The Right Reverend Dr Richard (Ric) Thorpe was today elected as the Archbishop of Melbourne in the Anglican Church of Australia. The official announcement is here.
Dr Thorpe is currently the suffragan Bishop of Islington in the Diocese of London.
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Richie
20 days ago
Could someone enlighten me as to this persons credentials antecedents and especially any connections to HTB or Wimbledon and contacts with SMYT,H Pilavachi or connections with any historic cases within safeguarding or any other possible issues such as bullying or difficulties with staff. Some commentators and internal people in Australia have concerns.
I don’t subscribe to the Guardian but have been donating to it for several years, and now can’t access the online edition. I get a message saying I need to pay. I call that a paywall. They have a right to charge to read the paper, of course. We’ve just got used to free information.
I’m being given a choice between subscribing or accepting all cookies and personalised advertising. The window won’t close and I can’t read the article. And I’m not going to accept all cookies etc. I’ve now stopped my monthly donation, since there’s no point if they won’t allow me to read articles.
On a computer (rather than a tablet or phone) you can set your web browser to reject Guardian cookies regardless of how you reply to their question. That allows you to read the article.
There is often a message asking you to donate, or subscribe, or enable cookies, but it’s not obligatory and you can simply exit it. “Paywall” is generally understood to refer to when you simply can’t access without paying, so using a personal or idiosyncratic definition of the word may cause confusion.
If you have the app but don’t subscribe, it only allows you a certain number of articles a month. If you don’t have the app – or read on a computer – you can get around that.
I read on my computer and my iPad, but maybe I’ve read my quota for the month. However, this problem has only arisen in the last week or two since they changed their terms and started charging.
He is an alumnus of Stowe and preached at its centenary service, but I don’t know of any Iwerne connection.
Richie
20 days ago
Any information about postings before St Paul’s Shadwell or connections this person had to anyone linked to the Makin report would be vital information. It’s possible due diligence has not been done correctly on this appointment.
His first clerical appointment was as a curate at Holy Trinity Brompton from 1996 to 2005.
Then responsible for Shadwell from 2005 to 2015. Then Islington
Thanks Simon greatly appreciated. It confirms things that concerned people in Australia are currently trying to piece together. For the avoidance of doubt the concerns are around due diligence in the safeguarding space. Really appreciate the confirmation of the direct HTB links. Helps with timeline over Fletcher and Makin.
I think you are confusing tribes here. Ric is not much to do with the Fletcher or Pilavachi as far as i know. The only link would be through HTB / Battersea lay reader later Rev Sue Colman who was linked to the trust that paid for Smyth to go to Africa. But I dont think you can blame Ric for being in the same network, without taking out half the English evangelical leadership of that decade. And I do agree that there is a wider cultural responsibility. But I cant see that this is a specific case to have… Read more »
I attended HTB between 1978-1981 and will be visiting Australia later this year, and yes I do have some culture concerns if England are thrashed 5-0 in the Ashes. The level of abuse will be intolerable!
Hi Jonathon, Thanks you. I did from memory pick the 1990s links and have not yet done a deeper dive. I do know that in the 1990s the culture across the board not just in Con Evo spaces was neanderthal compared to secular culture today. My concerns about the culture of Iwerne the Fletchers at Wimbledon and HTB did raise red flags. I note that Rev Thorpe was a curate at HTB and knowing that culture speaking out on concerns in the 90s as a young Curate with little power would have been highly unlikely. I think many of us… Read more »
I most likely used the word incorrectly. Welby failed completely across the board like most of the leadership team and disappointed victim-survivors was the meaning I was trying to convey.
Your work for survivors and our families in the UK is magnificent.
