A review of the Church's handling of allegations of abuse by Keith Makin had said Welby, the spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide, was "insufficiently curious" about allegations of abuse by John Smyth, a barrister who ran camps in the 1970s and 80s.

The Makin Review accused the Church of England of a "cover-up" and said the abuse "could and should have been reported to the police in 2013".

The abuse involved more than 130 boys on two continents. Some were caned hundreds of times and bled, one died. It was done to beat the hell out of them and holiness into them. God was not impressed, I'm told. This makes even the worst sort of fundamentalist interpretations of Scripture look plausible.

But don't think one head rolling solves the problem. Other heads, as many as 30, may well roll before this ecclesiastical train wreck is over.

Survivors have said that other senior clergy who failed to take effective action when told of Smyth's abuse should also resign.

Mark Stibbe, a former vicar and survivor of abuse, said senior church figures should step down. Survivors wanted "more resignations because that means more accountability, people taking responsibility for having been silent when they should have spoken," he told Channel 4 News.

Andrew Morse, another victim of Smyth, said Welby was "just the leader and there are countless other Anglican churchmen who equally bear responsibility".

The review of the Smyth case names several serving and retired bishops as people who were told of allegations. They include Stephen Conway, the bishop of Lincoln, and formerly the bishop of Ely.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Conway said he was "deeply sorry" for not "rigorously pursuing" the matter with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

He insisted that he did all he could within his authority by making a detailed disclosure to Lambeth Palace, and contacting the diocese in South Africa to which Smith had moved.

"I am clear that I did all within my authority as a bishop of the Church of England, bearing in mind that I had no authority over an entirely independent province on another continent.

"I acknowledge fully that my fault was in not rigorously pursuing Lambeth about that province-to-province communication, and for this I am deeply sorry."

The independent report said Conway and others had been complacent and that "serious abuse and crimes [were] being covered up at the time".

"There are deep and fundamental issues of practice and culture on safeguarding that need to be taken seriously ... The culture of cover-up has been part of the problem on serious abuse allegations for far too long," he told the BBC.

WELBY'S SINS

But Welby's sins are not just confined to this episode of his 12-year reign.

He has been a disaster at multiple levels. This was just the tipping point.

He refused to take Lambeth Resolution 1:10 (Human sexuality is intended by God to find its rightful and full expression between a man and a woman in the covenant of marriage) seriously, at the last Lambeth Conference, 'just ignore it ol' chap perhaps it will go away.' He infuriated Global South leaders over his church's embrace of same sex unions resulting in those same leaders sending him a divorce notice.

Two global Anglican movements, GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference) and GSFA, (Global South Fellowship of Anglicans) told him that he would be doing the communion a favor if he resigned. Welby steadfastly refused.

A cover up finally got him, not from outside his church but inside. The irony should not be missed. One might argue that God has got a weird sense of humor. He got stabbed in the back by one of his own. Et tu Makin.

Names for his replacement are already being floated, but none show any promise that the Church of England will return to its historic, biblical and reform roots. The Elizabethan settlement is dead. Long live Progressivism.

With King Charles' health failing, and the atheist Prime Minister Keir Starmer officially signing off on Welby's replacement, would anybody be surprised if they chose a Rhesus monkey to run the church? Trust me they could do much worse.

On any evaluation, the Church of England is a bad joke. Its evangelical wing wants a parallel province as they will have nothing to do with same-sex marriage; Anglo Catholics are sniffing the air looking for a way out, or not. Progressives are hunkering down waiting for the clown show to continue so they can empty the church just in time for their pensions.

If you thought the American Episcopal Church was a failing sewer pit, the Mother Church will exceed it all beyond your wildest imaginings. They have already put in place a married queer to run the world's most iconic cathedral. Apparently, the late previous Dean of Canterbury Cathedrals had a male partner that few knew about. Can you imagine the Archbishop of Nigeria darkening the doors of Canterbury cathedral with the choir singing "blest be the tie that bind..." Or any GAFCON or GSFA Archbishop for that matter? More women bishops and queers are on the way.

The Mother Church's siblings; TEC, the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church, all Vichy Anglican republics will creed their way to hell, with Satan whispering as they enter, "I told you in the Garden how all this would play out."

Welby's other memorable sins include millions for reparations for sins no one in a hundred years has committed. He frequently criticized Israel over its policies in Gaza and the West Bank while declaring that antisemitism was unacceptable.

Welby argued in the House of Lords against the flagship legislation aimed at ensuring people who arrive in the UK in small boats would be detained and promptly removed. But government ministers hit back at the archbishop with immigration minister Robert Jenrick saying he was "wrong on both counts".

Topping all this off was a failed managerial style that future generations can read about in libraries like the Wharton School of Business about how not to run a church or business.

The Church of England has spent millions of pounds on church structures in recent years, including: Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Funding (SMMI); Buildings for Mission. In 2023, the Church of England awarded £9 million to dioceses for repairs and specialist advice to parishes. Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (LPWGS) provided grants for qualifying work to churches. In 2023, the government gave £42 million to help restore UK churches through the LPWGS. Finally, carbon emissions in which the Church of England has invested tens of millions of pounds to reduce its carbon emissions by 90% by 2030.

None of this has or will put bums on pews.

The church is not an oil company. Welby was a bag carrier for Enterprise Oil, something the deep thinkers thought would be a plus in a new archbishop. The Church of England forgot that the Holy Spirit might have something to do with the church; but it is precisely the absence of the Holy Spirit in all these projects that rankles the church's orthodox believers who could have used those millions to evangelize neo-pagan Brits.

No, the Church of England will not miss Justin Welby. He was a disaster, a moderate man of all shades of opinion. Easily forgettable.

You can read multiple stories in today's digest that will give you a fuller picture of the train wreck that occurred this week.

