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The meteoric rise of the Bishop of Durham is expected to be confirmed on Friday when he is officially unveiled as the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Right Reverend Justin Welby, an Eton-educated former oil industry executive, will become the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual leader of the 77 million strong Anglican Communion.

He said he was unable to comment on reports of the appointment as he sat on the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards in London, of which he is a committee member. When asked if he was to take on the role, he replied: “I am not able to comment, only Lambeth Palace can.”

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If his appointment is confirmed, he will also bring experience of personal tragedy and of civil conflict in Africa to his new role leading 80 million Christians in more than 160 countries.

The Bishop of Durham’s rise to being on the verge of becoming the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury has been remarkably swift. He has been a bishop for little over a year and the 56-year-old became a priest only in his mid-30s.

The father-of-five emerged as a late favourite for the Church of England’s most senior post after enjoying positive media coverage, having started the contest as an outsider.

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Bishop of Durham Justin Welby, a former oil industry worker, is set to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

It is thought the 56-year-old will be named on Friday as the replacement for Rowan Williams, who steps down in December after 10 years in the post.

Bishop Welby became a bishop only a year ago when he took up the Church of England’s fourth most senior post.

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Sources have confirmed that the Eton-educated bishop will be announced as successor to Dr Rowan Williams as early as Friday, after the Crown Nominations Commission put his name forward to Downing Street.
It marks a meteoric rise for the former oil executive who has been a bishop for only a year, but insiders described Welby as “the outstanding candidate”.
Last night a spokesman refused to confirm his appointment. But it came a few hours after he pulled out at short notice from a planned appearance on the BBC Radio 4 discussion programme Any Questions due to take place in County Durham on Friday.

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O God of light and love, who illumined thy Church through the witness of thy servant William Temple: Inspire us, we pray, by his teaching and example, that we may rejoice with courage, confidence and faith in the Word made flesh, and may be led to establish that city which has justice for its foundation and love for its law; through Jesus Christ, the light of the world, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

6. Apologetics (17, 18, 19, 20, 54, 55)
A major new initiative is called for here though its shape is less precise. Theologians, universities, new media experts, artists and scientists are all called to be involved. There have been similar calls recently within the Church of England for a major new initiative in apologetics and for more resources to be invested here.

7. Adult Catechesis (28, 29, 37, 38)
Amen to this sentence:
One cannot speak of the New Evangelization if the catechesis of adults is non-existent, fragmented, weak or neglected.
The Synod has rightly paid major attention to the development of catechesis, building on the publication of The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Attention is focussed here on the formation of catechists. Again there have been similar calls recently for a new focus on catechesis within the Church of England and for the development of new materials.

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If Christianity dies in England, it will die first in the countryside. This may seem paradoxical. When we think of English Christianity, we think of medieval churches standing at the heart of quiet villages. Surely the most traditional parts of the land would cling to traditional ways such as Christianity? But the traditions have largely died, and the churches with them.

This long, slow trend is what should really worry whoever takes over as Archbishop of Canterbury from Rowan Williams ”“ an announcement on which is imminent. To understand the problem, I went in search of the worst jobs in the Church of England….

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The Synod vote had been due to take place in July, but was postponed after a last-minute row over wording.

A compromise was later agreed, granting traditionalists ”” who believe that female leadership in the Church goes against the Bible’s teaching ”” the right to have an alternative male bishop chosen “in a manner which respects” their theological convictions.

However, a small but well-organised coalition of traditionalist Anglo-Catholics and evangelicals has joined forces, claiming that the compromise is “not fit for purpose” because it still does not provide enough assurances for them. They believe they could have secured enough votes in at least one part of the Synod to deny the measure the full two thirds approval it requires to be passed.

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The committee choosing the next leader of the world’s 77 million Anglicans is facing growing discontent from within the Church amid clams that the long-running process has become a “cloak and dagger” procedure.

Calls are mounting for an overhaul of the system and even growing support for future Archbishops in the Church of England to be elected.

It came as even the ancient Coptic Orthodox Church, based in Egypt- which chooses its spiritual leader in a ceremony involving a blindfolded child ”“ announced not only the date for the selection of its new Pope but even the shortlist.

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Yet Dr Williams’s greatest failing has concerned the one thing all sides of the Church might have agreed on: a clear and coherent articulation of the essential doctrines of Christianity. This has been his greatest sin of omission.

Here’s an example of his failure to articulate one of the key tenets of the faith.

When it was announced that Prince William and Kate Middleton were engaged, journalists around the world requested an interview with the Archbishop. It seemed a perfect opportunity for him to present the case for Christian marriage…

But he wouldn’t agree to be interviewed..