Iwerne and HTB are two different things. There’s some minor cross over but basically they’re two different tribes. Conservative vs charismatic evangelicals. The occasional person (like Justin Welby or Sue Coleman) moved between them but basically they don’t mix and there’s quite a lot of mutual suspicion between them, especially from the con evos who tend to see the charismatics as over emotive and surrendering to the Zeitgeist. Pilavachi is a bit closer to HTB but Soul Survivor is again a distinct network. I don’t know if +Ric had much to do with either Soul Survivor or Iwerne but if… Read more »
Hi Harry, Thanks for your illuminating and helpful response. There are great people in all the different strands or expressions of Anglicanism. Sadly due to the history across the Communion, we are seeing amongst a generation of senior leaders failures in safeguarding and old cultural roadblocks within the Leadership. Both in the UK Australia and NZ we saw with public enquiries and Royal Commissions that no section of the Anglican Church eg Con Evo, Charismatic, Liberal, High Church, Anglo-Catholic was free from safeguarding cases. I am hoping that the due diligence that is required for all senior appointments across the… Read more »
Absolutely, in Australia the hot zones were centered on High Church Catholic centres similar to Chichester but there were also cases in solid evangelical areas such as Sydney.
The culture of silencing and cover up was seen across the board in Australia.
Sadly for everyone in the Communion this cultural malaise seems to be present in all different expressions of Anglicanism.
In the UK enquiry both Iwerne and Chichestershowed us that no faith style evangelical liberal or Catholic was immune.
Simon Bravery
20 days ago
I wonder if the See of Islington will be filled. I was under the impression that it was revived especially for + Thorpe.
I never understood the point of reviving the See of Islington, nor why it was thought necessary to have a bishop for church plants. I hope it won’t be filled and the Church Commissioners can save the cost of a suffragan.
Clifford Jones
20 days ago
Delighted to hear that. It is 68 years (1957) since Frank Woods, Suffragan Bishop of Middleton, became Archbishop of Melbourne. Four suffragan bishops from England went to overseas archbishoprics at about that time. They were Frank Woods to Melbourne as noted, Hugh Gough (Barking) to Sydney, Joost de Blank (Stepney) to Cape Town and Campbell MacInnes (Bedford) to Jerusalem. Woods and MacInnes were both sons of bishops. I think that all of them except Woods eventually returned to the UK. I remember Woods’ death in 1992. I listened to the funeral on the radio. His son Theodore addressed the congregation.… Read more »
There are many other connections to the Woods family. Frank Woods’ father, Theodore Woods (1874-1932), was successively bishop of Peterborough and Winchester where his tomb is inscribed that he was the 88th bishop. His family extended to his sons’ ecclesiastical appointments in Australia and New Zealand, while another was bishop of Worcester.
Thank you. Theodore Woods was Frank’s uncle. Frank’s father was Edward Woods, successively Bishop of Croydon and of Lichfield. Frank’s brother Sam Woods was an archdeacon in NZ.
Thank you, in turn, for the correction. Winchester has been ‘my’ life-long local cathedral and the mention of Frank Woods automatically made me think of Bishop Theodore. Coincidentally, his father was also a Frank Woods and a priest. As you doubtless know, Theodore’s successor was Cyril Garbett whom we have been discussing recently on an earlier thread.
Thank you for this gracious response. Robin Woods, Edward’s son (therefore Frank’s brother) and ultimately Bishop of Worcester, has not yet featured in this discussion. He was considered for Melbourne before Frank was. Geoffrey Fisher was consulted by the Melbourne electors. In a letter in which Robin had previously been mentioned he wrote ‘There is also to be considered Frank Woods, his brother, now Bishop of Middleton’. The other candidate at the final election was Charles Claxton of Warrington, later of Blackburn. He used to visit Australia to visit his daughter and family who had settled there. He could have… Read more »
Frank Woods’ brother-in-law – the husband of one of his sisters – was John Firth, usually referred to as Budge Firth. Like David Sheppard, he combined clerical and cricketing careers. He died in his fifties in 1957, the year Frank went to Melbourne.
