The announcement of the choice of the Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mallally, to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury has been accompanied by frequent references to the Archbishop of Canterbury as the \u2018head of the Church of England\u2019 or the \u2018head of the Anglican Communion.\u2019 In this post I shall explain why both of these statements are misleading, what roles the Archbishop of Canterbury actually has in the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion, and the implications of the fact that these roles are very limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do we mean by \u2018head?\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When thinking about these topics, the first thing we need to be clear about is what we mean when we say that someone is the \u2018head\u2019 of something. When we use the word head in this connection we are using analogical language. An analogy is being drawn between the role of the head (and more specifically what is inside the head, the brain) in the human body and the role of an individual in a particular organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The analogy is between the role of the brain in determining how a human body shall act and the role of an individual in determining what happens in an organisation. Calling some the head in this way (as in the terms \u2018head of state,\u2019 \u2018head teacher\u2019 and \u2018head of the armed forces\u2019 ) means that they are the person who has the authority and ability to govern the life of the state, the school, or the armed forces. They have the right to say what will happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By extension, when it is said that the Archbishop of Canterbury is head of the Church of England or the Anglican Communion, what is being claimed is that the Archbishop of Canterbury has a similar governing authority over these bodies. The problem with this claim is that it is untrue for three reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> Martin Davie–'The…problem with this statement is that the idea that the Church of England does not have a \u2018straightforward statement of doctrine\u2019 is simply untrue. The Church of England does have a straightforward statement of its doctrine, and this is found in the Thirty Nine\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/8jtUCwrQDb<\/a><\/p>— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) November 21, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>