He will bring a positive commitment to church growth. Welby said he is committed to the Fresh Expressions movement championed by Archbishop Williams. As Dean of Liverpool Cathedral he had kept traditional worship but alongside started a caf\u00c3\u00a9 church. \u201cWe soon found we were struggling to find space for people, having previously struggled to get them to come along.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
He is firmly committed to women joining the episcopate. \u201cI will be voting in favour,\u201d\u009d he declared. He recognises the church faces \u201cdeep differences\u201d\u009d over sexuality. \u201cIt is absolutely right for the state to define the rights and status of people cohabiting in different forms of relationships, including civil partnerships. We must have no truck with any form of homophobia, in any part of the church.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
He stated his support for the recent bishops\u2019 statement opposing same-sex marriage but added that \u201cI know I need to listen to the LGBT communities, and examine my own thinking prayerfully and carefully.\u201d\u009d London newspapers such as the Telegraph took this and a rejection of \u201cthe language of exclusion\u201d\u009d as an \u201colive branch\u201d\u009d in what is a very fraught debate. He pointed out, however, that what the Church of England does \u201cdeeply affects the already greatly suffering churches in places like northern Nigeria.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n