing blanks.

The Episcopal Church also holds a checkbook with a very large bank balance which props up the Anglican Communion office, of which Dr. Williams will undoubtedly be reminded. Furthermore, Lambeth 2008 will also be funded in large measure by The Episcopal Church, a point that will also not be lost on the ABC. The HOB has long argued that the Primates have no authority to expel The Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion, and furthermore have said that the world's Anglican archbishops and bishops cannot speak for the whole Church.

On the other hand, orthodox Episcopalians say Episcopal bishops do have the authority to comply with the ban on ordaining future homosexual bishops and could totally ban same-sex blessings. A second failure to comply, following the disastrous 2006 General Convention, could doom the Church. Final notice to comply by Sept. 30, 2007 was given to TEC in Dar es Salaam earlier this year when the Primates met.

Four groups within the House of Bishops will be keenly looking at and arguing about what goes on next week in New Orleans and how TEC can move forward.

The first and largest group will be the majority liberal and revisionist bishops. This group will brook no compromise with the rest of the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury. They will be polite but firm and tell the ABC that he can go pound sand. Jack Spong's vicious letter to the ABC and a major whine about inclusivity and diversity from New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson will help this along. They will not cave in on the blessing of same-sex unions and or discontinue ordaining non-celibate homosexuals to the episcopacy. These are non-negotiable.

The second group will be the Windsor Bishops who will be greatly concerned that the HOB has not been Windsor compliant and will try to dodge the bullets as they fly, but they know that it augurs badly if the Archbishop of Canterbury goes away empty-handed.

The third group is TEC's orthodox bishops and dioceses like Central Florida, Dallas, Albany, Rio Grande and South Carolina who want to stay in TEC, but also want to remain a constituent member of the Anglican Communion. They will have to decide what their future is going to be.

The fourth group is the Anglican Communion Network (ACN) a group of bishops who have made it very clear in recent days that they will hold special conventions in the coming months and move to change their constitutions and leave The Episcopal Church altogether. The dioceses are Pittsburgh, Ft. Worth, Quincy and San Joaquin. The bishop of the Diocese of Springfield is also a Network bishop but he has made no statement at this point in time as to how he will proceed. The Rt. Rev. Bill Love, Diocese of Albany, has said he would call an extraordinary diocesan convention if nothing emerges of substance from the HOB meeting. Love is both a Windsor and Network bishop.

As of now, VOL has learned that almost none of the Network bishops will attend the HOB meeting in New Orleans, although one has said he will be their "briefly" and another "might go".

One news report, that there was talk of a modified Primatial Vicar Plan for orthodox dioceses, has no basis in fact a Network bishop told VOL. "The press story (reported in The Living Church) was the first I have heard of this new proposal. Sounds like a case of Mother Schori knows best and she will tell us what she has decided, in her good time. Rather condescending! She has not consulted with one bishop who requested APO."

Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO), once heralded as the way forward for orthodox parishes that could not live with their revisionist bishop, has not worked. Only a small handful of parishes have taken it up.

Dozens of parishes are fleeing to African jurisdictions to get out from under both their diocese and the Episcopal Church. So long as the power to control a parish remains with the diocesan bishop, DEPO is dead on arrival.

Mrs. Schori and the HOB have also rejected the pastoral scheme put forward by the primates at their meeting in February in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The Episcopal Church is at a crossroads. The church faces possible expulsion from the Anglican Communion. All the while its own numbers continue to decline as more than 700 Evangelical and Anglo-Catholic Episcopalians leave weekly for other jurisdictions. Any notion of a personal prelature or exarchate by Archbishop Williams that would give fleeing dioceses extra-provincial status is entirely speculative and would be perceived as unacceptable by Mrs. Schori. She and Bonnie Anderson, President of the House of Deputies have made it repeatedly clear that they will brook no opposition from those wishing to leave the Episcopal Church at any level - parish or diocese - and they will work with parish and diocesan minorities to see that all properties remain tied to The Episcopal Church.

A meeting of Common Cause Partners on September 28 that includes the Network bishops could conceivably announce the formation of a North American Anglican Province with or without the approval of Rowan Williams.

This is a dicey move. Such an act would undoubtedly be met with extreme opposition from Mrs. Schori and the majority of the HOB, but met with warm approval from such Global South Primates as Peter Akinola (Nigeria), Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya), Henry Luke Orombi (Uganda) and Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda). It could also signal the end of the Anglican Communion, as we know it.

Nothing is cast in stone, and there is no telling how things will absolutely play out in New Orleans next week. If the Archbishop of Canterbury feels cornered he can appeal to the Primates for a final ruling. He is not a pope.

But with three or more dioceses in TEC announcing they will hold special conventions to change their constitutions away from loyalty to TEC for an as yet unnamed jurisdiction just days before the HOB meets, this raises the stakes on Dr. Williams. Furthermore the proliferation of more evangelical offshore bishops this week in the U.S. will only increase the anxiety.

One can be sure of one thing however, David Booth Beers, Mrs. Schori's attorney, is sharpening his pencil and just waiting with litigation papers in hand ready to pounce.

END