Andrew Atherston on the new ABC

On my post-Easter holiday, I finished reading Andrew Atherstone's new short biography of Justin Welby, the new Archbishop of Canterbury.

I was surprised by how readable and interesting it was.

Welby's connection to Holy Trinity, Brompton was widely reported, but I hadn't realised how important it was. He was also a regular speaker, it seems, at New Wine. But through CiCCU and camps, Welby also experienced a more conservative evanglicalism. Later he was influenced by Roman Catholic social thought and the Benedictine tradition in particular.

I read the book quite casually, but I was also surprised by how many outside interests Welby had, both as a Rector and later. At one point he was spending an average of 2 days a week chairing the local NHS trust, or some such, according to Atherstone. Whilst its hard to get an impression of this, there also seemed to me to be quite a lot of external speaking, writing and travel.

The comment of the Ministry Selector is priceless - and very rude! I must check so that he can be named and shamed here but it included a line like: "I have interviews 1000 candidates for ordination, and you are not in the top 1000!"