A key factor in the choice of Dr Williams’s successor is age. PreparaÂtions for the 2018 Lambeth ConferÂence must start soon. Thus the next Archbishop will be expected to reÂmain in office for at least the next six years.
Dr Williams was appointed at the age of 51, and will have held office for a decade, as were his two preÂdeÂcessors. This time, however, there is no immediately outstanding candiÂdate among the younger generation of bishops. The Crown Nominations Commission might, therefore, choose a senior bishop to serve a shorter period.
Of these, my choices would be Chartres, Sentamu, Welby, in that order, but I only know about Welby from what I read here. I don’t see any of them rescuing either the COE or the Anglican Communion from the ravages of secularism, women’s ordination, and the homosexual agenda that threaten them.