The 106th Archbishop of Canterbury is expected to be named this morning and he – or she – will prepare to take the helm of a divided Church of England and a fractured Anglican Communion in a politically polarised nation. This is the first time a woman could hold this position, once considered one of the most illustrious in the land. It remains the most senior non-royal role in Debrett’s table of precedence, ranking above the Prime Minister and the great mass of politicians.
But friends of whomever is chosen may feel more inclined to send a note of commiserations rather than congratulations. It is a lonely role with great responsibility but little executive power, and plenty of opportunities for calamitous gaffes; recent Archbishops have often looked as if they were performing a public act of penance than a joyful mission.
Both the Church of England and the Anglican Communion are sharply divided on how to navigate the sexual revolution. There is the real risk of schism within England and internationally over same-sex relationships.
The last Archbishop, Justin Welby, quit after a safeguarding scandal in November and the search has been on to find someone who can unite the different strands of Anglicanism as well as managing the church’s sprawling bureaucracy and providing pastoral care to the nation.
The Archbishop will have a seat in the House of Lords but this is far from a guarantee he or she will be listened to by the typical English citizen. The 2021 census found for the first time that less than half the population of England and Wales identified as Christian (27.5 million people) – and last year only 582,000 people were at a Church of England service on a normal Sunday.
The Church of England is one denomination in a galaxy of different Christian traditions in a multi-faith Britain. The new Archbishop faces the challenge of helping the church adapt and thrive; this is by no means an impossible task in a country where Pentecostal congregations are booming and new churches open each week.
A recent report from the Bible Society, based on research by YouGov, described a “quiet revival” with a surge in younger people attending church. It reported the share of 18 to 24-year-olds who turned up at a Christian service at least once a month had soared from 4% in 2018 to 16% in 2024.
It is not uncommon for individual Anglicans to talk with excitement about their packed Sunday services but then voice despair at the division and inertia in the institution. These people are thrilled by the success of food banks and debt counselling services, and are delighted at the growth of diverse and vibrant congregations – but they are not looking to Lambeth Palace for leadership.
If the Church of England is locked in an internal culture war for the tenure of the next Archbishop, with numbers dwindling, a grim future awaits. But if it can take the energy which burns in its grassroots address eternal questions of the soul while tackling the challenges of poverty, isolation and division in the communities it serves, then it has the chance to shape society for good.
