Richard Harries: Roll dice if you have to, but name an Archbishop

The idea of asking the Prime Minister to select a new Archbishop of Canterbury, as suggested by a former member of the Crown Nominations Commission yesterday, is absurd in both theory and practice. There was a time, not long ago, when the Prime Minister did do just that. But under a deal worked out between the Church and Downing Street, first with James Callaghan and later with Gordon Brown, the present convention is that the first name put forward by the Crown Nominations Committee is nodded straight in the direction of the Queen without any interference. The Church of England has the responsibility, for which it long asked, of selecting its own man. It cannot now abrogate that responsibility.

What is causing the hold-up? It is said that Justin Welby, the Bishop of Durham, who has been galloping up on the outside, is now the front-runner. Some might say that Welby, a former executive in the oil industry who has only just been appointed as a bishop, lacks experience. But when a vacancy occurred in Milan in the fourth century, the cry went up “Ambrose for Bishop”. Ambrose was Governor of Northern Italy at the time and then a layman. He was baptised, confirmed, ordained priest and consecrated Bishop in a matter of days. So there is good precedent.

There remain, of course, all the familiar fierce divisions over the issues of woman bishops and same-sex relationships, which complicate any simple assessment of the abilities of candidates. However, the overriding criterion for selection must surely be not one of these issues, important though they are, but which candidate is most likely to speak with credibility to a population so many of whom find the Christian faith a foreign tongue. He will need to find both the language and right tone to win a hearing. After the rampant hedonism and greed of the last decades there could now be a new seriousness in our national life, one in which people might be receptive to the very different view of life offered by the Christian faith. The overriding priority is for a candidate who can take this opportunity.

The Church prays daily for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. But whether it is the election of a new Pope in the Vatican, or the nomination for a new Archbishop, the Holy Spirit has to work through fallible human beings with their very limited, partial views.

We might wish it were not so but you have only to glance at the New Testament to see that the young Christian Church also had desperate struggles to reach agreement on issues that were even more crucial than those of today. But the New Testament also offers another method of making choices. After the suicide of Judas when they needed to find someone to make up the sacred number of 12 apostles they simply prayed and drew straws. “They drew lots and the lot fell to Matthias.” (Acts 1: 26).

Perhaps we should give the commissioners one more chance to come up with a name and then if they fail, simply tell them to write two or three names on a dice and see which one comes out on top when it is rolled. That would be less ignominious than handing the decision back to the Prime Minister.

Lord (Richard) Harries of Pentregarth was Bishop of Oxford from 1987-2006.