Meanwhile, on "As the Anglican World Turns" ...

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Correspondence from the Archbishop of Canterbury to +John Howe (Central Florida) included a development as shocking to some as the outing of Professor Dumbledore earlier this week, as the Archbishop of Canterbury has been "outed" as selling out any hope of preserving historic Anglican comprehensiveness by his seeming willingness to sacrifice diversity on the altar of "unity at any price."

From +Rowan's letter:

I have committed myself very clearly to awaiting the views of the Primates before making any statement purporting to settle the question of The Episcopal Church's status, and I can't easily short-circuit that procedure. ... However, without forestalling what the Primates might say, I would repeat what I've said several times before - that any Diocese compliant with Windsor remains clearly in communion with Canterbury and the mainstream of the Communion, whatever may be the longer-term result for others in The Episcopal Church.

The organ of union with the wider Church is the Bishop and the Diocese rather than the Provincial structure as such. Those who are rushing into separatist solutions are, I think, weakening that basic conviction of Catholic theology and in a sense treating the provincial structure of The Episcopal Church as if it were the most important thing - which is why I continue to hope and pray for the strengthening of the bonds of mutual support among those Episcopal Church Bishops who want to be clearly loyal to Windsor.

I had to read it a couple of times to believe I was seeing what I was reading. The "organ of union" is "the Diocese and Bishop" and the criterion for that union is being "Loyal to Windsor???" Words fail me ... but happily, they didn't fail Nigel Taber-Hamilton -- who offered this reflection on his blog yesterday:

At 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, October 27 any respect I have been able to maintain for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, and any hope for the survival of the Anglican Communion as we currently know it, died.
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At 5:15 p.m. I was reading the House of Bishops and Deputies List – a list-serv for members of those two General Convention houses – when I came across a copy of a letter dated October 14, 2007 from Williams to Bishop John Howe of the conservative Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida. This letter was read to the Standing Committee of that diocese last Thursday (October 18), and released this afternoon.

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The letter was staggering in its misunderstanding of the polity of the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church and shockingly naive in its understanding of where most Episcopalians stand with regard to any interference in our own affairs by foreign Prelates.
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Many progressives – including myself – supported our House of Bishops’ recent New Orleans statement, and cautioned many within our province to control their anger at its apparent abandonment of some of our members. We now owe those members an apology – they were right not to trust Williams, and they were right that our House of Bishops should not have done so either.

Read the rest here.

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Apology accepted.

And now, stay tuned for further developments in the (seemingly!!!) never-ending saga of "As the Anglican World Turns."

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Additional commentary:

Pluralist Speaks: National Anglican Churches Demolished
Father Jake: More Confusion from Canterbury
Episcopal Cafe: Think before you leap