The process to identify the next Archbishop of Canterbury is underway and the Diocese of Canterbury’s Vacancy in see Committee – the group that manages and oversees the Diocese’s role in the process – has published its Statement of Needs.
The document incorporates views which were gathered as part of a public consultation as well as explaining what life in our diocese is like for those who live, work and worship here.
The online consultation had responses from people across Kent, including the views of children and young people in the Diocese who took part in consultation activities in schools and youth groups.
The Statement of Needs will be read by candidates as well as the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), the body that is meeting to pray, reflect and ultimately nominate someone to be the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury. The CNC will make its nomination to the Prime Minister who, if he accepts will advise His Majesty the King, who will formally appoint the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
The document states: ‘The Archbishop is ‘our’ Archbishop alongside their responsibilities in the Church of England, the nation, the Anglican Communion and on the world stage. We offer in the Diocese of Canterbury and in the Cathedral Precincts a home, where the Archbishop will feel they belong.’
The Chair of the Vacancy in See Committee, the Venerable Dr Will Adam, said: “I would like to thank everyone who took part in our diocesan consultation to help the process of discernment of the next Archbishop of Canterbury. The responses gathered have helped us put together a Statement of Needs that captures the opportunities and challenges in our diverse corner of the country, reflecting the coastal, urban and rural communities and the church in all its variety in this diocese. The document will be enormously helpful to the Crown Nominations Commission and to candidates as we continue to discern who God is calling to be our next Archbishop.”
The process of identifying the next Archbishop of Canterbury began after Archbishop Justin Welby announced his intention to resign in November 2024.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the Bishop in the Diocese of Canterbury alongside their national and global roles. The candidates and CNC will be informed by the themes from a wider consultation that took in the views of 11,000 people. It will sit alongside the Statement of Needs as well as other information provided by the National Church and Anglican Communion.
First published on: 5th June 2025
Page last updated: Friday 6th June 2025 10:31 AM
This a document of real quality. It is commendably firm both on the ordination of women and on Living in love and Faith. It recognises the importance of laity. For those of us who worship in the Cathedral it comes as no surprise that Archdeacon Will Adam has been closely associated with the production of an excellent document. Although a Vacancy in See Committee was only recently finalised, he was appointed chair of the earlier and suppressed committee.. I have a minor gripe about underplaying the importance of ecumenical relations and yy6twork to turn an imperfect communion with Rome into… Read more »
Thank you, although in my experience of the diocese substantive ecumenical engagement outside the confines of Canterbury itself is comparatively limited, beyond the usual politeness: the use of St Andrew’s Shepherdswell (Sibbertswold) in Bewsborough benefice by the local Methodist circuit (Deal & Dover) is a fairly rare instance of this, at least in central/east Kent. I grant that the cathedral itself was in the vanguard of ecumenical engagement between the 1960s and 1980s. For this the tact of Ian White-Thomson and, more especially, the energies of Herbert Waddhams (and, later, Bernard Pawley) were largely responsible. Waddhams did the spadework with… Read more »