CONSULTATION on the appointment of the subsequent Archbishop of Canterbury begins today. Members of the general public are invited to propose candidates and comment on what the Church needs from the subsequent Primate of All England.
A notice on this week’s Church Times invites submissions from “any person wishing to comment on the needs of the Diocese or Province of Canterbury, the Archbishop’s ministry in the broader Church of England or Anglican Communion, or who wishes to propose candidates”.
Submissions will be made on the Church of England website, or by post to the Archbishops’ Secretary for Appointments, Canon Stephen Knott, who works out of Lambeth Palace.
Canon Knott is overseeing the method, alongside the Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary, Jonathan Hellewell. Both will sit as non-voting members of the Canterbury Crown Nominations Commission (CNC).
The CNC can be chaired by a former director-general of MI5, Lord Evans of Weirdale (News, 17 December).
The Archbishop of York sits on the CNC, along with a bishop from the Province of Canterbury. The bishop generally is a diocesan or suffragan, or a retired bishop who resides within the Southern Province.
Last week, nominees were invited to place themselves forward for the position with a 300-word statement of their suitability. A vote can be held within the House of Bishops to pick a candidate.
Besides the chair, the Archbishop of York, and a bishop from the Province of Canterbury, three representatives from the diocese of Canterbury will vote on the CNC, together with six of the central members — three lay people and three clergy — who were elected by the General Synod in 2022.
There will even be five representatives of the Anglican Communion fairly than one as there was for previous nominations to the see of Canterbury. One person can be chosen from each region of the Communion (News, 24 November 2023).
The full list of CNC members is predicted in March.
