Skip to main content

The next Archbishop of Canterbury

It used to be the case, and probably still is, that Archbishops of Canterbury (ABC) are appointed alternately from different wings of the church. In recent years, this has meant that representatives of the High Church/liberal wing have alternated with representatives of the Low Church/Evangelical wing. Coggan (Low Church), Runcie (High Church), Carey (Low Church), Williams (High Church), Welby (Low Church). By this logic, the next ABC will be a representative of the High Church/liberal wing of the church. 

My prediction is that Rose Hudson-Wilkin (currently bishop of Dover) or Guli Francis-Dehqani (currently bishop of Chelmsford) will be the next ABC. 

I should point out, that while I began my Christian life as an Anglican, I have been a member of non-Anglican churches since 1998. I have been an ordained elder/pastor of Baptist churches since 2000. 

That does not, however, mean that the fate of the Anglican church is irrelevant to me, or indeed to any other Christian. The Anglican communion worldwide represents 85 million professing Christians worldwide, although this figure may be inflated due to inclusion of 26 million people in England (whereas actual attendance would suggest less than one million). The Church of England (Canterbury and York) represents but 1 of 42 autonomous provinces. 

For historical reasons, the head of the Anglican Communion has been the Archbishop of Canterbury. However, given the demographics and spiritual vitality of the churches of the Global South, there is a strong argument for one of the primates of the other provinces being recognised as the head of the Communon. 

A recent conference of Anglicans in Rwanda (2023) united the lion's share of worldwide Anglicanism in opposition to prevarication and compromise over issues such as Christian marriage and celibacy. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bury, Greater Manchester - Timeline of churches

979?      First Church on the site of the present Parish Church (the picture below is an artist's impression of Bury parish church in 1485). This was the only church in the town of Bury until 1719 (see below).  1585      Parish church (re)built in the gothic style . 1650     During the Commonwealth, Henry Pendlebury was ordained for  Holcombe Chapelry.  1662     Having been ejected from the Church of England,  Henry Pendlebury of Holcombe   (1626-1695) held services at a Chapel on Bass Lane by Richard Kay, and others ejected from the C of E (replaced in 1712 by Dundee Chapel, Holcombe) 1669      The vicar of Bury parish reported to the Bishop of Chester that he heard several conventicles were "constantly kept at private houses of Independents, Presbyterians, Dippers and other such like jointly, of the bset rank of the yeomanry and other inferiors." 1689      ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The origin and spread of the early Baptist churches in the North West of England and elsewhere

The origins of Baptist churches go back to the 1600s.  The very first Baptist church began in 1609 and was for English speaking Christians based in the Netherlands, relocating to London in 1611 (Thomas Helwys). These churches were known as "General Baptists" and followed the theology of Arminius and the Anabaptists.  A second genesis of Baptist churches was in London in about 1638 (John Spilsbury). These churches followed the Reformed Theology of John Calvin and the Synod of Dordt. In 1644, the First London Baptist Confession was signed by seven Baptist churches in the capital.  Baptist churches later spread from London outwards.  During the time of the English Civil War (1642-1651), there were Baptist Christians in the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell. In 1648 the New Model Army campaigned in Lancashire during the Second Civil War.  1. John Wigan & the "Coldhouse cause"   During the time of the English Civil War (1642-1651), John Wigan (d. 1665),...
Post a Comment
Read more

Die Erweckung (revival of evangelical Christianity in Germany in the 1800s)

Die Erweckung (literally, "the Revival") is a name for the revival of evangelical Christianity in Germany in the 1800s. It has overlap with the Réveil in Switzerland, France and the Netherlands, and also with the second Evangelical Revival in Britain and the Second Great Awakening in America. The Pietist movement, which began during the Baroque era around 1675 under the leadership of Philip Spener, had waned by the 1730s. By this time, Halle university, originally founded by Pietists and a flagship of the movement, became a centre for rationalism under academics such as Christian Wolff (1679–1754).  In the interim, Pietism was kept alive in part by a network of small groups (the Diaspora) which followed the spirituality of the Moravian Christians, a movement similar to Pietism but with its own church structures under the leadership of Von Zinzendorf. There was also the Basle-based Christentumsgesellschaft founded by Urlsperger in 1780, a society founded to counter the ratio...
Post a Comment
Read more