The Church of England has today announced the membership of the Canterbury CNC, apart from the three representatives from the diocese whose names are not yet available for the reasons given in my previous article. The text of the press release is copied below.
Membership of Canterbury CNC announced
13/05/2025
The Canterbury CNC is made up of a diverse group of members, including representatives from the Church of England, the Anglican Communion, and members appointed by the Crown.
The Central Members and Anglican Communion representatives of the Canterbury Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) have been announced.
The Crown Nominations Commission for the Archbishop of Canterbury is larger than that for other diocesan bishops, with 17 voting members in a wider Commission made up of 20 members.
In 2022, General Synod approved changes to the CNC’s Standing Orders that increased the number of representatives from the Anglican Communion from one to five for the CNC of the See of Canterbury. They are nominated by the Anglican Communion, one from each of the five regions and include primates, clergy and lay people.
Voting members
Non-voting members
Following a public consultation that saw thousands of people share their views on the qualities needed in the next Archbishop of Canterbury, the Commission will convene for its first meeting later this month, followed by at least two further meetings – one in July and another in September. Through these, the Commission will agree the ‘Role Profile’ and ‘Person Specification’ for the next Archbishop of Canterbury, discern the longlist, shortlist and interview candidates.
Under the Standing Orders of the General Synod, a nomination cannot be made to The Crown unless it has received the support of at least two-thirds of the total number of the voting members of the Commission in a secret ballot.
The Chair of the Canterbury CNC, Lord (Jonathan) Evans said: “Helping to choose the next Archbishop of Canterbury is both a great responsibility and a privilege. The Crown Nominations Commission understands the weight of this important decision and we pray for God’s hand on the process.
“I thank those who have taken part in the public consultation across the country and the Anglican Communion, helping us to establish the gifts, skills and qualities required in the next Archbishop. Do please keep the CNC process in your prayers as we seek to discern who God is calling to this important ministry.”
As someone from the Western Hemisphere, I’m interested in the person representing the Americas. According to the Church Times. “The only lay Communion representative is Joaquín Philpotts, an industrial engineer from Buenos Aires, representing the Americas. He currently represents the Anglican Church of South America on the Anglican Consultative Council, and is a lay minister.” I was curious about his province — the Anglican Church of South America. I knew there was something called the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone, but hadn’t realized that it had changed its name, perhaps in a misleadingly expansive way, On the South American… Read more »
To be fair, Chile was still part of the Anglican Church of South America when the new name was adopted.
25 hours of Conclave to choose a new pope. Months and months of waiting to select a new Archbishop of Canterbury!
Until Penrith became the new Carlisle there were 10 dioceses without a Diocesan bishop.
Quite right Father. Perhaps we should pack them all off to Rome, lock the door on them and not let them out until they come up with a name.
In the 1907 Wall Street panic (which originated with the collapse of the Knickerbocker Trust), J. P. Morgan, Sr., invited the leading financial personalities of the day to his home. As these individuals gathered with much of the usual surface bonhomie Morgan plied them with considerable amounts of liquid refreshment. He then announced at the start of the meeting that he was prepared to put up a considerable sum in order to bail out the most distressed entities, for the sake of preventing a slump, but that he also expected the other attendees to put up substantial amounts of their… Read more »
The ‘pretentiousness’ you speak of is evidenced in the decision to include citizens of countries from across the world in the process. The Church of England, as Linda Woodhead has pointed out, “remains a national church with global aspects rather than a truly global church like the Roman Catholic Church.”
Exactly.
The naming of CNC members from elsewhere is nonsensical.
Cantuar has jurisdiction in England and nowhere else.
From what I have just read on a Google search, there have been no inordinately long papal conclaves in recent times. Even so, I am almost sure that I once read in light-hearted account of the election of John Paul II that a barber is available for duty at short notice during a papal conclave. There must have been fear that if the election took too long the cardinals would take on the appearance of the Beatles.
Father, which are those dioceses, please?
Canterbury
St. Albans
St. Edmundsbury & Ipswich
Bristol
Leeds
Ely
Durham
Liverpool
Worcester
Three of those are not yet vacant – St Albans (vacant from 1 June), Bristol (1 Sept) and Leeds (1 Dec).
The list also reflects a peaking among bishops who are reaching retirement age around the same time.
But 4 of the vacancies are arguably ‘problematic’ – Canterbury, Liverpool, Ely, Durham.
I pray for the healing of our church, but don’t feel complacent that this long list of vacancies isn’t indicative of some malaise.
Let us take the Bishop of Leeds, who retires on Dec 1st. What is it that stops someone being appointed before that date, so that they are there and ready to take up the role on Dec 2nd.?
What’s the need for such haste?
tempus fugit!
Yes, but there’s not much that can’t happen without a diocesan. A parish vacancy is worse, and dioceses are in no hurry to fill those.
Ian I agree with your suggestion. I made the same point about Coventry. Two years ago it was announced that the Bishop of Coventry was to be Dean of Windsor, He didn’t take up the post for six months, so the selection of his successor had ample time, except for his feelings maybe. His successor was appointed more than six months ago. (An attempt to cancel the CNC came to nothing.) She still isn’t in post. The suffragan also retired nearly two years ago and hasn’t been replaced. In my opinion, the proper solution would be to abolish the diocese… Read more »
At least Durham appointed a new bishop after only a few months. Oh I forgot. They backed out.
