Anglican Head Meets With Episcopal Presiding Bishop, Bishop-Elect
LONDON – The spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Dr Rowan Williams, welcomed Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold and Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori to Lambeth Palace on Friday for a 90-minute meeting described as a “cordial and collegial” exchange.
The Archbishop of Canterbury was hosting a discussion that affirmed the Episcopal Church’s commitment to the shared ministries of the Anglican Communion. Griswold requested the visit last Spring, and he used it to introduce his successor to Williams just a week before Jefferts Schori commences a nine-year tenure on Nov. 1 as head of the ECUSA, to which she was elected on June 18.
Griswold said after the private meeting, “I was pleased to see the warmth of cordial interaction between the Archbishop and the Presiding Bishop-elect.”
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Jefferts Schori stated her appreciation for the “frank conversation about challenges in the Communion,” and for “the opportunity to meet together face to face and begin a relationship that we hope will be fruitful and collegial.”
In addition, Griswold also stressed the importance of relational collaboration, noting that “at the heart of communion is found the reality of incarnation.”
Williams greeted Griswold and Jefferts Schori in the State Room of Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop’s official London residence since the year 1197. After their meeting in the Archbishop’s office, Williams accompanied his guests downstairs into the palace grounds prior to their departure.
Lambeth Palace also announced that England’s Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt. Rev. John Saxbee, will represent the Archbishop of Canterbury in Washington, D.C., at Jefferts Schori’s Nov. 4 investiture as the Episcopal Church’s 26th Presiding Bishop and Primate.
The Anglican Communion’s Secretary General, the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, will also attend the liturgy, set for the Washington National Cathedral.
The Presiding Bishop and Presiding Bishop-elect later visited Westminster Abbey to join the congregation for Evensong.
Jefferts Schori officially concluded on October 25 more than five years of ministry as bishop of the Diocese of Nevada. The House of Bishops elected her 26th Presiding Bishop during the 75th General Convention’s nine-day meeting in Columbus, Ohio. The House of Deputies affirmed the vote the same day.
