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| Holy Trinity Brompton, the evangelical HQ that claims the new primate as one of its own | Holy Trinity Brompton, the evangelical HQ that claims the new primate as one of its own |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| From the street, Holy Trinity Brompton – known universally in Anglican circles as HTB – hides its light under a bushel. This run-of-the-mill Victorian church and its ancillary office blocks are tucked away up a long, leaf-strewn driveway in Knightsbridge in central London, screened by the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Brompton Oratory, last bastion of traditional Roman Catholicism. | From the street, Holy Trinity Brompton – known universally in Anglican circles as HTB – hides its light under a bushel. This run-of-the-mill Victorian church and its ancillary office blocks are tucked away up a long, leaf-strewn driveway in Knightsbridge in central London, screened by the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Brompton Oratory, last bastion of traditional Roman Catholicism. |
| But the modest setting is just about the only thing that is low-key about HTB. Since the early 1980s it has been exporting a noisy mini-reformation to the rest of the Church of England, with its rock-band style of worship, social activism and unabashed evangelical drive to make converts. Where many other inner-city parish churches attract an ageing congregation of 20, HTB packs in several thousand on this site and two neighbouring overspills. Indeed, such is the demand that it has also "planted" itself (a polite way of saying taken over) in 20 other churches across the capital, with similar results. | But the modest setting is just about the only thing that is low-key about HTB. Since the early 1980s it has been exporting a noisy mini-reformation to the rest of the Church of England, with its rock-band style of worship, social activism and unabashed evangelical drive to make converts. Where many other inner-city parish churches attract an ageing congregation of 20, HTB packs in several thousand on this site and two neighbouring overspills. Indeed, such is the demand that it has also "planted" itself (a polite way of saying taken over) in 20 other churches across the capital, with similar results. |
| Then there is its Alpha course – "informal, friendly and fun", according to the literature I'm given in the HTB's basement bookshop-cum-coffee bar. A free 11-week programme of after-dinner talks on "Who is Jesus?" and "How Do I Pray?", it is aimed squarely at nonbelievers and is credited with bringing tens of thousands to the faith. It has been widely copied. Worldwide, an estimated 19 million people are said to have given it a try. | Then there is its Alpha course – "informal, friendly and fun", according to the literature I'm given in the HTB's basement bookshop-cum-coffee bar. A free 11-week programme of after-dinner talks on "Who is Jesus?" and "How Do I Pray?", it is aimed squarely at nonbelievers and is credited with bringing tens of thousands to the faith. It has been widely copied. Worldwide, an estimated 19 million people are said to have given it a try. |
| One graduate of HTB is Justin Welby, who will be the next archbishop of Canterbury. Though Christianity had been very much part of his school and college days, he started worshipping here in the 1980s, just as the HTB phenomenon was taking off. He had a formal role as a lay leader for several years before going to seminary in 1989. | One graduate of HTB is Justin Welby, who will be the next archbishop of Canterbury. Though Christianity had been very much part of his school and college days, he started worshipping here in the 1980s, just as the HTB phenomenon was taking off. He had a formal role as a lay leader for several years before going to seminary in 1989. |
| The focus following Welby's surprise appointment to Lambeth Palace – after just a year as bishop of Durham – has been on his Eton pedigree and business background as an oil executive. But at least one churchy website has looked elsewhere for the reason this dark horse pipped more favoured runners to the line: "HTB lands its first archbishop of Canterbury" ran its headline. | The focus following Welby's surprise appointment to Lambeth Palace – after just a year as bishop of Durham – has been on his Eton pedigree and business background as an oil executive. But at least one churchy website has looked elsewhere for the reason this dark horse pipped more favoured runners to the line: "HTB lands its first archbishop of Canterbury" ran its headline. |