Well, I suppose it’s saving a bit of money on bishops’ stipends for the Church Commissioners. Perhaps they could put the money they’ve saved towards parish priests’ stipends or clergy pensions. Fat chance!
It seems to me that dioceses bumble along OK without a diocesan bishop. Although I believe in bishops I do think we put them on too much of a pedestal, they are better being humble servants – good examples of simple christian living. Sadly many seem to be quasi prelates.
Drawing straws would be even quicker.
And it would be a matter of some debate as to whether a random choice from a minimally qualified shortlist would give any worse results than the increasingly elaborate processes used today.
Yes – I rather like the Matthias method referred to above.
Prayerfully identify 2 (or more) plausible candidates, who seem to have adequate aptitude to assume the role – differently, but equally fallibly/competently, as far as we can tell – before God lets them loose.
Then give God the final say through a drawing of lots.
The appointee is humbled because they weren’t chosen for being ‘better’.
The non-appointee(s) is/are comforted because they weren’t discarded for being of lower calibre.
And it’s scriptural – what’s not to like?
That was done in Scotland back in 2006, when Bishop Bruce Cameron was retiring from Being Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and Bishop of Aberdeen. For a short time Bishop Bruce, having stepped down as Primus, and whilst still Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney reverted to his previous position of Senior Position as Senior Bishop (in effect Deputy Primus). There was stalemate in the election of his Successor as Primus. The normal method of electing a Primus is by Show of hands at a meeting of the College of Bishops, the Episcopal Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church. In… Read more »
The list of names rather suggests that there could easily be deadlock when it comes to the vote. Unless there’s a miracle….
|Why do you fear deadlock? ACC representation suggests a fresh voice/s will be heard?
Because General Synod and the HofB have delayed progressing the matters they should have already dealt with, the appointment is bound to be influenced by the view that the candidate takes to LLF, PLF etc. Achieving a 2/3 majority against that background will be challenging. I don’t think either of the liberal or conservative wings have the votes.
In 1942 Winston Churchill nominated William Temple as the successor to Archbishop Cosmo Lang referring to him as “The only half crown article in a sixpenny bazaar”
Can anyone identify the 12 1/2 pence article on today’s Bench of bishops?
I don’t think Cyril Garbett could be assigned to ‘a sixpenny bazaar’, but being both unmarried and having strong socialist leanings (acquired during ministry in some of the worst slums and deprived areas) he would not have appealed to Churchill. He did, however, get the ‘consolation prize’, York, also in 1942.
No suggestions for 2025, I’m afraid!
I totally agree re Cyril Garbett. After wearing himself out as Bishop of Southwark he was given Winchester in order to recover before being translated to York.
With respect, although Garbett was a highly diligent parish priest in Portsea (despite upsetting numerous local interests), he was widely perceived as a martinet (he once refused to licence a curate who had turned up 3 minutes late), and had very limited social skills. He was arguably more of a 6d item than at least some of the alternatives. However, Churchill’s jibe was not wholly fair. Consider some of the options: Bath & Wells: William Wand – CF at Sulva Bay, archbishop of Brisbane (not wholly successful). Birmingham: E. W. Barnes, FRS – fellow of Trinity, master of the Temple… Read more »
Neville Gorton at Coventry, not “Gordon”. He had himself only become bishop in 1943, so was pretty new on the bench in 1944.
Of that list the only one I remember personally was Alwyn Williams who chose to return to Winchester from Durham, succeeding Mervyn Haigh as Bishop. He confirmed my late wife and I have the little book of Communion preparation prayers presented by the Diocese and bearing Williams’ name. Some decades earlier my mother was confirmed by Garbett when Bishop of Southwark. As a little girl she had encountered Garbett in rural Surrey on one of his famous country walks – she always referred to him as “the walking bishop”.
Many thanks to you for this (and to Mr Kershaw for correcting my silly typo). Garbett did make a real effort to visit rural SE Surrey on foot, though that was partly because he did not drive (he learnt how do so later in life, with alarming effects). However, in this Garbett was really following the example of his immediate predecessor at Southwark, H. M. Burge (former head of Winchester College), who travelled the diocese assiduously and comprehensively on foot, or by bus, train or tram.
I was interested to read that Garbett learnt to drive drive late in life. William Temple drove himself to and from engagements when he was Bishop of Manchester.
The ref to Headlam & his Nazi sympathy caused me to look up his on-line DNB entry, which does not paint a pleasant picture. At the very least a Nazi ‘Fellow Traveller’, who showed no sign of recanting, I think that he was fortunate to be of sufficient status not to be locked up in 1940 under Defence Regulation 18b. The ultra right ‘great & the good’ like him were generally spared that fate, but they were quietly sidelined.