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The succession talks are shrouded in secrecy, but commentators speculate that the panel is split over choosing a reformer or a safe pair of hands to maintain the status quo in a post that dates back 1,400 years.

Members were expected to reach a decision in September and pass two names – their first choice and a back-up – to Prime Minister David Cameron, who then seeks the approval of The Queen, the church’s supreme governor.

Williams leaves to take up a role at the University of Cambridge at the turn of the year and his successor would normally be expected to give his diocese notice of his departure and be given time to move. One unnamed church source told a Sunday newspaper that the process was “becoming a farce”.

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Check it out. Note carefully that there is another name ahead of Bishop Justin Welby at the present time (on one of the lists the first two names are tied in terms of odds)–KSH.

The clergy and laity in the Church of England who are responsible for choosing the next Archbishop of Canterbury are under pressure to make a decision before the General Synod meets to vote on women bishops next month.

The choice of the successor to Dr Rowan Williams will be crucial in helping to push through the vote on women bishops when it goes to the synod for final approval on November 20.

The Bishop of Durham, Justin Welby, an evangelical, is understood to be the favourite still, but the Crown Nominations Commission is divided over the second choice. If the liberals on the commission vote against Bishop Welby at the final decision, it could go to the second choice….

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Where is the theology which can give to Christian social thinking and prophetic witness its sanctions and its impetus, the theology which can justify the Church in its attempts to say what ought or ought not to be in the social order? I offer no more than some introductory hints.

We start with the doctrine of the Church as standing over against society. “The Church is the redeemed community comprised of redeemed men and women and children. It is Christ’s new creation: its life is already the life of the world to come. Ontologically, its members are reborn. Sociologically, they have fellowship with the Father and the Son through the indwelling of the Spirit, and no secular concept of fellowship means the same thing. Morally, they are able to fulfil the hardest of Christ’s commandments because his grace enables them so to do. They can turn the other cheek, abandon their goods in a vocation to poverty, or retain their wealth and (only just) be safe in its possession: they can follow a vocation to celibacy or carry out the marriage vow as the heathen cannot be expected to who lack the grace which is at work within the Church. Here is a realm in which Christian sociology is possible, an island-realm amid the perishing world. But do not expect such possibilities in the world that lieth in the evil one. Any moral impact the Church may have upon the world is in God’s hands and cannot be made the subject of theory. Furthermore, expect that any approximations to God’s Kingdom from the side of the world may be bogus and misleading, because pride and titanism infect such efforts and bring them to grief.”

I start with this doctrine of Church over against world because it seems sensible at first sight, and indeed it can claim much support in the New Testament. But we must see how it needs modification, and as it becomes modified the possibilities of Christian social action begin to arise.

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A leading churchman has urged worshippers to ensure the Anglican communion is not seen as a ”˜soggy sponge’ as they await the appointment of a new bishop.

Bishop of Burnley, the Right Rev John Goddard, will act as ”˜caretaker’ until a replacement can be found for the outgoing Bishop of Blackburn.

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From here:

Fulcrum fully supports women bishops and hopes that the Measure passes through the General Synod in November. We believe that this is the view of most evangelicals in the Church of England. We agree with CEEC that all members of General Synod must prayerfully consider the good of the whole church and vote with a clear conscience. We hope that all those who want women bishops will vote for the Measure. We further hope that those who are against will be able in good conscience to abstain, recognising that it is clearly the will of the Church to proceed, and then work with the provision, which is unlikely to be strengthened should the legislation fall this time.

A Winchester church is hosting the launch of a local breakaway group from the Church of England over plans for women bishops.

The General Synod ”“ the Church of England’s ruling body ”“ is due to vote on the ordination of women bishops next month (Nov).

Just days before the crunch-vote, Holy Trinity Church in Upper Brook Street is setting-up a Winchester diocesan branch of the “Mission Society of St Wilfred and St Hilda” on Saturday November 16 with the blessing of the Bishop of Richborough.

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“a majority of the Council believes that the current measure does not make adequate provision for the substantial number of the Church of England who cannot support this development”
CEEC Chairman, the Venerable Michael Lawson has added a comment on the background to the Statement:

Many evangelicals, both supporters and non-supporters of the ordination of women to the episcopate, are deeply concerned about provision for those who in good conscience cannot accept women bishops. We believe it is a matter not just of justice but of godliness to treat well this minority of those with whom God has joined us together in fellowship and mission. In all this we have to remember we are God’s people, and behave as such, and not slip into the ungodliness of warring political factions’

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He knew what he was taking on, [Bishop James] Jones says. He was inducted into Hillsborough, and the bereaved families’ campaign against what they complained was a grievous injustice and a South Yorkshire police cover-up, in his early days as Liverpool’s bishop. In 1999, a year into his post, the Hillsborough Family Support Group asked him to preside at the memorial service for the disaster’s 10th anniversary, and they explained their continuing agonies.

