Thinking Anglicans

Initial Reactions to new Archbishop of Canterbury

This page will be updated during the day

The Church of England gives us this Prayer for the new Archbishop of Canterbury.

Following the press conference to announce the new Archbishop this morning the following press reports have already appeared.

Madeleine Davies in the Church Times Welby confirmed as Williams’s successor
and Welby optimistic about Church: ‘The tide of events is turning’

Paul Handley in the Church Times On handling the press

Lizzy Davies in The Guardian Justin Welby confirmed as archbishop of Canterbury
and Justin Welby urges General Synod to vote to ordain women
and Clerical duties: what does the archbishop of Canterbury do?

Andrew Brown in The Guardian Justin Welby introduces himself with self-deprecation and a hint of steel

BBC Justin Welby named as next Archbishop of Canterbury
The new Archbishop of Canterbury: 10 lesser-known things

John Bingham in the Telegraph Justin Welby confirmed as next Archbishop of Canterbury
and New Archbishop Justin Welby pledges re-think on gay marriage relationships
and African leaders warn Welby: Anglican Church is ‘fractured’

Steve Doughty and Amanda Williams in the Mail Online Former oil industry executive the Rt Rev Justin Welby confirmed as next Archbishop of Canterbury quips ‘This is the best-kept secret since the last Cabinet reshuffle’

Channel 4 news Justin Welby named Archbishop of Canterbury

Liverpool Echo Justin Welby announced as new Archbishop of Canterbury
Liverpool Daily Post New Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Wilby upbeat over future of church

New York Times Alan Cowell and John F Burns Former Oil Executive Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury

Christian Today Conservative Anglicans welcome new Archbishop of Canterbury
and What Christians are saying about the next Archbishop of Canterbury

Interview with the Archbishop-designate on BBC Radio Four’s World at One.

Robert Barr for Associated Press Ex-oilman Welby named archbishop of Canterbury

Trevor Grundy in the Washington Post New Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby inherits a divided Anglican Communion

A number of English dioceses have already responded to the announcement.

Bristol Canterbury Derby Ely Lincoln Liverpool Norwich Portsmouth Sheffield Winchester York

There are these other responses.

Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, the Right Reverend James Tengatenga, Bishop of Malawi
Kenneth Kearon Secretary General of the Anglican Communion
Scottish Episcopal Church
Inclusive Church
Baptist Times
Chief Rabbi
UK Ambassador to the Holy See
Church Army
Affirming Catholicism
WATCH (Women and the Church)
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori
Archbishop Vincent Nichols
Church in Wales
Integrity USA

David Pocklington at Law & Religion UK has Ten further questions for the new Archbishop of Canterbury.

Andrew Brown in The Guardian The new archbishop of Canterbury: money, sex and other headaches

Savi Hensman for Ekklesia Justin Welby: archbishop amidst fallen idols

Rocco Palmo at Whispers in the Loggia For Canterbury, Rerum Novarum

Paul Bickley at politics.co.uk Welby is well suited to walk a difficult path ahead

Ekklesia No place for homophobia in church, says Archbishop-elect
and Welby speaks in favour of the Living Wage and tax reform

Giles Fraser in The Guardian As the CofE’s top man, Justin Welby must cope with our infantile projections

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Rod Gillis
Rod Gillis
12 years ago

Just to add to the wealth of articles on your site, this one from the Daily in Canada’s capital, which reads in part,

“Welby said he supported the ordination of women as bishops, and indicated his thinking on same-sex marriage — which he has opposed — was evolving.”

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Bishop+Durham+Justin+Welby+appointed+Britains+next+archbishop/7524083/story.html#ixzz2BkADCuOF

Kurt
Kurt
12 years ago

Oh, great. An Evangelical, former oil company executive, who opposes gay marriage. Just great.

Kurt Hill
Brooklyn, NY

rjb
rjb
12 years ago

Can it be that nobody has yet thought to ask Lord Carey of Clifton for his opinion on the new archbishop? I’m quite certain he must have a view he’s just bursting to share with the world. Won’t someone please put him back in the papers and the rest of us out of our misery? Ruth Gledhill, I think this is your remit.

Father David
Father David
12 years ago

I believe that Bishop Martin of Chichester has also offered his prayers and good wishes on his diocesan website to the Archbishop Designate.

Father David
Father David
12 years ago

That wise old bird – Dr. Kenneth Stevenson – the late Bishop of Portsmouth once wrote that bishops, in his view, were either Prefects or Rebels and that there were too many of the former and not enough of the latter. I wonder whether ++ Justin is going to turn out to be a Prefect or a Rebel as he ascends to the throne of St. Augustine in Canterbury Cathedral?

Spirit of Vatican II
12 years ago

He seems duller than his predecessor and so likely to attract less attention. He uses the phrase “lgbt communities” — haven’t heard it on episcopal lips before.

Randal Oulton
Randal Oulton
12 years ago

What’s the background on this?

We’re told that constitutional convention had been responsible for the delay – the pope and Queen had to be told before the news could be confirmed. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/nov/09/justin-welby-self-deprecation-steel(the Pope bit, I mean)

Tim Chesterton
Tim Chesterton
12 years ago

‘The key thing he had got from his career in the oil industry was “the sense of having lived and worked in a world where the church is felt to be completely irrelevant”.’