There was also George Appleton who went in 1963 from being Archdeacon of London to Archbishop of Perth and 5 years later in early 1969 followed Campbell MacInnes as Archbishop in Jerusalem and there was also David Silk Archdeacon of Leicester who became Bishop of Ballarat and John Ford who had been Suffragan Bishop of Plymouth who became Bishop of the Murray. Jonathan
Thanks. I did think of Appleton (whose autobiography I have read) but my post was about suffragan bishops who had become overseas archbishops and Appleton’s first episcopal post was Archbishop of Perth. There has been a thread on TA about bishops who are also mathematicians. Appleton did a maths degree. I remember David Silk’s appointment (and wrote a comment on it for the national Anglican newspaper in Australia) but, again, he was never a suffragan bishop. I attended the Christmas services at Christ Church Brunswick in Melbourne in 2015. Lindsay Urwin, whom I had met several times in Walsingham, was… Read more »
I had the privilege of meeting +Campbell MacInnes when he was Master of St Nicholas’ Hospital, Salisbury, in the early 1970s. Sent to him to be assessed for suitability to become a Reader, I was warmly greeted, sensitively interviewed, and asked to take a brief test on the BCP. Very old-style, and a world away from ++Ric!
Fr Dean
20 days ago
Doesn’t say much for the Diocese of Melbourne that they couldn’t find a suitable Australian candidate. Bishop Ric will no doubt be replaced with indecent haste!
+Rowan had a long and distinguished theological career in England before becoming a bishop in Wales. He might have been bishop of Southwark of course, but that’s another story
Let us hope that the Crown Nominations Committee for Canterbury will look outside of the U.K for possible candidates. If you remove from the list of the CofE House of Bishops, those nearing retirement and those who might have some safeguarding questions linked to them in some way or another, the CNC is not spoilt for choice.
Given recent events its easy to jump to that conclusion. The tendency of the House of Bishops to speak with one voice hasn’t helped either. Maybe the way is open for a less predictable appointment of some who could prove to be an inspired leader simply because she or he doesn’t carry the baggage of the things we’re all too familiar with.
In any case I didn’t know there was a rule that said the choice was confined to the cohort of Diocesans. Time for some ‘out of the box’ thinking perhaps.
The BCP Order for consecration of bishops envisages that someone might be consecrated to become an archbishop. Sam Wells? Lucy Winkett? Vaughan Roberts? Any other bids?
My reference to the Church of England House of Bishops was because normally the nomination for the person to be appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury has been a member of the HofB. I believe in theory it is possible for a lay person to be nominated, not that would ever happen, and such a person would then need to be ordained, consecration and installed/enthroned in Canterbury. A requirement as I understand it, is that a nominated candidate has to be able and willing to swear allegiance to the King. I imagine therefore the nominated candidate would have to come… Read more »
Ambrose, one time Bishop of Milan, was a reluctant lay person who needed to be baptised, ordained and consecrated in quick succession. Having served a church dedicated to him I came to the conclusion that reluctance was his best qualification.
I notice that The Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication (CCX) led by Bishop Thorpe recently announced “a significant number of the CCX staff team redundant”. Could this be relevant to the Australian appointment? I have no idea. Being doubtless a dinosaur, my reaction to church multiplication is, haven’t we got too many churches already? Is there an ideal number for those who believe in it, or does the multiplication last till doomsday?
Bit like the Government’s plan for umpteen thousand more houses. It’s in the post, guv!
Peter from Down Under
20 days ago
There is weeping and wailing throughout the Great Southern Land. A committee stacked with conservative evangelicals presenting a Messiah to the election synod … and not a single Australian bishop on the slate! The motherland comes to the rescue of the benighted colonies!
The episcopal consecration to which I referred in my earlier post on this thread was that of Kate Prowd, Lindsay’s sister.
Rowland Wateridge
20 days ago
The diocesan website states “Administrator Bishop Genieve Blackwell was pleased to announce the decision following the deliberations of the Archbishop Election Synod. The synod, comprising approximately 760 clergy and lay parish representatives of the diocese, began its work on Friday 23 May.” Decision made and announced the following day, 24 May. This surely beats any papal conclave, and our C of E procedures for the next Canterbury haven’t yet even reached the stage of ‘under starter’s orders’!
