Archbishop Cranmer Weighs in on the New Archbishop of Canterbury Elect

From His Grace’s blog.

Not York; not London; not Liverpool or Norwich. The CNC’s lot has fallen on Durham, and His Grace would just like to congratulate His Grace on his elevation to the See of Canterbury.

Justin Welby is on record as saying that he has ‘neither the experience nor the desire’ to lead the Church of England and become Primus inter pares of the Worldwide Anglican Communion, but that, of course, makes him ideally suited to the task. He possesses humility and sober judgment, which probably comes of spending 11 years in the oil industry before seeking ordination.

His Grace isn’t concerned that Bishop Justin is an Old Etonian: what he did with his education is more important than where he was educated. And Bishop Justin chose to expound the biblical vision for humanity and reflect on the centrality of Christ in a fallen world. He chose to dedicate his life to the enrichment of humanity – not with oil and money, but with Christian witness and the light of spiritual truth. He is clearly capable of preaching ‘with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other’.

Read the whole thing.

The Telegraph: Bishop of Durham Justin Welby to be Archbishop of Canterbury

Sources have confirmed that the Eton-educated bishop will be announced as successor to Dr Rowan Williams as early as Friday, after the Crown Nominations Commission put his name forward to Downing Street.

It marks a meteoric rise for the former oil executive who has been a bishop for only a year, but insiders described Welby as “the outstanding candidate”.

Read it all.

Timothy Dalrymple: Mourning in America

Pretty much sums up how I am feeling today, and not just about the results of the presidential election. Mourning for my country. Hence, now is the best time to keep reminding myself that Jesus is Lord.

There are some potential positives, and I’ll come to those in a later post.  But I’m afraid the reelection of Barack Obama will mean continued economic stagnation, continued high unemployment, a continuing weakening of the dollar, and a continued wrong-headed refusal to responsibly extract our natural energy resources.  And don’t kid yourself: when the economy suffers, the poor and the vulnerable suffer the worst of it.  I’m afraid his reelection will mean four more years of a weak and adrift foreign policy, inviting the continued re/growth of anti-American terrorism in places like Afghanistan and Libya, Syria and Iran.  I’m afraid it means less protections for religious conscience and less support for the fundamental family structure,  I’m certain that it means a strengthening of the abortion regime, including the appointment of liberal justices to the Supreme Court and liberal judges to other federal positions.  I’m certain that it means that all the worst, most economy-killing aspects of Obamacare, which were shrewdly scheduled for after the election, will be enacted and ensconced in our system of government, and that the health care most Americans receive will grow worse.  And I’m certain it means an even greater national debt burden — meaning that I and my children will work to fill the coffers of the Chinese communist party.

So I mourn for our country’s future, but I also mourn because I believe she has lost her way.

Read it all.