Introducing the next Archbishop

A brief biography of the next Archbishop of Canterbury abridged from the Archbishop’s website: 

Born in 1956 in London, the Right Reverend Justin Welby was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied history and law. For 11 years - five in Paris and six in London – he worked in the oil industry mainly on West African and North Sea projects. During this period he became a lay leader at Holy Trinity Brompton in London, home of the Alpha Course, having previously been a council member at St Michael’s Church in Paris. A major influence both on Justin and his wife Caroline was their experience of personal tragedy. In 1983 their seven-month old daughter died in a car crash in France. Six years later in 1989, after sensing a call from God, Bishop Justin stood down from industry to train for ordination.

After being ordained Deacon in 1992, he spent 15 years serving Coventry Diocese. After a curacy in Nuneaton, in 1995 he became Rector of St James, Southam and St Michael and All Angels, Ufton, the neighbouring parish. He helped revive churches, growing their congregations and launching bereavement and baptism teams, among other things. Between 2000 and 2002 he also chaired an NHS hospital trust in South Warwickshire.

In 2002, he was made a Canon of Coventry Cathedral, where he ran the reconciliation work based there. With Canons Andrew White and Stephen Davis, he worked extensively in the field in Africa and the Middle East. In the Niger Delta, he worked on reconciliation with armed groups. He met with religious and political leaders in Israel and Palestine, and on one trip to Baghdad reopened the Anglican Church with Canon Andrew White, shortly after the allied invasion.  In 2006 he also took responsibility for Holy Trinity Coventry, the main city centre church, as Priest-in-charge.

He left Coventry in 2007 to become Dean of Liverpool Cathedral, the largest cathedral in England. Its local area, Toxteth, is among the most deprived in north-west Europe. During his leadership he brought the Cathedral into much greater contact with its local community, working with asylum seekers and in partnership with neighbouring churches. The Cathedral also hosted events from a TUC rally to royal services. Over his four years, during which he also continued to work on reconciliation and mediation projects overseas, the Cathedral’s congregation increased significantly. In 2011 he was announced as the new Bishop of Durham, taking over from the author Tom Wright. He will be enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013.

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His interests include French culture, sailing and politics. He is married to Caroline, who studied Classics at Cambridge, where they met. They have two sons and three daughters.