The idea of Abrahamic religion is usually tied up with the notion of Abraham as the first monotheist. To the best-selling author Bruce Feiler, Abraham was “the first person to understand that there is only one God,” and this insight is “the shared endowment of the Abrahamic faiths.”

But the familiar image of Abraham as the discoverer of the true God and the uncompromising opponent of idolatry isn’t found in Genesis or anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible. It is an idea that originated in Judaism after most of the Hebrew Bible had been composed, and from there it spread into the literature of the Talmudic rabbis and later into the Quran, forming an important commonality between Judaism and Islam.

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The first is the need for the Church to grow in numbers, and in spiritual depth. I am in the middle of planning, with my colleagues, a long-term program of evangelization which will involve three or four missions a year across the diocese, covering the entire diocese every five years. In each of those, both bishops will live in the area of work and two years will have been spent in preparation. We are trying to avoid an “up with the rocket down with the stick” approach, and going rather for a steady-state push that does not exhaust people but leads to a cultural change that says it is normal for us to share our faith. So that would be one thing.

Secondly, for that to happen in this area it has got to be clear that the Church is working effectively with those on the edge. The biggest issues we face at the moment are around loan sharking and its consequent evils, and very high youth unemployment. It would be really wonderful to see headlines about the churches’ contribution to facing these social issues. In terms of the local economy we are quite a major employer, and because of our huge number of extremely old buildings (one of our churches has been in continual use since A.D. 640 and many since the 10th or 11th century) we are able to generate significant employment when we can find the funds to do work on our churches.

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Anglicanism nevertheless survives as the state religion in what is now a multicultural, multi-faith, but mostly faithless society. So, is it any longer relevant to the mass of its citizens?

Bishop Welby acknowledged on Friday he was taking over at “a time of spiritual hunger.”

Summing up the challenge that had confronted Rowan Williams, the departing Archbishop, Fraser Nelson wrote in the Daily Telegraph that, “Dr. Williams has had to keep the Church alive in one of the least religious countries on earth.”

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The Official Announcement posted at 11 am in London
The Queen has nominated the Right Reverend Justin Welby, MA, Hon FCT, the Lord Bishop of Durham, for election by the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury in the place of the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Douglas Williams, MA DPhil DD FBA, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan.

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Among the Titles of the material here–Dr Rowan Williams ‘delighted’ by successor

[The] Rt Rev Justin Welby on ‘hard issues’ facing the Church

New Archbishop pays tribute to Rowan Williams

New Archbishop: My school does not define me

[Archbishop John] Sentamu: ‘Tipsters can now return to silence’

New Archbishop begins with a prayer – and a joke

An interesting collection of videos–watch them all.

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Bishop Justin will bring to the Anglican Communion a special combination of gifts and experience. I know him as a deeply committed servant of Jesus Christ who honours the Scriptures as the Word of God and as a courageous peacemaker. I am confident that these qualities, together with his sustained involvement in business and finance, will enable him to articulate the Lordship of Christ to a watching world as well as to a Communion in continuing disorder….

As the Primate of Kenya and Chairman of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, I eagerly look forward to working with the new Archbishop of Canterbury as a partner in the gospel to restore much needed conviction, confidence and unity to the deeply fractured Anglican family.

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video and text and biography

To be nominated to this post is both astonishing and exciting. It is something I never expected, and the last few weeks have been a very strange experience. It is exciting because we are at one of those rare points where the tide of events is turning, and the church nationally, including the Church of England has great opportunities to match its very great but often hidden strengths. I feel a massive sense of privilege at being one of those responsible for the leadership of the church in a time of spiritual hunger, when our network of parishes and churches and schools and above all people means that we are facing the toughest issues in the toughest place.

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Among the politicians who have come to know him over the past few months, there was celebration yesterday, and from all benches. He was invited to join the banking commission with cross-party support, as he was a capitalist who was tough on the City. “In a dark sea of thick and wholly unworldly bishops, he sparks a little,” says one MP. “Talking to the bishops in Parliament seldom leaves you with the impression that they believe in God. I think this one actually might.” The only concern was that he might be too religious for the job.

No one would question the strength of Rowan Williams’s faith. But when he joined fights, they tended to be secular ones: criticising the Government over its cuts, or giving his blessing to environmentalist campaigns. The logic of this is undeniable: that to keep its relevance in the modern world, the Church needs to insert itself into popular debates. But decline continued, each Sunday brings a new closure and the British Social Attitudes survey found that 64 per cent of people never set foot in any place of worship. Dr Williams has had to keep the Church alive in one of the least religious countries on earth.

