The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that he regards the numerical decline in the Church of England as a personal failure.
During a Q&A at the Religion Media Festival on Monday, he also spoke of his personal preference for a “fully independent safeguarding system” and his belief that the Church needed to be more “unapologetic” about its teaching on sexual morality. Asked about moves in Parliament to enable same-sex marriages to take place in church, and the possibility of disestablishment, he suggested that discerning the will of God might involve “refusing to do what the law says”.
A recurrent theme in his answers to questions, put by the broadcast journalist Julie Etchingham and the audience, was a long view of history, and the sovereignty of God. “One of the great things we do is we get into terrible angst and fear and think it’s all down to us,” he observed. “It’s not. It’s all down to God, and to him we must be obedient.”
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The Archbishop of Canterbury @JustinWelby has said that he regards the numerical decline in the Church of England as a personal failure https://t.co/YiOhdHQqD1
— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 13, 2023