Thank you for this. I suspect it would have been relatively unlikely for Headlam to have been detained under Reg. 18B (of the Defence (General) Regulations 1939 – made famous by Liversidge v. Anderson (1942): https://global.oup.com/academic/product/in-the-highest-degree-odious-9780198259497?cc=gb&lang=en&), since I doubt he ever crossed the relevant threshold to have become a person of interest to the home secretary or security services. However, he did make himself thoroughly unpopular during WW2 by opposing RAF bombing of historical monuments, which he considered part of a common European inheritance. This was somewhat different to Bell criticising saturation bombing because of the effects on people’s physical… Read more »
Of course he was never going to be detained under 18B – he was a diocesan bishop & as noted this made him one of ‘the Great & the Good’ who were a protected species. However, he was a rabid Nazi apologist, even going so far as to argue that the prominent Confessing church pastor Martin Niemöller had brought imprisonment upon himself by preaching politics and provoking the Nazi regime (The Times, 14 July 1938, 10)
This conversation has been fascinating for me. My undergraduate thesis was on the relationship between the Vatican and the Third Reich (in 1980). Reading diplomatic messages from Berlin, I was struck by how often they took the opportunity to remind the Vatican that their interests were much more closely aligned with the German system than with the Soviet Union. My focus was on Pope Pius XI’s encyclical ‘Mit brennender Sorge’, which was a warning against the treatment of the Jews in Germany. His successor, Pius XII, has a far less glorious record of dealing with this situation. I have heard… Read more »
This blog did touch upon the ‘Pius wars’ in a thread dated 20 March last year. I suppose that if there was Anglican ‘skin in the game’ it was because of the legacy of ecumenical relations with the Prussian Evangelical Church (viz. the Jerusalem Bishopric Act 1841-86), as well as the very heavy investment made by both Bell and Headlam in the ecumenical council (especially the ‘Life and Work’ group), together with their commitment to deepening ties between the mainstream protestant denominations of Northern Europe. I feel that an argument can be made that the Church of England would also… Read more »
Did you think of putting Edward Woods of Lichfield on your list? He was 65 in 1942.
Barnes was a mathematician of the first rank. I cannot think of another Anglican prelate with a background in maths. Perhaps a reader can.
Yes indeed – gamma functions and integral functions. I did once try to read ‘Scientific Theory and Religion’ (1933 – an expanded version of his Gifford lectures), but it defeated me. The present bishop of Manchester (who sometimes posted here a number of years ago, chiefly in order explain the policies of the Church Commissioners) is, as I understand it, a formidable mathematician. I must also take this opportunity to thank you for your excellent ODNB entries on scientific figures. I did reflect on Woods, but his main claim to fame seemed to be as the creator of a dynasty… Read more »
Thank you. I was unaware that Bishop David Walker is a mathematician.
Thank you for you kind comments on my ODNB entries. I have a further one in press. Its subject is known to be a descendant of Isaac Newton.
Since posting this I have thought of another mathematician-bishop, David Young of Ripon.
On the current bench we have Michael Ipgrave, who got a first in Maths while at Oriel.
Thank you for that.
It appears that the Bishop of Burnley, Joe Kennedy, is a maths graduate.
Bishop David Walker was a member of the British Mathematical Olympiad team in 1975
Yes, I saw that in his Wikipedia entry. It speaks volumes for his capability.
Well perhaps!! Nice of you to say so.
Bishop Philpott of Worcester
Parsons was the first Bishop of Middleton. He was translated to Southwark (where he followed Garbett) and from there to Hereford. Canterbury would have been a third translation.
I would be interested in Phil Groves’ take on the Anglican commmunion representatives. I am not filled with hope with the central members (from the perspective of appointing a female ABC or one who might at least be ‘gay friendly’ …)
I have just turned on my computer after a clergy conference. The jigsaw must have been hard to put together, and the choice shows I am loosing touch with the ACC! However, it is not totally distant from my expectation. The Indigenous rep (Māori from Aotearoa) has a priority for climate action. They only had two primates to choose from and they went with Hosam Naoum – the priority will be someone who speaks for the oppressed. The African rep is from Ghana – she will have had to wait for years to be priested in a province with a strong… Read more »
Phil has now shared his views on https://viamedia.news/2025/05/17/the-anglican-communion-reps-on-cnc/
One wonders how many are “in the frame”? Given the constraints it can’t be many
Big committees like this are intended to give appearance of being open & transparent, giving voice to all. Reality is that mediocre compromise tends to win.
Has anyone read the lectionary readings for Holy Communion/ Weakday Eucharist for TODAY on which Matthias the Apostle may be celebrated- Acts 1: 15-end (particularly wirh referenece to the final verses)? The Gospel injuction to love another is also aposite.
That method of discernment has contributed to the holy catholic and apostolic succession we enjoy, as opposed to the church’s ‘success’ to which Froghole and others allude. My ‘moniker’ may also be though approriate 😉
Or to sum it all up- SNAFU
I suggest to Fr David, and others impressed by the comparative speed of the Vatican process, that the same could have been achieved at Canterbury if Justin Welby had been personally able to appoint the electors of his successor, especially if they were all senior bishops, and all men.
For all its messiness, I think I prefer our various Anglican processes.