A member of the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) has raised concerns concerning the strategy of appointing the following Archbishop of Canterbury, claiming that there’s a lack of transparency and a “confusing” assortment of bodies charged with making the choice.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, announced he could be stepping down late last 12 months, following a report that was critical of his handling of abuse allegations.
The process for selecting the following Archbishop involves Vacancy in See Committees (ViSCs) from each diocese which elect members of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC).
The CNC deliberates on any nominated candidates, before interviewing those that make the shortlist.
The final candidate is then proposed to the King, via the Prime Minister, and at last the King officially appoints the brand new Archbishop of Canterbury – and head of the Anglican Communion.
Rev Dr Andrew Goddard, a member of the CEEC, has taken issue with step one on this process, the ViSCs. According to Dr Goddard, due process has not been followed by a ViSC formed by the Canterbury diocese for 2022 to 24.
Confusingly, Canterbury formed one other ViSC following Welby’s resignation and now the formation of a 3rd ViSC in Canterbury diocese has also been begun.
Dr Goddard states, “There appears to have been, and still stays, some considerable confusion and serious questions which need answering with at least three different Vacancy in See Committees (ViSC) being in existence within the diocese because the emptiness was announced but with all of them potentially not compliant with the Regulation.”
Goddard said that the ViSCs in Canterbury had many vacancies resulting from a failure to exchange members inside official timeframes.
He also claimed that current rules mean that Canterbury ViSCs are forbidden from nominating a male priest to the CNC, as they’re currently required to nominate at the least one clergywoman and one lay woman.
This, combined with the requirement that half the candidates be lay, guarantees that there’ll “unprecedentedly, be no male priest from the province involved in choosing the Archbishop”.
Dr Goddard said that the method for selecting the following Archbishop needs “greater transparency and fuller explanations”.
