L.A. Times: Archbishop of Canterbury outlines a different role for the Episcopal Church within the worldwide Anglican Communion.

From here:

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams suggested Monday that the Episcopal Church might have to accept a different role within the worldwide Anglican Communion amid U.S. leaders' decision to lift a de facto ban on gay bishops and to consider rites of blessing for same-sex unions.

Williams outlined his concerns in a statement to leaders throughout the communion, saying "very serious anxieties have already been expressed" among the 77 million Anglicans. The Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of Anglicanism, adopted the new policies during a 10-day convention in Anaheim that ended July 17.

Read it all here.

BB NOTE: Again, I also encourage you to read Anglican Curmudgeon's excellent review of the statement here before one finds oneself adrift in despair.

Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the statement - which does indeed read like a "call and response" of the Schori/Anderson attempts to recast what actually did happen at General Convention. Canterbury does not seem to buy it. This may be the letter we wished he'd written in 2003 - but it's written and it does seem to take the ecumenical view of how The Episcopal Church actions face serious consequences on other Anglican provinces outreach to other major branches of the Christian faith.

He also seems to agree with the Communion Partners who made the case that the Archbishop of Canterbury is in communion with diocesan bishops, not provinces. If The Episcopal Church refuses to sign off on the Anglican Covenant at the next General Convention (and there seems little energy to do so - why the MDGs got far more energy back in 2006, but of course the MDGs were MIA in Anaheim, guess no one's returning Bono's phone calls anymore). There is however energy to sign off on the Covenant not only in the Communion Partners dioceses, but also in the Anglican District of Virginia where the Anglican Covenant has all ready been embraced at the ACNA Provincial Assembly, embraced in full view of the Archbishop of Canterbury's official emissary to the gathering.