The Rt. Rev. Justin Welby initially responded to the Crown Nominations Committee that it would be “a joke” to choose him as Archbishop of Canterbury. Obviously the committee disagreed. Church News reports:
THE Archbishop-elect … told the Crown Nominations Commission that it would be “a joke” and “perfectly absurd” to choose him for Canterbury, it emerged this week.
In an interview at the Trent Vineyard Church in Nottingham, alongside his wife, Caroline, on Sunday, Bishop Welby described the appointment process. He had been invited, along with other diocesan bishops, to write a statement outlining what he would do if he was appointed Archbishop.
“I’d been a bishop, let alone the Bishop of Durham, for seven months,” Bishop Welby said. “So I wrote a statement saying: ‘Well, if I was Archbishop of Canterbury I’d do this, this, this, and this.’
“And the final paragraph said: ‘I’ve enjoyed writing this. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it. But frankly it’s a joke, because it is self-evident that it is perfectly absurd to consider appointing someone to Canterbury who’s been a bishop for seven months. I shall be praying for you to make the right choice.”
Read full story here. And you can listen to the Trent Vineyard Church interview with Welby and his wife here. Welby will be installed as Archbishop of Canterbury Monday at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.