So he knew the panel would be examining the actions of the police and other powerful people and organisations, none of whom had been held legally accountable, taken responsibility or at that stage apologised for the failings that caused 96 people to die. The panel’s report removed 23 years’ distortion of the truth about what happened on 15 April 1989 at Liverpool’s FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.

“I was aware,” he tells the Guardian, in his first major interview since the panel reported, “that MPs, the police, the media, the judiciary, possibly the government of the day, were in the frame. People might think we in the church are naive; we’re not. We know exactly what we are engaging with.”

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Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the leading cleric in the Worldwide Anglican Communion, is trying to persuade members of the Church of England’s upcoming General Synod to support the ordination of women as Anglican bishops.

In an article published in the Anglican newspaper The Church Times, Archbishop Williams said the church legislation “will shape the future of the Church of England for generations.” He contended that a vote against the proposal “risks committing us to a period of continued and perhaps intensified internal conflict with no clearly guaranteed outcome.”

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The Revd Philip North said, “I am excited and humbled to have been appointed as Bishop of Whitby and will do my best to serve the people of the Cleveland Archdeaconry and the Diocese of York. The North East of England is very dear to my heart, having been a vicar there for many years, and it’s great to be coming back. I’m looking forward to meeting people and helping churches make the Gospel known in their communities.

“Whilst I will be sad to leave Parish life behind, I relish the opportunity to return to the north of England and to the diversity of the Cleveland Archdeaconry, from inner city to rural life, from market towns to fishing villages. As a keen walker and cyclist I look forward to being close to the Cleveland Hills and North York Moors. I also used to play cricket for the Diocese of Durham and was often on the wrong end of a hefty thumping from the Diocese of York. It would be good to think that I might have the opportunity to be on the winning side!”

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The secretive committee responsible for choosing the next Archbishop of Canterbury is to meet for an unprecedented fourth time in the next few days in an attempt to break the deadlock over who succeeds Rowan Williams.The Times understands that as many as five senior bishops may still be in the running for the top job and that the favourite, the Bishop of Durham, the Right Rev Justin Welby, might have peaked too early.

The present Church leadership is pushing for a decision before the end of the month, to be announced in early November, because of the coming vote on women bishops at the General Synod next month.

The two-thirds majority needed for women bishops hangs by a thread and the choice of the next Archbishop is seen as crucial in getting that through….

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The Archbishop of Canterbury has begun a campaign to persuade General Synod members to back the new women-bishops legislation when it returns to debate it next month.

Writing in the Church Times this week, he addresses waverers, those who find the legislation “not quite good enough, or not quite simple enough”. To vote against the legislation, which he admits is “not perfect”, would be to risk “committing us to a period of continued and perhaps intensified internal conflict, with no clearly guaranteed outcome . . . a period of publicly embarrassing and internally draining indecision”.

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The Rt Rev Graham James, giving his presidential address, said: “The failure of the Anglican Covenant to commend itself in the Church of England and the continued uncertainty over women bishops means that things aren’t as clear at this stage as I would have expected when giving the equivalent address three years ago. Add to the mix a new but as yet unknown Archbishop of Canterbury and there is bound to be some unsettlement around.

“However, I do hope and pray that the legislation now before us at General Synod next month commands a two thirds majority in each House so that women may soon become bishops in the Church of England.”

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The Bishop of Sheffield, Dr. Steven Croft, has today commended the work of the fresh expressions movement and encouraged new ways of evangelism in an address in Rome.

Speaking as the Anglican Fraternal Delegate to the Roman Catholic Synod of Bishops on the theme of “new evangelisation”, Dr. Croft also spoke of the need for life long discipleship to be at the heart of evangelism: “new evangelization calls for a clear vision of what it means to be a disciple. The new evangelization is a call to whole life discipleship: an invitation to follow Christ for the whole length of our lives, with every part of our lives, and into wholeness and abundance of that life”

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Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness, after the examples of thy servants Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer; that we may live in thy fear, die in thy favor, and rest in thy peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Delay in appointing a successor to the Most Rev. Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury is prompting questions about the viability of the role. Williams joined the debate last weekend, saying it was inevitable that changes would be made to lighten the archbishop’s workload.

He told the Compass Rose Society meeting in Canterbury there was clearly too much on his plate. He said there were always efforts to relieve him of a committee or two “so I get a five-minute break between meetings” but sooner or later significant changes need to be put in place.

The archbishop’s workload, effectively four jobs, will be an issue weighing on the chosen person….

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