All this has the ring of history, of the great debates of the past. Indeed, the Lambeth conferences in 1998 and 2008 are the only occasions I know of in which international Christian leaders have debated the contentious issue of homosexuality.
It seems unlikely there will be a compromise at Lambeth. Williams has proposed a “covenant” in which the provinces of the Anglican Communion agree to certain principles and a tighter discipline, but the bishops are not rushing to embrace it.
Williams sounded a hopeful note, appealing to “the heart of God out of which flows the impulse of an eternal generosity which creates and heals and promises.” It may be a hope that is only realized after Williams is entombed beside his honored predecessors.