The Synod may have begun its work on May 23, but there will have been a nominating committee working for several months, creating a diocesan profile, receiving nominations etc. The synod will then have been given all the background information on the candidates so that it can ‘begin its work’ – i.e. the actual election.
At least, that’s how episcopal elections work in this part of the Anglican world (Canada).
Actually, Archdruid Eileen is a male Anglican priest. Apologies for ‘blowing’ his/ her cover.
Alongside the whimsical tales from Husborne Crawley (a real place, incidentally) from time to time we get some of the finest and most thoughtful online sermons: outstanding ones: ‘Doubting Thomas’; Mary Magdalene; and ‘the wedding at Cana’, among others, come to mind.
Rowland,
Thank- you for this link- I laughed out loud – particularly at the part where the Three Armies hit one another with cricket bats …. Though Archdruid I would argue that they have been doing this for far longer than two hours – it’s measured in decades but is just as silly
Michael H
20 days ago
Note that his predecessor retired in February and that he was elected by a synod of clergy and lay representatives a few days ago.
David Runcorn
19 days ago
+Islington was created to make the lead church planting advisor a bishop, adding status and bringing them into the centre of CofE policy debates. The first step at this point would be to review whether that has been an effective strategy. Though three years is not long to assess there should be some evidence at this point this is a proving a fruitful direction of travel and has gained the support and respect of the wider church. It is also quite possible that this kind of initiative will not survive the leadership and growth strategy of the last archbishop.
It ought not to. For the many reasons why, and until my own researches are complete, I would simply point people to William Abraham’s interesting The Logic of Evangelism – Abraham’s gets about halfway there – but he is at least heading in the right direction.
Homeless Anglican
19 days ago
Is it just me, or is +Ric channeling his inner +Chartres in the picture on the website?! I cant help see the similarities. On a separate point, I think that the work done by +Islington has been encouraging and empowering for many different communities. Good luck to him down under!
Very hard to see any similarities in any way. +Richard Chartres has a great brain and a huge sense of humour and certainly does not share Rev Ric’s theology
Indeed, together with an ‘interesting’ record on Diocesan governance, oversight of senior staff and safeguarding, lest we are tempted to uncritically laud the Lord too much to +Islington’s implied detriment. For the avoidance of doubt, I am no uncritical fan of +Islington either, though have found him consistently warm, friendly and engaging on the few occasions I have met him.
That would be the same Richard Chartres whose disregard for due process led to his unaccountable director of operations scamming the diocese for millions?
I am sick to the back teeth with the witch hunting and reputation destruction that these columns seem somewhat over filled with.
Let us not bury the great good that even fallible people do.
I’m not so sure on that, but you’re as entitled to your opinion as I am. Where I suspect we might agree is I think the HOB would benefit from some more people with well honed skills and inhabited wisdom drawn from aspects of church life now sadly neglected in what’s looked for in potential senior leaders: gifted pastors; those who radiate genuine holiness; wise scholars who can read and interpret the signs of the times through lenses inspired by deep immersion in a range of theological traditions and influences. With some notable exceptions, mediocre seems to characterise most in… Read more »
Could someone enlighten me as to this persons credentials antecedents and especially any connections to HTB or Wimbledon and contacts with SMYT,H Pilavachi or connections with any historic cases within safeguarding or any other possible issues such as bullying or difficulties with staff. Some commentators and internal people in Australia have concerns.
Wikipedia seems accurate: Ric Thorpe – Wikipedia
But you might also read through this Guardian article: As traditional believers turn away, is this a new crisis of faith? | Anglicanism | The Guardian
The Guardian now has a paywall. Do you know if Ric is a Iwerne man?
The Guardian doesn’t have a paywall.
I don’t subscribe to the Guardian but have been donating to it for several years, and now can’t access the online edition. I get a message saying I need to pay. I call that a paywall. They have a right to charge to read the paper, of course. We’ve just got used to free information.
They’ve had a message for a while asking you to subscribe/donate but you can just click for it to go away – it’s not a paywall
I’m being given a choice between subscribing or accepting all cookies and personalised advertising. The window won’t close and I can’t read the article. And I’m not going to accept all cookies etc. I’ve now stopped my monthly donation, since there’s no point if they won’t allow me to read articles.
