Being part of the Church of England we have been awaiting with bated breath the official announcement of the identity of the new Archbishop of Canterbury. No, it isn’t Barack Obama and he wasn’t chosen by a blindfolded child; the new Archbishop has been announced as Justin Welby, a former oil executive who has only been a Bishop (Durham of all places!) for a year.
Bishop Justin Welby
As Justin himself said, this was the worst kept secret since the last cabinet reshuffle and so since his name was first quite seriously mentioned about 48 hours ago I’ve been considering the implications his appointment would have upon what The Order of the Black Sheep are all about.
Many people on the Twittersphere began to decry his anti gay marriage stance, citing emails where he had been ‘wooly’ on condemning ‘gay to straight therapy’. I must confess that this seemed to settle down when, at the formal announcement of his appointment he made the telling statement that ‘I am always averse to the language of exclusion, when we are called to love others in the way that Jesus Christ loves us’.
It is here that his heart seems to begin to shine through and it is here that perhaps OBS as a community – and those of us involved in shaping missional communities – perhaps have something of an affinity with this Old Etonian shepherd.
You see, when a person steps up and, despite his own proclivity, affirms that ‘…what we are called to is to love in the same way as Jesus Christ loves us. Above all in the church we need to create safe spaces for these issues to be discussed honestly and in love.’ they make a statement bolder than coming down on one side of the fence. What Bishop Justin has done is to admit that loving as Jesus loved is what the church should be doing first and foremost, and he has placed his cards on the table for all to see even before his installment.
While Archbishop Rowan will be missed I am not convinced that Justin will be a slow starter, anything but. Reading through his bio even the most casual of observers will notice that his previous roles have included a huge amount of reconciliation work. With the cracks beginning to widen in the Anglican communion we desperately need somebody who can help ‘…the Church to be a place where we can disagree in love.’ (his words).
I hope and I pray that this new Archbishop will demonstrate what it means to love as Jesus loved, to assist in the reconciliation of the most disagreeable parties on the most contentious issues; but most importantly to continue to put aside his own proclivity to live and lead with that all important question governing his leadership of the Anglican communion: What kind of God and so what?
– Ben
@OrderBlackSheep
@BenMartinBass
The Order of the Black Sheep 