“I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and which I have been honoured to serve. I pray that this decision points us back towards the love that Jesus Christ has for every one of us.”
So Archbishop Justin has resigned after a turbulent few days. In fact, I was surprised by the attention given to his position in the press. Welby must quit, headlined the Daily Mail. Although inevitable, you could sense that the knives were out.
What makes such opposition even more painful is that the job of the ABC is simply not do-able.
The Hurd report, over 20 years ago. pointed out even then, before the era of the 24-news-cycle and social media, that the archbishop was doing the jobs of at least six people: he ran the diocese of Canterbury, the Church of England, and tried to hold together the worldwide Anglican Communion. He also had responsibilities for interfaith relations and liaison with other churches.
Moreover, since then the CofE has lost about a third of its regular worshippers and today faces schism over gay relationships. And tbat’s not to mention that many of the largest African churches with whom Justin has a close personal relationship no longer recognise his authority as archbishop.
One of the things I do as a retired cleric is conduct MDR’s, ministerial development reviews. Something I enjoy as an opportunity to talk in depth with a vicar about their ministry, as someone without power or patronage. And from all accounts something which they find helpful.
One MDR in particular. As the vicar concerned explained some years later to my son-in-law, attending the same clergy conference - my MDR had changed his life, no less.
Basically having his read his job description and appraisals from key members of his congregation, I began our session by saying that in my opinion he had been asked to do an impossible job. That is, what he had been hired to do simply could not be done, it simply wasn’t possible given the parameters.
I could visibly see his relief as this burden of expectation was lifted from his shoulders. And as we drew up his list of priorities for the coming year, I suggested that his primary priority was to persuade the Bishop to change his mind.
I bumped into this vicar sometime later, and he was pleased to relate that that was exactly what happened. His remit, although difficult, was now do-able. And that made all the difference.
Sadly, it seems that the Church of England specialises in giving people impossible jobs.
And not just the CofE. It strikes me that so many people are being tasked to do what simply cannot be done.
That being the case, what are we to make of Hudson Taylor’s famous quote? “There are three stages to every great work of God; first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”
For this record this Victorian missionary pioneer by all accounts was a pain to work with, forever frustrating his supporting committee back home. As often the case for so-called strong leaders he left a number of bruised subordinates in his wake.
Here the apostle Paul is so often misquoted here out of context. “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 3:14). However, this ambitious apostle is not claiming to be some Clark Kent, some superman undercover. He is simply explaining to the Philippian Christians that he has learned to be content whatever the circumstances, in plenty or poverty.
In fact, Paul goes to great lengths to make sure that the right person is in the right ministry, even – as we saw some weeks back – breaking up with his long-standing partner Barnabas over Mark’s suitability as a missionary colleague. As far as Paul was concerned, Barnabas’ nephew simply wasn’t up to the job.
Now and again as vicar I found myself asking someone to do a job which simply had to be done, realising it may be too much for them. In which case I made sure that they had a huge level of support and expectations were limited. Sometimes, hoping that someone would turn up, I gave a relatively short time-frame.
But even then, we may be reassured that God enjoys using our failures, even the times when we have given up in despondency. He does it – but not in the way everyone expected.
One of my most fruitful ministries took off after I gave up, accepting that we had failed to set up a youth ministry in Heswall. I thought I had given it my best shot but sadly had little choice but to close it down. Amazingly, and somewhat weirdly, it then took off.
And I suspect, even now, that the final few months of Justin’s archbishopric may turn out to be the most fruitful. That’s God for you.
Comments