I know you've all been waiting for what this blog writer thinks about the selection of the oil-man-turned-bishop-of-Durham-now-the-next-Archbishop of Canterbury. What will +Justin Welby of Durham bring to this "instrument of unity" in our Communion that has clashed and gnashed and otherwise left gashes on each other during this past decade?
In short, I don't know. Neither does anyone else, if they were really honest. His prior career in the oil industry apparently gave him exposure to Africa. His stated opinions have been in support of women as bishops. But he also has opposed marriage equality and other issues of LGBT participation in the church. This gives me concern.
But, you might recall, the outgoing ABC wrote wonderful, scholarly papers on why there should be full-inclusion of gay people in the church. And, well, a funny thing happened on the way to Lambeth Palace, apparently.
So, I'll wait and see. I pray that he will understand that what we seek is what every Christian person seeks: acceptance and support in our journeys with God, no matter where that might take us. In the meantime, to paraphrase Psalm 146: put not your trust in Archbishops or any other ruler of the world for they are temporal beings... and trust goes to the eternal.
I didn't know we had a new ABC.
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