Excellent perspective for an ABC to have. Reminds me of the late Jack Sperry, former bishop of the Arctic, who told me that his best ordination training was his years on a destroyer escort in the Battle of the Atlantic, learning to get along and live as a Christian among people for whom the very idea of Christianity was a joke.

Tim Chesterton
Tim Chesterton
12 years ago

‘Oh, great. An Evangelical, former oil company executive, who opposes gay marriage. Just great.’ – Kurt Hill

An evangelical who appreciates Benedictine and Ignatian spirituality and has a Benedictine monk as his spiritual director. A former oil company executive who has said some pretty left-wing things about business and banking (so says Peter Mullen). A guy who opposes gay marriage but says he knows he needs to reconsider his views carefully and prayerfully.

Cheer up, Kurt; some evangelicals are already saying he’s not evangelical enough!

Counterlight
Counterlight
12 years ago

I must admit that I slept through this conclave and missed the white smoke.
I’m too busy noticing that the voters in three states in the USA approved marriage equality for gays and lesbians by 3 to 6 percentage point margins. The voters in a fourth state rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment banning marriage equality for same-sex couples.
That is a major shift of the tectonic plates in public opinion on this issue, and of far more consequence for us in the USA than which gray head will wear the Canterbury miter.

Richard Ashby
Richard Ashby
12 years ago

I too wish Justin Welby well. However Rowan was encumbered with such expectations that he was always bound never to be able to live up to them. I hope that the new ABC doesn’t suffer the same fate. I would also note that since gay marriage is going to come to this country, probably sooner rather than later, opposing it seems a pretty short sighted thing to do even before you are installed in St Augustine’s Chair. Is the church going to continue to oppose it when it’s law? And what will it do about it then – excommunicate everyone… Read more »

Father Ron Smith
12 years ago

“Oh, great. An Evangelical, former oil company executive, who opposes gay marriage. Just great.” – Kurt Hill – Hold on, Kurt. +Justin may be a different sort of Evangelical. He is open to listening and learning from the experience of others – although he has said that he agrees with the C. of E. stance on ‘Gay Marriage’ – he accepts the idea of Same Sex Civil Partnerships (now ain’t that something?) Also, he has pledged to ‘Listen” – I expect, to ‘what the Spirit is aaying to the Church! And he does value Women in the Church. If you… Read more »

Jeremy
Jeremy
12 years ago

It remains to be seen, really.

He doesn’t have much of a track record, so it’s hard to know what will happen.

Few could have predicted Dr. Williams’s pusillanimity in the face of unAnglican demands from reactionaries.

One thing Welby should do is be precise with his language. Although the Telegraph does not seem to have noticed, there is no such thing as an “Anglican Church.”

Anglican Communion, yes. Anglican tradition, yes. Anglican family, yes. Church of England, yes.

Anglican Church, no.

John
John
12 years ago

Entirely agree with Richard’s second para. I’m sure +Justin has all the positives people say he has: it’s that Evangelical smile I find hard to take.

Chris Smith
Chris Smith
12 years ago

I think it is important to pray for Justin and give him a chance to open his mind and heart to the issues of women and the LGBT communities. Who knows, he could very well be one of our greatest Archbishops of Canterbury! Let’s have faith in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps this man will surprise all of us. Maybe he is more progressive and open minded than we may think. Let’s pray for his success. Let’s give this man a chance to show us what he thinks.

Cynthia
Cynthia
12 years ago

I hope that he approaches the international Anglican communion with enormous humility. We will only find unity by finding a place to respectfully and lovingly disagree. The “liberal” churches believe our stance on women and LGBT issues to be the result of a highly moral and conservative reading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So we are just as entrenched as those who cherry pick the Bible to support their traditional positions. Most of all, the selection process for the ABC is so bizarre to US sensibilities, and probably many others as well, that it would be exceedingly cheeky for… Read more »

Chris Smith
Chris Smith
12 years ago

Cynthia: I agree with you on every point you made. I totally respect the points you made. I believe we need to be cautiously optimistic by giving the new ABC a chance to show us where he stands on these important issues. I do believe every bishop should be elected locally and not “appointed” to posts. Lay people and clergy need to be able to choose their bishops. I think it is better for us to remain in Communion with each other. We have to talk to each other.

Laurence Roberts
Laurence Roberts
12 years ago

So many active Anglicans, have, apparently, never been converted, and especially among the ordained. show a sad cynicism often. No amount of church politicking and gossip can fill that hole.

All power to Justin Welby’s elbow !

Jeremy
Jeremy
12 years ago

“I think it is better for us to remain in Communion with each other. We have to talk to each other.” Really? Why so? And does the first sentence really follow from the second? After all, one does not have to be in a Communion with other Christians in order to talk with them. I’m serious. Why, exactly, is it important, or even useful, for the TEC to remain in communion with Nigeria? I can all too well understand why someone in London might want all the Anglican children to play nicely together. Such unity can further the parental prestige,… Read more »

MarkBrunson
12 years ago

Just as long as he is aware he has no authority outside the CofE and stays home when not invited, I wish him and his cure well.

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