Jefferts Schori then flew up to Halifax, Canada, where she whined about it to Archbishop of Canada Fred Hiltz at their General Synod, saying, "I don't think it helps dialogue to remove some people from the conversation." She said their removal from international ecumenical dialogues was "unfortunate....it misrepresents who the Anglican Communion is." She also described disciplinary actions by the Archbishop of Canterbury as "colonial" and a "push toward centralized authority."

When she travels to London later this week, Jefferts Schori will undoubtedly give the Archbishop of Canterbury an earful when she ascends unto the pulpit of Southwark Cathedral, right under Dr. Williams' nose (Lambeth Palace is only a few miles away) and once again tell him exactly what she thinks.

The Presiding Bishop is learning the lesson of taking advantage of every opportunity to whine, complain and blast the Archbishop of Canterbury for not living up to her high standards of pansexual inclusion and, by association, to belittle and downgrade those provinces that don't get with the sexual enlightenment program of The Episcopal Church.

The Living Church reported that as many as five Episcopal leaders have been affected by the Archbishop of Canterbury's decision as outlined in the Pentecost letter. The ABC's letter also raised questions for the Anglican Church of Canada and the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone.

The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Kenneth Kearon sent a letter to the primate of Canada (where he has been for the past week) asking whether his church has formally adopted a policy that breaches the moratorium on authorizing public rites of same-sex blessing. The answer, of course, was yes (now approved in at least five dioceses) and, no, we are not going backwards and, yes, we really don't care what the Global South or the Archbishop of Canterbury thinks.

A similar letter was sent to the Primate of the Southern Cone, Gregory O. Venables, for possible breach of the third moratorium on cross-border interventions in the U.S.

The question is why Venables? He has not been on these shores since before the formation of ACNA, more than a year ago. Crossing borders, now that a new Anglican province has been formed, is entirely irrelevant to the whole discussion. Nobody needs to do it. Furthermore why didn't Kearon write to Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda who was in Canada last week along with Archbishop Yong Ping Chung of South East Asia ministering to ACiC churches?

Archbishop Fred Hiltz told the synod over the weekend that he has "some significant concerns about imposing discipline." The contradiction is that the Canadian body has remained committed to the moratoria, but a number of its provinces (five) have already permitted the blessing of same-sex unions. One can only assume from his remarks that he will renounce or ignore Section 4 of the Covenant as largely punitive and to be ignored.

Mrs. Jefferts Schori is milking it for all its worth. Like a travelling salesman, she is doing everything she can to embarrass Rowan Williams.

She is in England visiting not one, but three events. The first is the USPG Annual Conference: Anglicans in World Mission in Derbyshire. Then she visits the Scottish Episcopal Church for their annual meeting of the General Synod which she has been invited to address on Friday afternoon. (You can be sure she will once again smack down the ABC over this issue). Lastly, she will preach and preside at Southwark Cathedral, London, this coming Sunday.

Word that she was coming to England enraged evangelicals. Her pending visit brought a storm of protest from the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) who put out a press statement saying that her appearance is "provocative and discourteous to the Archbishop of Canterbury." They said it amounts to a further attempt to promote an agenda which runs contrary to the historic Christian consensus on the relation of Christian doctrine to Christian behavior.

"We are concerned about the following: her recent statements strongly affirm the current policy of TEC to consecrate openly homosexual persons as bishops. Such a policy is in clear contradiction to the teaching of Scripture and the stated position of the Church of England. Furthermore Bishop Jefferts Schori recently rejected the Archbishop of Canterbury's exercise of discipline on the relation of TEC to the Anglican Communion," wrote Bishop Wallace Benn, president of CEEC.

But isn't Jefferts Schori crossing boundaries when she speaks in parishes and cathedrals in England?

A source has told VOL that any clergy person from overseas is required to have permission from the Archbishops (Canterbury and York) to exercise any ministry in England. Permission is automatic for clergy of churches with whom the CofE is in full communion, unless there is a problem, such as the visits by openly homosexual New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson. Primates always get a free pass to visit, to preach, or to celebrate Holy Communion, but would not normally be permitted to confirm or ordain. However, because the CofE does not have women bishops in England, no woman bishop from another province would be given permission to function here as a bishop - that is to say, to perform functions explicitly restricted to bishops such as confirmation or ordination. "Jefferts Schori will have been advised that she may only function here as a priest. She is recognized as a woman priest, and provided she does nothing episcopal in Southwark Cathedral, her visit is lawful."

Whatever happens this Sunday, one thing seems certain, unless lightning strikes, there will be no invitation to Lambeth Palace or Buckingham Palace, for that matter. The US Episcopal Presiding Bishop will have sought and claimed the moral high ground by her visit, leaving Rowan Williams to wonder if he should have gone a step further and uninvited her to the next Primates Council. THAT would have sent shockwaves throughout the communion perhaps even struck a fatal blow to the Anglican Communion.

END