On a computer (rather than a tablet or phone) you can set your web browser to reject Guardian cookies regardless of how you reply to their question. That allows you to read the article.
How would I do that on a Mac?
There is often a message asking you to donate, or subscribe, or enable cookies, but it’s not obligatory and you can simply exit it. “Paywall” is generally understood to refer to when you simply can’t access without paying, so using a personal or idiosyncratic definition of the word may cause confusion.
Have you tried using a different browser, or clearing your browser cache?
That might be the answer.
If you have the app but don’t subscribe, it only allows you a certain number of articles a month. If you don’t have the app – or read on a computer – you can get around that.
I read on my computer and my iPad, but maybe I’ve read my quota for the month. However, this problem has only arisen in the last week or two since they changed their terms and started charging.
I’m getting into that Guardian article with no trouble at all and I’m not a subscriber.
The Guardian does not have a paywall
He is an alumnus of Stowe and preached at its centenary service, but I don’t know of any Iwerne connection.
Any information about postings before St Paul’s Shadwell or connections this person had to anyone linked to the Makin report would be vital information. It’s possible due diligence has not been done correctly on this appointment.
His first clerical appointment was as a curate at Holy Trinity Brompton from 1996 to 2005.
Then responsible for Shadwell from 2005 to 2015. Then Islington
Thanks Simon greatly appreciated. It confirms things that concerned people in Australia are currently trying to piece together. For the avoidance of doubt the concerns are around due diligence in the safeguarding space. Really appreciate the confirmation of the direct HTB links. Helps with timeline over Fletcher and Makin.
I think you are confusing tribes here. Ric is not much to do with the Fletcher or Pilavachi as far as i know. The only link would be through HTB / Battersea lay reader later Rev Sue Colman who was linked to the trust that paid for Smyth to go to Africa. But I dont think you can blame Ric for being in the same network, without taking out half the English evangelical leadership of that decade. And I do agree that there is a wider cultural responsibility. But I cant see that this is a specific case to have… Read more »
I attended HTB between 1978-1981 and will be visiting Australia later this year, and yes I do have some culture concerns if England are thrashed 5-0 in the Ashes. The level of abuse will be intolerable!
Hi Jonathon, Thanks you. I did from memory pick the 1990s links and have not yet done a deeper dive. I do know that in the 1990s the culture across the board not just in Con Evo spaces was neanderthal compared to secular culture today. My concerns about the culture of Iwerne the Fletchers at Wimbledon and HTB did raise red flags. I note that Rev Thorpe was a curate at HTB and knowing that culture speaking out on concerns in the 90s as a young Curate with little power would have been highly unlikely. I think many of us… Read more »
Why was Welby’s resignation a disappointing outcome?
Hi Janet,
I most likely used the word incorrectly. Welby failed completely across the board like most of the leadership team and disappointed victim-survivors was the meaning I was trying to convey.
Your work for survivors and our families in the UK is magnificent.
Richie
Thank you, Richie! I wish you and your family well.
Iwerne and HTB are two different things. There’s some minor cross over but basically they’re two different tribes. Conservative vs charismatic evangelicals. The occasional person (like Justin Welby or Sue Coleman) moved between them but basically they don’t mix and there’s quite a lot of mutual suspicion between them, especially from the con evos who tend to see the charismatics as over emotive and surrendering to the Zeitgeist. Pilavachi is a bit closer to HTB but Soul Survivor is again a distinct network. I don’t know if +Ric had much to do with either Soul Survivor or Iwerne but if… Read more »
Hi Harry, Thanks for your illuminating and helpful response. There are great people in all the different strands or expressions of Anglicanism. Sadly due to the history across the Communion, we are seeing amongst a generation of senior leaders failures in safeguarding and old cultural roadblocks within the Leadership. Both in the UK Australia and NZ we saw with public enquiries and Royal Commissions that no section of the Anglican Church eg Con Evo, Charismatic, Liberal, High Church, Anglo-Catholic was free from safeguarding cases. I am hoping that the due diligence that is required for all senior appointments across the… Read more »
So just to clarify, you would have asked the ‘due diligence’ question regardless of which tradition Bishop Ric had come from?
