Rowan CANTUAR

Archbishop Rowan Williams strikes me as a most brilliant man; in the right place, at the right time. Historically, one could point to Churchill or Admiral Lord Nelson as of the same ilk.

Having kept up closely with the comings and goings of our Episcopal Church, I have also paid rapt attention and dissected his several comments as well as The Windsor Report. Regardless of my leanings on issues - I am and will remain Anglican. Most recently, I have read the Archbishop's "Letter to the Primates". Buried therein I found what I perceive to be the crux of the issue facing our Communion today.

Quoting Abp. Williams: "... whatever the presenting issue, no member Church can make significant decisions unilaterally and still expect to make no difference to how it is regarded in the fellowship; this would be uncomfortably like saying that every member can redefine the terms of belonging as and when it suited them. Some actions - and sacramental actions in particular - just do have the effect of putting a Church outside or even across the central stream of the life they have shared with other Churches. It isn't a question of throwing people into outer darkness, but of recognising that actions have consequences - and that actions believed in good faith to be 'prophetic' in their radicalism are likely to have costly consequences."

Given the previous statement, my question must therefore be: "Have we seen the beginnings of those consequences? And if so, what will be their result in the ensuing years?"