Archbishop Williams Won't Attend General Convention
05/02/2006

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, has declined an invitation to attend the 75th General Convention in Columbus, Ohio, next month, citing pre-existing obligations.

The Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, and the Archbishop of Canterbury “did talk about this some time ago and it is not possible on the Archbishop's mid-June calendar,” an aide to Bishop Griswold told The Living Church.

Sources at Lambeth Palace note the absence of the Archbishop of Canterbury is not intended as a snub to the Episcopal Church, but arises from the scheduling of a “series of consultations” designed to keep the Anglican Communion from falling into “schism.”

On April 24 Archbishop Williams met with the Archbishop of York and the bishops of Bristol, Durham, Exeter, Manchester, Norwich and Winchester, along with leadership from the Church Mission Society, the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the Anglican Consultative Council, and Anglican Mainstream at Lambeth Palace to discuss the Church of England’s options given different potential outcomes of the June 13-21 General Convention. the rest