David W. Virtue, DD
President
VIRTUEONLINE

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"We need to recognize that when you look at the Church of England, you are increasingly looking at a parable of theological compromise, and you're looking at a metaphor for theological surrender. I want to be clear that is not true for all of the clerics in the Church of England. It is not true for all of the members of the Church of England. Of course, thanks be to God, it is not true that they have all departed the faith" -- Albert Mohler, The Briefing

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ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY HAS RESIGNED: LONG OVERDUE The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby who has faced increasing criticism for his tenure as the Anglican Communion's lackluster leader, has resigned following criticism of his failure to prevent child abuse.

Welby announced that he would stand down following a damning report which found he had not passed on information to the police about John Smyth, a Queen's Council (QC) solicitor and evangelical Christian -- the Church of England's most prolific serial child abuser.

In a statement, Welby said that it had become clear that he "must take personal and institutional responsibility" for the "long and retraumatising" period after he was informed of allegations in 2013, during which Smyth was not brought to justice and survivors were repeatedly failed by the Church. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/archbishop-canterbury-has-resigned-long-overdue

The Makin Review: The Church of England in all its glory The Makin Review, Independent Learning Lessons Review: John Smyth QC, was finally published on 18 October 2024. It makes grim reading, on every level. The experiences of the victims; the abject failure of various Church figures to act appropriately once the problems were raised; and the failures of the Archbishop of Canterbury, among others, since 2013, to respond to any moral and ethical imperatives raised, beggar belief.

John Smyth QC (those two little letters explain a lot of what follows), '...is, arguably, the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England.' (Makin Review, p. 226).

John Smyth is, arguably, the most prolific serial abuser to be FACILITATED BY the Church of England. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/makin-review-church-england-all-its-glory

THE DISASTROUS REIGN OF ARCHBISHOP JUSTIN WELBY History will not be kind to Justin Welby, the former Archbishop of Canterbury. His 12-year tenure as the Archbishop of Canterbury and the titular head of the Anglican Communion has been nothing short of disastrous.

He came in as an Alpha evangelical and departed a theologically compromised leader, alienating not only evangelicals in the Church of England, but millions of evangelicals in the Global South who looked to him for leadership, but found only weakness, prevarication, cunning, duplicity and subterfuge. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/disastrous-reign-archbishop-justin-welby

More than 30 Church officials face the sack after Archbishop of Canterbury quits Several bishops among clergy accused of failing to stop child abuser whose crimes led to Justin Welby's resignation. Thirty members of the Church of England clergy face being sacked over their failure to stop the most prolific child abuser in the institution's history.

The Church's national safeguarding team is examining the actions of at least 30 officials named in a report as having prior knowledge of allegations against John Smyth.
You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/more-30-church-officials-face-sack-after-archbishop-canterbury-quits

Four bishops under pressure to follow Welby and resign Senior Church leaders, who are still in post, are accused in Makin review of being aware of allegations against John Smyth before 2017
The Archbishop of Canterbury's resignation has intensified demands for accountability as a child sex abuse scandal engulfs senior clergy. Victims of John Smyth, who abused up to 130 boys and young men across four decades and three continents, have since called for two bishops and an associate minister to resign.
You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/four-bishops-under-pressure-follow-welby-and-resign

Global South statement following the resignation of Justin Welby
The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches recognizes the observations, findings and recommendations of the Makin Report, including the danger of a church culture in which what is expedient takes priority over the values for which the Church stands. As we proceed with the Cairo Covenant, our fellowship will hold fast to paramount biblical and spiritual principles, including those of fostering a safe church, implementing oversight over best safeguarding procedures in the interests of all groups, parishioners, stakeholders and vulnerable persons who operate within the Anglican Communion. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/global-south-statement-following-resignation-justin-welby

Runners and riders: Who will be the next Archbishop of Canterbury?
Potential candidates to replace the Most Rev Justin Welby include an Iranian refugee and an expert in epidemiology. The Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Bishop of Norwich, the Bishop of Leicester, and the Bishop of Chelmsford are all possible candidates to replace Welby. The Crown Nominations Commission is now in charge of selecting who will step into his shoes. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/runners-and-riders-who-will-be-next-archbishop-canterbury

After Welby - What Next for Makin?

The Makin Report into the abuse of John Smyth QC was published last week contained 250 pages of harrowing evidence and damning analysis, and that is without the appendices.

There is a danger that after the initial shock of both the Makin Report and Justin Welby's resignation, the church, both institutionally and personally, will go back to business as usual. If there is to be real change, it will require a change of culture and for that to happen everyone has to play their part. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/after-welby-what-next-makin

British public say Welby was right to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury
Most Britons support Justin Welby's decision to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury over the John Smyth abuse scandal.

In a poll of over 4,500 British adults by YouGov conducted the day after Welby's resignation, 62% thought it was right that he resign, with only 4% saying he should have remained in post. To read more click here: https://www.christiantoday.com/article/british.public.say.welby.was.right.to.resign.as.archbishop.of.canterbury/142369.htm

What now for the Anglican Communion? The first step will be the convening of the Crown Nominations Commission, which will recommend names for Welby's successor. It will be made up of Cottrell and another senior bishop, as well as six members of the General Synod, three representatives from the Diocese of Canterbury and five from the Anglican Communion who reflect the Archbishop of Canterbury's role as leader of the Anglican Communion. The fact that the Church of England is an established (state) church is reflected in British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's role: He will appoint a voting chair; the CNC will make its recommendation to the prime minister, who in turn will convey it to King Charles III, who will make the appointment.

The person chosen will have an enormous role to fill: bishop for the Diocese of Canterbury, primate of all England, a member of Parliament's House of Lords and the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/what-now-anglican-communion

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