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Bishop Welby, 56, the 105th archbishop of Canterbury, is said to have been chosen over three other leading contenders: the archbishop of York, John Sentamu; the bishop of Norwich, Graham Jones; and the bishop of London, Richard Chartres. Bishop Welby is regarded as an evangelical conservative in opposing same-sex marriage, but he is also said to take a more liberal position on the ordination of female bishops, favoring the elevation of women to senior church positions.

He told reporters that, at a forthcoming ballot, he would vote in favor of the ordination of women bishops. On the issue of same-sex marriage, he said: “We must have no truck with any form of homophobia.”

“I am always averse to the language of exclusion,” he said, suggesting some readiness to listen to the arguments of those who disagree with him. But he made clear that he supported a statement earlier this by Anglican bishops opposing government plans to legalize same-sex marriage.

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…Welby’s career path took a sharp pivot after the death of his baby daughter Johanna, who was killed in a car accident in France in 1983. Though devastated by the loss, Welby later said, “in a strange way it actually brought [my wife and I] closer to God.” A few years later, Welby quit his job and enrolled at St. John’s College at Durham University to study theology and become a priest. He quickly climbed the ranks of the Church and was appointed the Bishop of Durham””the fourth most senior bishop in the Church of England”” in November 2012. His appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury marks another huge promotion””but it’s an elevation to a post that promises to be extremely challenging.

Worldwide, the Anglican community is made up of dozens of different churches, each with their own autonomy. More than half of all Anglicans are members of conservative African churches. In the U.S., the Episcopal Church has only about two million members and an outlook markedly more liberal than their African co-religionists. On issues such as gay marriage, women bishops and even the economy, Anglican churches can seem as far apart from each other in their beliefs as they are geographically. The diverse network of churches is, however, unified through the Communion, which, for the last ten years, has been led by the liberal-minded Rowan Williams, who announced his resignation as Archbishop earlier this year after a decade of struggling to resolve clashes within his flock.

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Former Coventry Cathedral canon Justin Welby has been officially named as the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

The 56-year-old, who was an oil executive before answering a calling from God, was unveiled at a press conference at Lambeth Palace this morning (Friday).

The Right Reverend Welby said his previous experiences, including being under the stewardship of former Bishop of Coventry Colin Bennetts, had served him well. He also mentioned his role as rector of Southam, near Leamington, where he admitted to “making many mistakes”.

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O Christ, to whom all authority is given both in heaven and earth: Transform our wills, cleanse our hearts, and enlighten our minds; that all our thoughts and desires being made obedient to thy pure and holy law, we may grow up in all things unto thee, and present ourselves a living sacrifice, to the praise and glory of thy name; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever.

At that very hour some Pharisees came, and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'”

–Luke 13:31-35

Dean Welby said he and his family lived in the area between 1989 and 1992 and one of his children was born in the area.

He has been Dean of Liverpool since 2007 and he said the two areas were similar in terms of the challenges they had faced but also their spirit.

He said: “This, like Liverpool where we have lived for three-and-a-half years, is a part of the country that has had a more than its fair share of hard times.

“Yet, also like Liverpool, it is full of fire and life and faith, and capable of attracting investment and energy from all over the world because of the qualities of its people and life here.”

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Shortly after his last big promotion, 12 months ago, Justin Welby was asked which football team he supported.
“I spent five years doing conflict resolution, learning how to stand in the middle of a civil war, not getting shot, so I’m not going to answer your question,” he joked.
It’s a skill that will come in handy in the years ahead as Archbishop of Canterbury.

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…it was extremely disturbing to learn that on Wednesday afternoon, November 7, 2012, a majority of the clergy of the Diocese of South Carolina received an email that pretended to be from the Diocese of South Carolina but in fact was not. The sender of the email was not identified beyond an email address registered to an organization in Florida named “Domain Discreet Privacy Service”. The corresponding web page is hosted by a San Francisco organization stating: “This temporary landing page will be replaced when you publish your site.”

The email was an invitation to a “Clergy Day for the Diocese,” to be hosted at Holy Communion, Charleston and presided over by Bishop. Charles von Rosenberg (A retired bishop from Tennessee).

There are several crucial facts that need to be addressed regarding this announcement.

First, this message did not come from the Diocese of South Carolina.

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Educated, like Mr. Cameron and other members of the British elite, at Eton College, Bishop Welby studied law and history at Cambridge University before working for 11 years for French and British oil companies.

After his youngest daughter, Johanna, was killed in a car crash in 1983, he said, “It was a very dark time for my wife, Caroline, and myself, but in a strange way it actually brought us closer to God.” They have five other children.

He began his training as a priest in 1987 and was made a deacon in 1992. Since then he has risen rapidly through the church hierarchy. He was made Bishop of Durham only a year ago.

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