They were already deeply troubled by the way the matter was being handled, but the letter has plenty of potential to make the situation much worse.

Justin Welby writes,
"The Call states that many Provinces- and I think we need to acknowledge it's the majority- continue to affirm that same-gender marriage is not permissible. The Call also states that other provinces have blessed and welcomed same sex union/marriage..."

The majority of the bishops wore the classic Anglican snow white rochet and cardinal red chimere topped by a black tippet embroidered with their diocesan and seminary seals. Others wore white stoles or gold or an odd distinctive orange. Some of the African bishops wore their colorful Kente stoles. Other bishops simply wore their purple cassocks sans stole. Most of the bishops were bear-headed but a few wore a bishop's zucchetto or a classic biretta, or even a Canterbury cap.

I am not always a fan of the language of "white privilege," but it is certainly discernible here. Eight Episcopal dioceses in the USA have fewer than 1,000 people in church on an average Sunday as of 2019 (there are more "micro-dioceses" now). In 2019, the diocese of Northern Michigan claimed 385 attended its churches on an average Sunday -- that's fewer than a good many individual Anglican congregations. This cannot be serious. And these micro-dioceses are, mostly, led by white bishops.

In 1908, during the reign of Edward VII, the issue of divorce was first raised.

In 1920, contraception crept into Lambeth discussions.

At the 1930 confab, the issue of abortion was broached and the marriage bed was to be considered undefiled although married couples were allowed to space pregnancies.

In 1948, the Lambeth bishops were first faced with women's ordination by the wartime ordination of Florence Li Tim-Oi in Hong Kong.