Archbishop of Canterbury calls meeting of U. S. bishops.

Earlier this month, in discussing ++Rowan Williams' response to requests for alternative oversight, I wrote:

I’m encouraged that ++Rowan has already been proactive in this matter. . . He seems to see that the usual delay . . . will not do.

Today comes more reason to be encouraged. He has called a meeting of select U. S. bishops in September.

A chief purpose of the meeting will be to bring about a resolution of conflict in the Episcopal Church short of lawsuits and bloodshed.

Bishop Leo Iker will be there and sounds encouraged as well:

We are grateful to the Archbishop of Canterbury for his efforts to broker a cease fire in our current conflicts and to assist us in finding a way to work through the impasse we have reached. If things go well at this initial meeting, additional dates have been set aside to continue our deliberations in the future.

Again, it’s good to see that ++Rowan sees that the usual Anglican practices of delay, fudge, and bureaucratic subversion (See the Panel of Reference.) will not do in the current situation.