Archbishop of Canterbury: the 105th
Justin Welby was named this morning as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, which was no surprise after the media leaks of the last few days. It does seem he was surprised to be asked. And no doubt rather daunted. Many others more eloquent and informed than I am have published their reactions. Here's my brief 2-pennyworth.
I was encouraged by his opening statement at the press conference at Lambeth Palace this morning. He began with one of my favourite prayers
"Come Holy Spirit to the hearts of your people and kindle in them the fire of your love."Speaking of the future of the church he expressed optimism and said:
"We will certainly get things wrong, but the grace of God is far greater than our biggest failures."You can see the video or read the full text on the Archbishop of Canterbury website here.
I didn't see the press conference, but like what I've read about him. He seems a good choice, but I don't envy him the task ahead.
ReplyDeleteI only saw a short soundbite from it on the news, including the comment about God's grace being greater than our mistakes. That really spoke to me so I looked up the whole statement on the Archbishop of Canterbury website. Interesting that in the live version Bishop Justin added to 'we will make mistakes' that was in the pre-prepared script with 'I certainly will' - a touch that I warmed to and was one of the soundbites that made the lunch time news on BBC TV.
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