Archbishop Justin Welby: Risk-taker and Reconciler

Archbishop Justin Welby:
Risk-taker and Reconciler

by Andrew Atherstone

I have really enjoyed reading this first biography of the (fairly) new Archbishop of Canterbury.

Partly because Justin Welby’s time at Cambridge – forty years ago – overlapped with mine and I could picture some of the scenes described. I don’t think I ever met Justin at Cambridge: our paths didn’t cross. He was at Trinity College and I was at Fitzwilliam College; he studied law and modern history and I studied sciences; he was a Charismatic Anglican and I was a Reformed Baptist. However, we were both involved in the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU) and at that time CICCU gathered about 400 people in the Cambridge Union debating chamber for the ‘Bible Reading’ on a Saturday evening. We must have both been seated in that large room on many Saturday evenings, along with other such notables as Nicky Gumbel who has become famous for the Alpha course and John Mumford who went on to start the Vineyard Church movement in the UK.

And partly because I love Justin’s emphasis on unity among all those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Although Justin started out as a Charismatic Anglican, attending St Matthews Church in Cambridge and later serving as a lay-leader at Holy Trinity Brompton, he has embraced spirituality from other traditions and has worked for unity within the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion. He now describes himself as an orthodox Christian who can “say the creed without crossing my fingers at any point.”

Justin has set himself three priorities for his time as Archbishop of Canterbury –

1.       Renewal of prayer and religious life

2.       Reconciliation

3.       Evangelism and witness

During a sermon at the New Wine conference in 2013, Justin Welby said, “We are in a time of revolution and we need another revolution in the Church. What it looks like, I do not know, but I want to be in it. What it feels like is Jesus-centred, fire-filled, peace-proclaiming, disciple-creating, and the Church word for this revolution is revival.”

I pray that God will use Justin Welby to bring revival both within and beyond the Church of England.