Hi David,
Absolutely, in Australia the hot zones were centered on High Church Catholic centres similar to Chichester but there were also cases in solid evangelical areas such as Sydney.
The culture of silencing and cover up was seen across the board in Australia.
Sadly for everyone in the Communion this cultural malaise seems to be present in all different expressions of Anglicanism.
In the UK enquiry both Iwerne and Chichestershowed us that no faith style evangelical liberal or Catholic was immune.
I wonder if the See of Islington will be filled. I was under the impression that it was revived especially for + Thorpe.
I never understood the point of reviving the See of Islington, nor why it was thought necessary to have a bishop for church plants. I hope it won’t be filled and the Church Commissioners can save the cost of a suffragan.
Delighted to hear that. It is 68 years (1957) since Frank Woods, Suffragan Bishop of Middleton, became Archbishop of Melbourne. Four suffragan bishops from England went to overseas archbishoprics at about that time. They were Frank Woods to Melbourne as noted, Hugh Gough (Barking) to Sydney, Joost de Blank (Stepney) to Cape Town and Campbell MacInnes (Bedford) to Jerusalem. Woods and MacInnes were both sons of bishops. I think that all of them except Woods eventually returned to the UK. I remember Woods’ death in 1992. I listened to the funeral on the radio. His son Theodore addressed the congregation.… Read more »
There are many other connections to the Woods family. Frank Woods’ father, Theodore Woods (1874-1932), was successively bishop of Peterborough and Winchester where his tomb is inscribed that he was the 88th bishop. His family extended to his sons’ ecclesiastical appointments in Australia and New Zealand, while another was bishop of Worcester.
Thank you. Theodore Woods was Frank’s uncle. Frank’s father was Edward Woods, successively Bishop of Croydon and of Lichfield. Frank’s brother Sam Woods was an archdeacon in NZ.
Thank you, in turn, for the correction. Winchester has been ‘my’ life-long local cathedral and the mention of Frank Woods automatically made me think of Bishop Theodore. Coincidentally, his father was also a Frank Woods and a priest. As you doubtless know, Theodore’s successor was Cyril Garbett whom we have been discussing recently on an earlier thread.
Thank you for this gracious response. Robin Woods, Edward’s son (therefore Frank’s brother) and ultimately Bishop of Worcester, has not yet featured in this discussion. He was considered for Melbourne before Frank was. Geoffrey Fisher was consulted by the Melbourne electors. In a letter in which Robin had previously been mentioned he wrote ‘There is also to be considered Frank Woods, his brother, now Bishop of Middleton’. The other candidate at the final election was Charles Claxton of Warrington, later of Blackburn. He used to visit Australia to visit his daughter and family who had settled there. He could have… Read more »
Frank Woods’ brother-in-law – the husband of one of his sisters – was John Firth, usually referred to as Budge Firth. Like David Sheppard, he combined clerical and cricketing careers. He died in his fifties in 1957, the year Frank went to Melbourne.
There was also George Appleton who went in 1963 from being Archdeacon of London to Archbishop of Perth and 5 years later in early 1969 followed Campbell MacInnes as Archbishop in Jerusalem and there was also David Silk Archdeacon of Leicester who became Bishop of Ballarat and John Ford who had been Suffragan Bishop of Plymouth who became Bishop of the Murray. Jonathan
Thanks. I did think of Appleton (whose autobiography I have read) but my post was about suffragan bishops who had become overseas archbishops and Appleton’s first episcopal post was Archbishop of Perth. There has been a thread on TA about bishops who are also mathematicians. Appleton did a maths degree. I remember David Silk’s appointment (and wrote a comment on it for the national Anglican newspaper in Australia) but, again, he was never a suffragan bishop. I attended the Christmas services at Christ Church Brunswick in Melbourne in 2015. Lindsay Urwin, whom I had met several times in Walsingham, was… Read more »
I had the privilege of meeting +Campbell MacInnes when he was Master of St Nicholas’ Hospital, Salisbury, in the early 1970s. Sent to him to be assessed for suitability to become a Reader, I was warmly greeted, sensitively interviewed, and asked to take a brief test on the BCP. Very old-style, and a world away from ++Ric!
