Because I am on General Synod, friends and family assume that I have some sort of hot line to the process by which the new Archbishop of Canterbury is chosen. Well, in a word, no. I have been as much in the dark as anyone else, as easily swayed by Channel 4 News‘s Cathy Newman telling us she’d heard it was to be Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester, or The Times telling us that Pete Wilcox, Bishop of Sheffield, was a “late contender”. That wording from The Times was particularly odd, when there aren’t any late entrants to the field; everyone will have had references taken up and interviews and medicals and safeguarding checks, and you can’t just say “Oh let’s look at someone we’ve not considered yet”. Having any (supposed) leaks at all is worrying when we all know that those on Crown Nominations Commissions to find new bishops and archbishops have to promise to keep all proceedings confidential, and that includes the names of those on the shortlist. We won’t have voting figures, or any other information on how the name finally emerged. I am delighted that it is Sarah, Bishop of London, having worked with her when she was a lead bishop on the Living in Love and Faith process, and knowing how she has managed to function with grace and dignity in a diocese where some church members will not accept her episcopal authority. If anyone can cope with being a woman in a church where women’s ministry is fully accepted in theory but not in practice, it’s surely her.

I’ve heard too many times now the statement that the Roman Catholics can find a new Pope within weeks but we take nearly a year to find a new Archbishop of Canterbury. Well, in the Church of England we involve lay people in making the decision. We involve women, both lay and ordained. This time around, we have also involved members of the wider Anglican Communion. Maybe bearing in mind how long it has taken for us to get to this point, some Church of England members were quite surprised when rumours began that the announcement would happen around now; apparently that counts as pretty soon after the interviews. Looking at the known events of the week, today is conveniently between major party conferences, and marked only by the release of Taylor Swift’s latest album. And this, according to the BBC News site, is “a triumphant pop victory lap”. I wonder what the archepiscopal equivalent for that would be?

But life, and news, are rarely that predictable. The appalling anti-semitic attack in Manchester on Yom Kippur reminds us that religion can be a life or death matter. That applies to Jews, to Muslims, and to Christians. This has ended up being a week in which celebration is difficult, and when the cost of faith can’t be ignored.

When I woke up this morning, I noticed that today is also the date on which the Church of England commemorates Bishop George Bell as “ecumenist and peacemaker”. The Lectionary app gives potted biographies of those in the church calendar, and includes this:

Through Bonhoeffer Bell was in touch with the underground anti-Nazi opposition in Germany and unsuccessfully attempted to get a commitment from the wartime government to distinguish between Germans in general and Nazis in particular. During the Second World War, Bell spoke in the House of Lords strongly condemning some of the actions of the Allies such as indiscriminate bombing of German cities. Though there is no actual evidence one way or the other it is widely accepted that this preparedness to speak the truth as he saw it may have prevented him from succeeding William Temple as Archbishop of Canterbury after Temple’s sudden death in 1944.

This felt very timely not just for the situation in the Middle East right now, but for the speculation that an obvious contender for the Canterbury role was passed over in 1945 because he spoke the truth “as he saw it”. That would seem like a good thing for an Archbishop to do?

Having the announcement on the day that Bishop George Bell is remembered is also timely in terms of safeguarding; one point that I’ve heard made again and again in the process for finding our new Archbishop is that they must be someone accepted by survivors of Church abuse. Bell was himself posthumously accused of abuse, and when Justin Welby, as Archbishop, responded to the independent review into the case he wrote

No human being is entirely good or bad. Bishop Bell was in many ways a hero. He is also accused of great wickedness. Good acts do not diminish evil ones, nor do evil ones make it right to forget the good. Whatever is thought about the accusations, the whole person and whole life should be kept in mind.

Archbishop-designate Sarah has been Bishop of London since 2018. London diocese is unique – with what’s called the ‘Area System’ making the role of the diocesan bishop very different to that in other dioceses – and it has maybe more than its fair share of safeguarding problems. Tragically, Father Alan Griffin took his own life in 2020 after finding he was under some sort of investigation carried out following a “brain dump” of information held by a retiring Head of Operations in the diocese; the church was criticised by the Coroner and there was an independent review into what happened, which stated that “There is clear evidence that the way Father Alan was treated was, in part, influenced by the Church and individuals’ conscious and unconscious bias around his sexual orientation”. In his summary, the reviewer stated “In particular, the Diocese has a strong leader in Bishop Sarah and I can see she is driving that positive change”.

The readings set for today include the following verses from Deuteronomy which seem like a good reminder for the Church of England and our new Archbishop:

Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: ‘Be strong and bold, for you are the one who will go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their ancestors to give them; and you will put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’