Five overseas Anglicans will help choose the next Archbishop of Canterbury

Jul 10, 2022 by

by Pat Ashworth, Church Times:

Synod approves motion to replace diocesan reps on the CNC with members from the wider Anglican Communion.

THE Anglican Communion will have a greater say in choosing the next Archbishop of Canterbury, after the General Synod approved a motion on Saturday to increase from one to five its representation on the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) for Canterbury.

The balance of representation on the CNC has long been suggested as unreflective of the current nature of the role of the Archbishop, whose responsibilities are closely bound with those of the Communion. A background paper presented to Synod suggested the position was rooted in the colonial history of England: “The Church of England and the Communion cannot escape asking why a British cleric should always be primus inter pares” [first among equals].

Moving the motion, Dr Jamie Harris (Durham) welcomed the acceptance of others into the discernment process. Given that the average Anglican was a woman under 40, and living in sub-Saharan Africa, the Archbishop of Canterbury had “a particular concern for who she is and where she is. . . The Archbishop remains a central focus for unity,” he said. This had increased over time.

There were detractors during what was a long debate on the motion, which the chair, Canon Professor Joyce Hill, had warned Synod at the outset might be “procedurally a little bit complicated”, with issues in the several amendments not easily separated.

Canon Bruce Bryant-Scott (Europe) was opposed, fundamentally because “I’m not sure we’ve had a serious Communion-wide consultation. We have not gone deep into the Anglican Communion. . . The ordinary person has not had the opportunity to speak to these issues.” Was this mission creep, he asked. Did it perpetuate a form of colonialism? “Have we politicised the position?”

Other contributors felt that the change lent credibility on a global level. Dr Andrew Atherstone (Oxford), however, brought an amendment to replace the number of representatives removed with an equivalent number of members from the wider Church of England. “The Archbishop of Canterbury should be chosen by the Church of England. It is highly complicated to hand this to the Anglican Communion: it is the wrong thing to do,” he said. English Christians needed “to learn to lay down their global ambitions”.

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