Doesn’t say much for the Diocese of Melbourne that they couldn’t find a suitable Australian candidate. Bishop Ric will no doubt be replaced with indecent haste!
You could say the same for the Church of England when they went to Wales for Rowan Williams.
+Rowan had a long and distinguished theological career in England before becoming a bishop in Wales. He might have been bishop of Southwark of course, but that’s another story
You could, but at least Rowan was on the same continent and of course Wales is part of the United Kingdom.
Let us hope that the Crown Nominations Committee for Canterbury will look outside of the U.K for possible candidates. If you remove from the list of the CofE House of Bishops, those nearing retirement and those who might have some safeguarding questions linked to them in some way or another, the CNC is not spoilt for choice.
Someone from the Diocese of Sydney?
That would mean the abolition of Anglicanism in England.
Indeed, Father. My tongue was deeply in my cheek!
Why not? It might even bring me back to the CofE
Given recent events its easy to jump to that conclusion. The tendency of the House of Bishops to speak with one voice hasn’t helped either. Maybe the way is open for a less predictable appointment of some who could prove to be an inspired leader simply because she or he doesn’t carry the baggage of the things we’re all too familiar with.
In any case I didn’t know there was a rule that said the choice was confined to the cohort of Diocesans. Time for some ‘out of the box’ thinking perhaps.
The BCP Order for consecration of bishops envisages that someone might be consecrated to become an archbishop. Sam Wells? Lucy Winkett? Vaughan Roberts? Any other bids?
I’ll settle for either of your first two suggestions.
But only the first two, PLEASE!!
Absolutely.
My reference to the Church of England House of Bishops was because normally the nomination for the person to be appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury has been a member of the HofB. I believe in theory it is possible for a lay person to be nominated, not that would ever happen, and such a person would then need to be ordained, consecration and installed/enthroned in Canterbury. A requirement as I understand it, is that a nominated candidate has to be able and willing to swear allegiance to the King. I imagine therefore the nominated candidate would have to come… Read more »
Ambrose, one time Bishop of Milan, was a reluctant lay person who needed to be baptised, ordained and consecrated in quick succession. Having served a church dedicated to him I came to the conclusion that reluctance was his best qualification.
from HTB?
Bishop Archibald of Islington has a certain ring to it!
I notice that The Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication (CCX) led by Bishop Thorpe recently announced “a significant number of the CCX staff team redundant”. Could this be relevant to the Australian appointment? I have no idea. Being doubtless a dinosaur, my reaction to church multiplication is, haven’t we got too many churches already? Is there an ideal number for those who believe in it, or does the multiplication last till doomsday?
Wasn’t that the organisation working for 10,000 lay-led churches by 2030? Any news of how that’s going?
Bit like the Government’s plan for umpteen thousand more houses. It’s in the post, guv!
There is weeping and wailing throughout the Great Southern Land. A committee stacked with conservative evangelicals presenting a Messiah to the election synod … and not a single Australian bishop on the slate! The motherland comes to the rescue of the benighted colonies!
How on earth?? What a disaster!!
‘ to the rescue’ ?
Isn’t this the diocese where +Lindsay Urwin is a parish priest and assistant bishop and his sister Kate is an area bishop?
The episcopal consecration to which I referred in my earlier post on this thread was that of Kate Prowd, Lindsay’s sister.
The diocesan website states “Administrator Bishop Genieve Blackwell was pleased to announce the decision following the deliberations of the Archbishop Election Synod. The synod, comprising approximately 760 clergy and lay parish representatives of the diocese, began its work on Friday 23 May.” Decision made and announced the following day, 24 May. This surely beats any papal conclave, and our C of E procedures for the next Canterbury haven’t yet even reached the stage of ‘under starter’s orders’!