| There is logic to the claim. If I had been tasked with finding a new leader for a church brought down by a bitter and all-consuming battle over women bishops and homosexuality, opting for someone who could sprinkle a bit of HTB stardust on the whole unseemly spectacle would have proved nigh on irresistible. For this is the growing, vibrant, engaged-with-the-world part of Anglicanism, the bit that apparently gives the lie to the suggestion that the national church has had its day. Even those who come from longer-established and more staid Church of England traditions cannot but be, as another bit of Anglican jargon goes, HTB-positive. | There is logic to the claim. If I had been tasked with finding a new leader for a church brought down by a bitter and all-consuming battle over women bishops and homosexuality, opting for someone who could sprinkle a bit of HTB stardust on the whole unseemly spectacle would have proved nigh on irresistible. For this is the growing, vibrant, engaged-with-the-world part of Anglicanism, the bit that apparently gives the lie to the suggestion that the national church has had its day. Even those who come from longer-established and more staid Church of England traditions cannot but be, as another bit of Anglican jargon goes, HTB-positive. |
| "They are very good at numbers," says the broadcaster and Northamptonshire vicar, the Rev Richard Coles, part of the more liberal wing of Anglicanism. "So it would be foolish to be disparaging. In fact, the rest of us look at them with envy." And novelist Salley Vickers, while conceding that the HTB approach is "not my kind of Anglicanism", applauds its proven appeal to a younger generation usually absent from the pews: "It seems to be in touch with something more basic." | "They are very good at numbers," says the broadcaster and Northamptonshire vicar, the Rev Richard Coles, part of the more liberal wing of Anglicanism. "So it would be foolish to be disparaging. In fact, the rest of us look at them with envy." And novelist Salley Vickers, while conceding that the HTB approach is "not my kind of Anglicanism", applauds its proven appeal to a younger generation usually absent from the pews: "It seems to be in touch with something more basic." |
| So what is it about HTB that Welby could be about to bring to his new post as governor of an apparently ungovernable church? A glimpse of its preferred route is laid out in the bookshop. First up, there's an omnipresent soundtrack that dispenses with the traditional hymnal. A Top 30 display rack majors on a Duffy-lookalike called Nikki Fletcher and her CD All Glory. She is part of Worship Central, the headlining music team at HTB. "Friends have taken me to HTB a few times," recalls Richard Coles, once part of the Communards, "and it's a very big do musically. There are lots of choruses and bands, all of which will make it feel very familiar to the younger age-group just back from a music festival." | So what is it about HTB that Welby could be about to bring to his new post as governor of an apparently ungovernable church? A glimpse of its preferred route is laid out in the bookshop. First up, there's an omnipresent soundtrack that dispenses with the traditional hymnal. A Top 30 display rack majors on a Duffy-lookalike called Nikki Fletcher and her CD All Glory. She is part of Worship Central, the headlining music team at HTB. "Friends have taken me to HTB a few times," recalls Richard Coles, once part of the Communards, "and it's a very big do musically. There are lots of choruses and bands, all of which will make it feel very familiar to the younger age-group just back from a music festival." |
| Then there are shelves of books to accompany the plethora of evening courses that make a commitment to HTB so much more than getting your Sunday-morning fix. It aims to put Christianity unashamedly at the centre of modern living. As well as the mainstay Alpha, there are sessions for married couples ("Give your Relationship an MoT" announces a poster at the entrance), parenting boosters, and "God At Work" workshops on "how the Christian faith can be lived out with purpose and integrity in the workplace". There are also courses on finding work, managing your money, and overcoming addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography and over-eating. | Then there are shelves of books to accompany the plethora of evening courses that make a commitment to HTB so much more than getting your Sunday-morning fix. It aims to put Christianity unashamedly at the centre of modern living. As well as the mainstay Alpha, there are sessions for married couples ("Give your Relationship an MoT" announces a poster at the entrance), parenting boosters, and "God At Work" workshops on "how the Christian faith can be lived out with purpose and integrity in the workplace". There are also courses on finding work, managing your money, and overcoming addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography and over-eating. |
| There is nothing new about the church working in the community – that has always been part of its mission – but at HTB it has been given a new dynamism, bright new packaging ("Are you searching?" asks one poster, alongside a picture of a boyband model delving in a wheelie bin), and is linked explicitly to active evangelisation. There is none of that coyness about even mentioning Jesus in case it puts backs up in our largely secular, sceptical society. And none of that feeling that faith is essentially private and reflective. At HTB it's out, proud and shout the Lord's name in the public square. | There is nothing new about the church working in the community – that has always been part of its mission – but at HTB it has been given a new dynamism, bright new packaging ("Are you searching?" asks one poster, alongside a picture of a boyband model delving in a wheelie bin), and is linked explicitly to active evangelisation. There is none of that coyness about even mentioning Jesus in case it puts backs up in our largely secular, sceptical society. And none of that feeling that faith is essentially private and reflective. At HTB it's out, proud and shout the Lord's name in the public square. |
