VOL: This is technically correct, but only technically. The Archbishop was deeply involved in this event and indicated as such by sending two of his bishops, the Rt. Rev. Michael Scott Joynt (Winchester) and Dr. N.T. Wright (Durham) to both participate and listen to what these Windsor bishops had to say and report back to him. To infer that Dr. Williams was simply a passive player is to downplay his role. Frank Griswold was either not invited or chose not to attend.

Now it is interesting to note that in his letter to the church Griswold begins by referencing the Camp Allen meeting and makes no mention whatever of the first meeting of bishops in New York which WAS called by the Archbishop of Canterbury! Why? Is it perhaps that he didn't want to tell the world that "clarity" was at last reached and "divorce" was the only way forward being proposed by a number of Network bishops? Did Griswold have a memory lapse? A brain infarct perhaps? Did he not want it repeated that Network bishops like Jack Iker and Bob Duncan were done "listening", "dialoguing" engaging in "process" all of which serves only the liberals by prevaricating and delaying any definitive decision on homogenital sex for priests and wannabe bishops?

More was decisively put on the table in NYC than on any previous occasion, and there was no nuancing about going to a "deeper place" or pluriform truths". The Network bishops let it be known they want APO and they are prepared to go to almost any lengths to get it. They have declared the TEC officially apostate and they say they will not have Eucharistic fellowship with Griswold (ever again) or PB elect Katharine Schori. How much more clarity can you get than that?

Pittsburgh Bishop Bob Duncan also made the point that "divorce" was inevitable and that all the revisionists care about is "power and properties".

Perhaps Griswold didn't want to let you know about the NYC meeting of his own bishops, preferring instead to talk about the "softer" Camp Allen statement.

Here is what he said about the Camp Allen meeting of bishops: "I would like to observe here that our House [of Bishops] contains many points of view held by persons of unquestionable faith whose desire is to be faithful to the mind and mission of Christ. Because of this, I have seen during these nine years how unhelpful it can be for us as a community when we separate ourselves from one another by signing, or not signing, statements."

Really. Perhaps the Presiding Bishop forgot that he signed Jack Spong's Koinonia Statement, or was that just another memory lapse!

And as for the "many points of view held by persons of unquestionable faith" perhaps he would like to tell us why in nine years Griswold never once talked about The Great Commission, which has to do with discipleship, saving souls and spreading the Good News of the Kingdom, all the while focusing on this worldly efforts to save humanity through the implementation of Millennium Development Goals and UN resolutions.

Furthermore Griswold completely overlooks the fact that eight dioceses now want Alternative Primatial Oversight, a "point of view" that has a certain finality about it.

GRISWOLD: "As we have learned, position statements can easily occlude the more subtle dimensions of agreement and disagreement, which is where our deepest engagement with one another can occur. As much as we draw comfort from those who share our own point of view, it is important for us on all sides to realize that truth in its fullness cannot be contained in any one perspective."

VOL: So pansexuality is a "subtle dimension" of blessed "conversation" and "diversity" in The Episcopal Church? The Windsor Report affirmed and upheld Lambeth 1998 Resolution 1:10 which was clear that no sex was tolerable outside of heterosexual marriage despite the call to "listen", a clause that was later put in their by liberals. Griswold and Louie Crew and the 80-odd revisionist bishops have constantly focused on the "listening" aspect of this resolution since 1998 and ignored the main thrust of the resolution.

Griswold talks about "truth in fullness" but this is just a replay of his favorite theme of "pluriform truths" which conveniently ignores many of the absolutes of Scripture which focus on the uniqueness of Christ and his claims for himself. The "all paths lead to God" theme is one that Griswold has struck with consistency throughout his tenure, ignoring Christ's unique salvific claims.

GRISWOLD: "The fact that some among us feel we did not go far enough in responding to the invitations of the Windsor Report while others feel we have gone too far is to be expected in a church in which people hold differing theological perspectives. We are making our best efforts within our church to be faithful to the Windsor process, and I am gratified by how we, for the most part, are comporting ourselves as brothers and sisters in Christ."

VOL: This is priceless. Just about everybody at GC2006 thought that resolution B033 was a bust. The conservatives said it was a vain attempt to conform to the Windsor Report (which Griswold now calls the "Windsor process") a subtle shift right there, and the liberals were so furious with the last minute compromise to please Rowan Williams that a whole bunch of them lead by Washington Bishop John Chane wrote a contra "Statement of Conscience" blasting B033. These liberals were so worried about this resolution that they would not even tell us WHO signed this statement.