The Synod may have begun its work on May 23, but there will have been a nominating committee working for several months, creating a diocesan profile, receiving nominations etc. The synod will then have been given all the background information on the candidates so that it can ‘begin its work’ – i.e. the actual election.
At least, that’s how episcopal elections work in this part of the Anglican world (Canada).
There’s a description of the process in Melbourne here, and it’s much the same as Tim describes for Canada.
Yup – same for us in ACANZP.
I was really having a gentle dig at the C of E situation with this comparison (incidentally, I do, of course, know that you write from Canada!).
Archdruid Eileen has done this wonderful ‘send up’ of the C of E ‘procedure’; possibly it was felt too disrespectful for the TA editors to link it!
https://cyber-coenobites.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-primate-of-all-england-of-rings.html
The Ven the Archdruid seems the ideal candidate. Can she be drafted?
Actually, Archdruid Eileen is a male Anglican priest. Apologies for ‘blowing’ his/ her cover.
Alongside the whimsical tales from Husborne Crawley (a real place, incidentally) from time to time we get some of the finest and most thoughtful online sermons: outstanding ones: ‘Doubting Thomas’; Mary Magdalene; and ‘the wedding at Cana’, among others, come to mind.
‘I do, of course, know that you write from Canada’
Of course you do, Rowland, but there may be people reading who don’t.
Rowland,
Thank- you for this link- I laughed out loud – particularly at the part where the Three Armies hit one another with cricket bats …. Though Archdruid I would argue that they have been doing this for far longer than two hours – it’s measured in decades but is just as silly
Note that his predecessor retired in February and that he was elected by a synod of clergy and lay representatives a few days ago.
+Islington was created to make the lead church planting advisor a bishop, adding status and bringing them into the centre of CofE policy debates. The first step at this point would be to review whether that has been an effective strategy. Though three years is not long to assess there should be some evidence at this point this is a proving a fruitful direction of travel and has gained the support and respect of the wider church. It is also quite possible that this kind of initiative will not survive the leadership and growth strategy of the last archbishop.
It ought not to. For the many reasons why, and until my own researches are complete, I would simply point people to William Abraham’s interesting The Logic of Evangelism – Abraham’s gets about halfway there – but he is at least heading in the right direction.
Is it just me, or is +Ric channeling his inner +Chartres in the picture on the website?! I cant help see the similarities. On a separate point, I think that the work done by +Islington has been encouraging and empowering for many different communities. Good luck to him down under!
Very hard to see any similarities in any way. +Richard Chartres has a great brain and a huge sense of humour and certainly does not share Rev Ric’s theology
Indeed, together with an ‘interesting’ record on Diocesan governance, oversight of senior staff and safeguarding, lest we are tempted to uncritically laud the Lord too much to +Islington’s implied detriment. For the avoidance of doubt, I am no uncritical fan of +Islington either, though have found him consistently warm, friendly and engaging on the few occasions I have met him.
The Church of England would be in a better place if we had a few more of the likes of Richard Chartres
That would be the same Richard Chartres whose disregard for due process led to his unaccountable director of operations scamming the diocese for millions?
I am sick to the back teeth with the witch hunting and reputation destruction that these columns seem somewhat over filled with.
Let us not bury the great good that even fallible people do.
I’m not so sure on that, but you’re as entitled to your opinion as I am. Where I suspect we might agree is I think the HOB would benefit from some more people with well honed skills and inhabited wisdom drawn from aspects of church life now sadly neglected in what’s looked for in potential senior leaders: gifted pastors; those who radiate genuine holiness; wise scholars who can read and interpret the signs of the times through lenses inspired by deep immersion in a range of theological traditions and influences. With some notable exceptions, mediocre seems to characterise most in… Read more »
More than anyone’s share of the mainly male and terminally entitled? We need the Archdruid as Wester said above- Come on Eileen!
Thank God for the appointment of a man of God. A church planter, a believer, and a supporter of modern Anglican evangelism. Love joy and peace!!