Justin Welby calls for greater Anglican Communion say in selection of successor

Posted Feb 8, 2018

[Anglican Communion News Service] The primates of the Anglican Communion should have a greater say in the appointments of future archbishops of Canterbury, the current archbishop, Justin Welby, said Feb. 8. Welby made his comments during a debate at the Church of England’s General Synod on the working of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) – the body that recommends appointments to diocesan bishoprics. Appointments of bishops in the Church of England are made by the Queen, as Supreme Governor of the Church, who acts on the advice of the CNC.

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Comments (2)

  1. Andrew Poland says:
    February 9, 2018 at 8:38 pm

    If we allow the primates of the church to select the ABC, then we’ll end up the same way we do with every other issue in this communion. Pissed off. The Africans will want a hardcore conservative, the Americans will want a Unitarian Buddhist. The British won’t care because they’ve replaced God with crisps. Let the Queen have something. Frankly, what if the Queen chose ALL of the primates. That’d be a great way to ensure some sort of continuity among the communion. As a parishioner of TEC, I feel I’d have an equal amount of representation and consultation in that choice (ie none), which probably for the best. It would give some sort of linear structure to the communion instead of it being just a rotting mass that excises and wars against itself.

    Just an idea.

  2. Mark Jenkins says:
    February 10, 2018 at 9:35 am

    I don’t usually weigh in on these comment sections. That said, I both agree with Andrew Poland and would suggest that, were the ABC to be chosen with the input of the primates, it would fundamentally change the nature of that office. It’s hard enough to keep it clear among Anglicans that the ABC is not our equivalent of a pope and has no power outside of the C of E other than one of moral persuasion. Making the see of Canterbury subject to some sort of approval or election from outside of England will, no doubt, further move us toward a centralization of power and authority that is antithetical to our historical polity. Leave it to the Queen. One of the things that some of us like about the way the C of E is organized is that the head of the church is a lay person. In my many years of parish ministry, I found the laity generally to be far wiser than clergy anyway…

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