GRISWOLD: "I am gratified by how we, for the most part, are comporting ourselves as brothers and sisters in Christ."

VOL: Was he asleep in New York City when the Network bishops told him how they really felt? The Episcopal Church is coming apart at the seams with more than 1,000 Episcopalians leaving the TEC every week, and he says he is "gratified" by how things are going!

GRISWOLD: "Given the very nuanced and cautious way in which the Archbishop expresses himself, I think it is important here to refer back to that letter and what Rowan actually said, and I quote: "It is also clear that the Episcopal Church has taken very seriously the recommendations of the Windsor Report; but the resolutions of General Convention still represent what can only be called a mixed response to the Dromantine requests. The advisory group has spent much time in examining these resolutions in great detail, and its sense is that although some aspects of these requests have been fully dealt with, there remain some that have not."

VOL: The Archbishop of Canterbury is trying desperately to hold the Communion together and he recently appointed Archbishop Drexel Gomez of the West Indies to design a covenant statement to try and hold it altogether. I know this good archbishop and he is a pretty hard shell Anglo-Catholic and he can't stand the Affirming Catholic nonsense of Frank Griswold, and he won't produce a puff "covenant" to make it look as though everything in the garden is fine when it is not. Furthermore Griswold should not count on the "covenant" saving him nor on Dr. Williams staying on the fence forever. Bishop Duncan made that point very clear in a video recording following the Albany consecration of Bishop Bill Love.

But the man to watch is Nigerian Primate Peter Akinola who has REALLY had enough of Griswold. He has planted the orthodox African Anglican flag on American soil and he isn't taking it down. He has consecrated his own bishop for North America and promises to consecrate 10 more, which raises the question, whatever happened to crossing jurisdictional boundaries!

Then Griswold moves on to the Kigali statement, and here he becomes quite concerned if not a little irritated by the bold declarations of these African primates. Here is what he wrote:

"The communiqué from Kigali recommends that there be a separate ecclesial body within our province. (Griswold has gotten the message and confirms what was said in New York City). The suggestion of such a division raises profound questions about the nature of the Church, its ordering and its oversight. I further believe such a division would open the way to multiple divisions across other provinces of the Communion, and any sense of a coherent mission would sink into chaos."

VOL: But there are at least eight expressions of the Anglican heritage [already] in this country:
(1) The Episcopal Church under the authority of General Convention.
(2) The Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Province in America.
(3) The Anglican Mission in America. (AMIA)
(4) The Convocation for Anglicans in North America - a missionary initiative of the Church of Nigeria. (CANA)
(5) The various parishes of the Anglican Churches of Kenya, Uganda, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.
(6) The various continuing churches for whom the Affirmation of St. Louis is important.
(7) The Church of South India and the Mar Thoma Church. The CSI is ecumenical but its historic succession is from the Church of England through the former Church of India, etc. The Mar Thoma Church is an expression of the south Indian form of Eastern Orthodoxy influenced by Anglican teaching. (8) The Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) now with its own bishop in the U.S.

"Such a recommendation appears to be an effort to preempt the Windsor process and acting upon it would create a fact on the ground, making healing and reconciliation -- the stated goal of the Windsor process -- that much more difficult to achieve."

Note Griswold talks about the Windsor "process" not the Windsor Report, as though the church will constantly be in a state of flux and never arrive at any final conclusion on pansexuality or any other issue, in the hope that, one day, years down the road, the whole Anglican Communion will finally roll over and buy into homogenital acts, because they are tired of fighting.

But that is not going to happen. The Global South Primates have made that abundantly clear. They, like the eight American dioceses, are done talking and "processing" and "listening" - it is time for action, and they will deliver it, either as Griswold goes out the door or under his successor Ms. Schori.

One cannot stop the inevitability of Episcopal history at this point. Griswold will not be allowed to ignore what his liberal and revisionist bishops are doing to faithful priests throughout the U.S. The fact that 16 parishes in Northern Florida have fled ECUSA and 30 priests inhibited and defrocked is no small news. Add to that the largest attended Episcopal church in the U.S. in Plano, Texas fled with the blessing of Dallas Bishop Jim Stanton cannot be ignored along with the quickening pace of orthodox departures.

The gig is up and Griswold knows it. In time ECUSA will have to come into conformity with the Windsor Report or find itself on the outside of the Anglican Communion looking in, and great will be the sorrow of Griswold, Schori and most of The Episcopal Church.

The truth is they brought it on themselves; they have no one else to blame but themselves. They have reaped what they have sown...and they have sown to the whirlwind.

END