The 'leadership vacuum' in the wake of Welby

George Crowder  |  Comment
Date posted:  18 Dec 2024
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The 'leadership vacuum' in the wake of Welby

Justin Welby. Source: Flickr | Catholic Church England and Wales

After Justin Welby completes his official duties as Archbishop of Canterbury on January 6, there’s a lot more to put in place than a new Archbishop.

Welby's departure leaves more than a vacancy, it testifies to a multi-faceted crisis of leadership in the Church of England. Many have commented on his legacy, but I wish merely to observe that during his tenure, and especially at his resignation, a few long-festering narratives converged.

Safeguarding: rethinking oversight

Most prominent among those narratives is safeguarding. At a parish level, recent systemic advances in safeguarding have been necessarily demanding and quietly revolutionary. Yet, post-Makin, the emerging aspirations for safeguarding provision are straining at the existential fabric of the institution and all things associated with it. And that is because of the piercing focus on the practice of spiritual leadership in structures and in networks, the legacy of unchecked power and the abuse of such power.

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