| Moreover, it has little time for the reverence often found in traditional Anglican parishes for historical churches, fussy vestments and formal liturgy. It wants to take the gospel to the world, rather than wait until the world finds itself by accident in front of an altar. So HTB talks about "mission-shaped church" and "fresh expressions". One of its most popular concepts is "cafe theology" – discussing belief in your local Starbucks. | Moreover, it has little time for the reverence often found in traditional Anglican parishes for historical churches, fussy vestments and formal liturgy. It wants to take the gospel to the world, rather than wait until the world finds itself by accident in front of an altar. So HTB talks about "mission-shaped church" and "fresh expressions". One of its most popular concepts is "cafe theology" – discussing belief in your local Starbucks. |
| So is this coffee-swigging evangelism about to be unleashed on us all? Andrew Carey of the web-based Church of England Newspaper cautions against expecting Welby to replicate too exactly the HTB model at Lambeth Palace. "What tends to happen when you become a dean then a bishop is that your theology moves beyond its origins and has to become broader, because the people you meet and the situations you have to cope with are broader," says this son of a former archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey. Like Welby's, George Carey's appointment in 1991 was heralded as a triumph for the low church evangelical wing of Anglicanism, but once in post he had to work with all factions. Good intentions, Andrew Carey suggests, get submerged in the detail. | So is this coffee-swigging evangelism about to be unleashed on us all? Andrew Carey of the web-based Church of England Newspaper cautions against expecting Welby to replicate too exactly the HTB model at Lambeth Palace. "What tends to happen when you become a dean then a bishop is that your theology moves beyond its origins and has to become broader, because the people you meet and the situations you have to cope with are broader," says this son of a former archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey. Like Welby's, George Carey's appointment in 1991 was heralded as a triumph for the low church evangelical wing of Anglicanism, but once in post he had to work with all factions. Good intentions, Andrew Carey suggests, get submerged in the detail. |
| "HTB has successfully used business language and describes its approach to belief as 'task-orientated'. And that is how it sidelines anything it sees as getting in the way of promoting the core Christian message. So while most of us assume that it's on the conservative side on questions such as women bishops and homosexuality, it has never really declared itself in these debates because it regards them as sidelines. But that gets much harder to maintain if you are archbishop of Canterbury." | "HTB has successfully used business language and describes its approach to belief as 'task-orientated'. And that is how it sidelines anything it sees as getting in the way of promoting the core Christian message. So while most of us assume that it's on the conservative side on questions such as women bishops and homosexuality, it has never really declared itself in these debates because it regards them as sidelines. But that gets much harder to maintain if you are archbishop of Canterbury." |
| And, already, Archbishop-elect Welby has already found himself pushed into declaring that he will "re-think" on gay marriage. Rising above the Anglican Communion off-putting rows to embrace a wider evangelistic message will not be straightforward. | And, already, Archbishop-elect Welby has already found himself pushed into declaring that he will "re-think" on gay marriage. Rising above the Anglican Communion off-putting rows to embrace a wider evangelistic message will not be straightforward. |
| There is another aspect of the HTB approach that may hamper it when applied on a more diverse canvas. Though it has spread out from this particular church in one of the swankiest postcodes in London to parishes in more deprived boroughs, the impression remains that it is best suited to the young and well-heeled. "They are very nice, and very warm," says Coles, "and very much young gentlemen and ladies. This is for the officer class, somewhere they can meet. If you aren't a chino-wearing executive, you may not quite cut the mustard." | There is another aspect of the HTB approach that may hamper it when applied on a more diverse canvas. Though it has spread out from this particular church in one of the swankiest postcodes in London to parishes in more deprived boroughs, the impression remains that it is best suited to the young and well-heeled. "They are very nice, and very warm," says Coles, "and very much young gentlemen and ladies. This is for the officer class, somewhere they can meet. If you aren't a chino-wearing executive, you may not quite cut the mustard." |
