The HoB, the CNC and a very British democracy

Sir Humphrey: “Bernard, if the right people don’t have power do you know what happens – the wrong people get it – politicians, councillors, ordinary voters.”

Bernard: “But aren’t they supposed to in a democracy “

Sir Humphrey: “This is a British democracy..”

Bernard: But how do you mean?

Sir Humphrey: British democracy recognizes that you need a system to protect the important things of life and keep them out of the hands of the barbarians. Things like the things like the Opera, Radio 3, the countryside, the Law, the universities – both of them.”

Taken from BBC Comedy Greats https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzfNEF0e-y4

The Church of England would appear to be a very British democracy. Yesterday the House of Bishops held an emergency meeting because there was a fear that their ‘system’ was breaking down because it had been infiltrated by barbarians.

The events that have precipitated this crisis are centred on the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), the process by which new diocesan bishops are appointed. On two of the last eight occasions that they have met, they have ‘failed’ to make an appointment.

After the second ‘failure’ the Archbishop of Canterbury put out a press statement which said, “Together with the Archbishop of York and others, there will also need to be a period of reflection on the implications of this decision on the Church of England more generally.”

The use of the word ‘failure’ is surely indicative of the bishops’ sense of entitlement. Most organisations recognise that there are times when it is better not to appoint anyone than to appoint the wrong person. If it happened regularly, they would first consider whether or not the candidates were up to scratch and how they could improve their search criteria or shortlisting process. The bishops of the Church of England, on the other hand, just assume there must be something wrong with the selection panel. After all, it’s the bishops who invite people into the ‘talent pipelines’; it’s bishops who select the suffragan bishops, from whom many diocesan bishops are chosen; and it seems likely that the episcopal members of the CNC were content to appoint on both occaisions, otherwise there wouldn’t have been any “implications”.

In short, the bishops are frustrated that members of the laity and clergy have the temerity to disagree with them about who should join their number.

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