The long awaited Advent Letter promised by the Archbishop of Canterbury is now in the public arena. It is a remarkable piece of work-one that deserves careful reading and reflection on the part of all. Its rich theological content and wise procedural protocols will place it, along with the Windsor Report and the Communiqué from Dar es Salaam, in the center of all future discussions of the nature and calling of the Anglican Communion. It should be remembered that statements of this nature are not trial balloons or proxies for our voting, up or down, but rather have the character of Anglican instrumental discourse, to be ranged with other such documents as defining the nature of Anglicanism at a critical time. So they must be assessed with the same level of seriousness with which they are constructed and promulgated.
