++Griswold and +Katharine Lunch with ++Rowan at Lambeth; Still No News on Whether +Katharine Flew Herself, or Chartered

There are new reports that Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams--hosting a discussion that affirmed the Episcopal Church's commitment to the shared ministries of the Anglican Communion -- welcomed Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori to Lambeth Palace October 27 for a 90-minute meeting described as a "cordial and collegial" exchange.

Archbishop 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 onto the new tarmac being outfitted in one of the Palace courtyards (photo), and according to one observer, helped +Katharine put on her flight suit by holding her left sleeve, not her right sleeve, a move that outraged two or three conservative Epsicopal clergy who saw in this subtle manuever a further indication that ++Rowan favors the positions espoused by The Episcopal Church.

According to The Anglican Communion News Service, the three also spent "time alone without observers," with one report leaking out that the three seized the opportunity of the "clergy timeout" to play cribbage and eat rum chocolates.