| His portrait of an HTB stereotype sits comfortably with Welby circa 1985, by day a prosperous oil executive, in the evenings and weekends a lay leader. His social background also chimes easily with that of his close friend and near contemporary at Eton, the current vicar, the Rev Nicky Gumbel, and for that matter Gumbel's old Etonian predecessor, the Rev (now Bishop) Sandy Millar. | His portrait of an HTB stereotype sits comfortably with Welby circa 1985, by day a prosperous oil executive, in the evenings and weekends a lay leader. His social background also chimes easily with that of his close friend and near contemporary at Eton, the current vicar, the Rev Nicky Gumbel, and for that matter Gumbel's old Etonian predecessor, the Rev (now Bishop) Sandy Millar. |
| But while he went on to clock up notable successes in strife-ridden Nigeria and inner-city Liverpool, where Etonians and the "officer class" are thin on the ground, there are still question marks over the viability of translating HTB's ability to give Anglicanism a shot in the arm to Lambeth Palace. Rowan Williams also arrived at Canterbury publicly extolling its virtues and attending Alpha conferences. His wife, Jane, is still involved at HTB's theological institute. Yet it didn't appear to make his time as Anglican leader any less of a via dolorosa, or his legacy at reviving and refocusing his church any more impressive. | But while he went on to clock up notable successes in strife-ridden Nigeria and inner-city Liverpool, where Etonians and the "officer class" are thin on the ground, there are still question marks over the viability of translating HTB's ability to give Anglicanism a shot in the arm to Lambeth Palace. Rowan Williams also arrived at Canterbury publicly extolling its virtues and attending Alpha conferences. His wife, Jane, is still involved at HTB's theological institute. Yet it didn't appear to make his time as Anglican leader any less of a via dolorosa, or his legacy at reviving and refocusing his church any more impressive. |
| But Williams was a cerebral product of the highest circles in British intellectual life. In Welby, Anglicanism has appointed an ex-businessman who has a natural affinity with the church's most businesslike movement. It could be a winning combination. | But Williams was a cerebral product of the highest circles in British intellectual life. In Welby, Anglicanism has appointed an ex-businessman who has a natural affinity with the church's most businesslike movement. It could be a winning combination. |
| THREE WAYS TO WORSHIP | THREE WAYS TO WORSHIP |
| The Evangelicals | The Evangelicals |
| Plain services, plain liturgy and a no-frills low church experience. The evangelical wing of the C of E takes a generally conservative approach to issues such as women bishops and gay marriage. This has been archbishop Welby's natural home, although he will now be expected to reach out beyond the evangelical base. His support of women bishops offers the opportunity of an early alliance with Anglican liberals. | Plain services, plain liturgy and a no-frills low church experience. The evangelical wing of the C of E takes a generally conservative approach to issues such as women bishops and gay marriage. This has been archbishop Welby's natural home, although he will now be expected to reach out beyond the evangelical base. His support of women bishops offers the opportunity of an early alliance with Anglican liberals. |
| The Liberals | The Liberals |
| Disproportionately represented in the church hierarchy, the Liberals want women bishops and are desperate for a more tolerant, welcoming attitude towards gay members of the church. | Disproportionately represented in the church hierarchy, the Liberals want women bishops and are desperate for a more tolerant, welcoming attitude towards gay members of the church. |
| The Anglo-Catholics | The Anglo-Catholics |
| High church Anglicans specialise in elaborate liturgy, a love of Latin and generally conservative views on the role of women in the church. Some have already decamped to Rome over the issue of women bishops. | High church Anglicans specialise in elaborate liturgy, a love of Latin and generally conservative views on the role of women in the church. Some have already decamped to Rome over the issue of women bishops. |
| •This was amended on 15 November 2012 to remove a remark incorrectly attributed to the former Bishop of Durham, David Jenkins. | •This was amended on 15 November 2012 to remove a remark incorrectly attributed to the former Bishop of Durham, David Jenkins. |
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